“I hear you, Sis.”
“Baby! Come here for a second!” Truce yelled from across the room.
I walked over to the table he was standing by and noticed a group of three couples sitting there. Truce pulled me to him and kissed my head.
“Bae, this is my cousin, Dominic Hill, Uncle Vince's oldest son. D, this is Jela, my soon-to-be wife.”
“Dope to meet you, Jela. I was wondering who had this nigga being antisocial lately. Now I see the reason.”
It was damn ridiculous how fine almost every nigga in his family was, even the ones sitting at the table, draped in fine linen and diamonds. I wasn’t exaggerating either.
I smiled widely. “Nice to meet you, Dominic.”
“And these are my people: Karon and his wife, Skylynn. Gabriel and his wife, Lessyn. And this my lil’ jump-off until she stops acting funny, Payton,” Dominic introduced the couples.
Payton punched him in the leg, then looked at us. “Truce, it’s hard to believe you all are cousins sometimes. This nigga acts nothing like you!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes at him.
My eyes zeroed in on Lessyn. Her name and face looked so familiar until recognition finally hit me. “Oh my God. Oh my God! You’re the dancer, Lessyn Taylor?”
She gave a bashful smile. “That’ll be me.”
“Oh my God! I follow you on TikTok. You have the dance company calledMiamor’s. I’m such a huge fan. Sorry, I’m fangirling right now,” I said, placing my face in my palms as they all laughed.
“That’s what’s up. Jela happens to be a magnificent dancer. I mean, she shuts shit down when she gets in her zone,” Truce boasted.
“Really? I happen to be looking for a co-choreographer to help me with a dance group I put together.”
“What are you saying, ma'am? Don’t make me have a heart attack,” I told her, placing my palm over my chest to try to settle my racing heart.
“Please don’t have a heart attack. I don’t think Truce would ever forgive me.” She giggled. “But I’m saying put your number in my phone and your TikTok info. If you’re in Detroit, call me so we can link.”
I didn’t hesitate to put my number and TikTok handle in her phone and hand it back to her.
“I can be in Detroit whenever you need me to be,” I told her.
“We appreciate you, Mrs. Taylor,” Truce said.
“Don’t mention it.” She winked at me, and we bid them adieu as Truce pulled me over to the deejay booth.
“Baby, why didn’t you tell me you knew Lessyn Taylor? I’m so geeked right now!”
“I don’t knowknowher. I may have met them a few times when I lived in Detroit. The guys and I would play poker, but I only spoke to her a handful of times.”
“That’s crazy. I can’t believe I met my TikTok crush.” I beamed.
“Should I be worried?”
We both laughed.
“Not in the slightest. But if I did swing that way, she would definitely be my girlfriend.”
Truce swatted me on the ass as I giggled. He signaled to the deejay for the mic, and the man behind the makeshift booth handed it over.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” he asked as the music lowered. “I know we already gave our speeches or whatnot, but I just wanted to congratulate my beautiful cousin and best friend again on their nuptials. I pray that you both have the best journey to forever and a day.
“Now that that’s out of the way, I need you all not to say shit about what I’m about to do because y’all owe me.”
Everyone laughed as Truce turned to me. “Jela, our journey hasn’t been an easy one, and even though the road has been challenging, it was easy to fall in love with you. Your spirit, your heart, your selflessness, and your overall beauty had me doing shit I didn’t think I’d ever do.”
