Page 5 of Allure

“Hi, Niko. This is Joy from the Arranged Hearts office! I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time,” she said.

I sat up quickly, adjusting myself.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m good,” I answered.

“Well, I am glad to hear that! Also, I have the best news. You’re getting married. We found your match, and the wedding is this Saturday.”

I was stuck on the fact that I would be meeting my wife soon, but then the date popped into my head.

“Why so soon?” I asked.

“We like to get everything rolling since you already waited a period for the matching process. Do you have any suggestions on what you want the space to look like for the wedding?” she asked.

I thought about it briefly before answering. “No. I know this moment is something most women or young girls dream about. She can do what she wants. The only thing I want is to wear a shade of brown or a brown suit. I want this moment to be everything she dreamed of,” I responded.

“I love to hear that, but remember, this moment is just as much about you as it is about her,” she reminded me.

I chuckled lightly. “I appreciate you saying that, but I’m cool, Mrs. Joy. I just want the woman at the end of the aisle to feel treasured. The look of everything does nothing for me.”

“All right. I’ll take your word for it and make sure she knows it’s completely okay.”

“I was wondering if it would be cool if I gave her a gift before she walked down the aisle?” I asked.

I heard the smile in her voice. “I can make that happen. All I need from you is to make sure the staff gets it early, or better yet, I’ll be there to get it myself.”

“I can do that. Is there anything else I need to know?” I asked.

“The only other thing is the ring. I can tell you this: your wife is very unique in a beautiful way,” she mentioned.

The thought of that had me smiling because I considered myself to be unique as well. It made me feel good to hear my wife would match my fly.

“Cool. I’ll keep that in mind. I like that.”

“Well, Mr. Lockwood, I will see you Saturday morning. I can’t wait to meet your family,” she added.

She might be holding on to that sentiment because I hadn’t told them about a damn thing. My father was already reeling over me leaving the league without speaking to him about it. I just knew he was going to blow a gasket when he found out I was also getting married to a woman he hadn’t met, let alone, neither had I.

I chuckled. “Yeah, won’t that be a treat? I appreciate you calling me and handling the biggest moment in my life with care.”

“You’re more than welcome,” she responded.

We said our goodbyes and ended the call. I knew the time to tell my family about the new developments in my life had run out. I might as well get it all out in the open.

I opened our family group chat and sent out a message, letting everyone know I was ready to talk. If they wanted to know where my head was, they would come by my place tonight for dinner on me.

I hovered over the send button before finally clicking it. I waited a moment as my sister Alexis, then my brother Kole responded, letting me know they would be here tonight. It took a while before my mother replied, saying she and my father would be there too.

Once everyone confirmed, I reached out to my chef, hoping he was free to cook dinner. Luck was on my side when his response came in, letting me know he would be here in the next hour with steak and sides. I took that time to hop in the shower to clear my mind before my family got here. I already knew they were going to have questions galore about the wedding.

Not to mention, my father was going to want to talk about retirement and I had a limit on what I did when it came to that. If he couldn’t understand that I had finished that part of my life and was ready to begin another one, that was on him. I didn’t intend to switch my mind for him or anyone else.

Close to an hour later, my chef was here, so I let him in and decided to turn on a movie to get comfortable. While I chilled, I decided to start looking at different wedding rings that would fit a unique woman. I scrolled past many styles. Fully engrossed in what I was doing, I didn’t realize my sister Alexis and her husband were already in the house. Not until Alexis walked up behind me and shook my shoulder. I glanced up at her and she stared down at my phone with a lifted brow.

She popped me upside the head before taking a seat beside me on the couch. I reached up to dap Matthew up, then he took the seat next to Alexis. I continued to scroll through the rings like she wasn’t sitting there.

“Is there a reason you’re sitting here, looking at rings? Is this why you invited us over here? To tell us you’re getting ready to propose to a woman we’ve all never met. If so, don’t do it, Niko. You’re already in hot shit with the retirement shit you pulled. If you tell your father you’re about to propose to a woman now, he is going to kill you,” she lectured.

I ignored her ass because she was a natural worrier. I wasn’t as concerned about Big Reg as everyone wanted me to be. His bark was a lot bigger than his bite. I wasn’t getting ready to switch shit up to make him feel good.