Page 361 of Kentrell

“Oooh… y’all look good,” Mars teased, eyes running over each of us like she was picking out her next snack.

“Ayeshaaa! You know I wantchu so bad…” Wani sang, reaching for Zoe’s cousin, pulling her close like he hadn’t been embarrassing me enough already.

“Wani, behave yo’self,” she giggled, slapping his chest.

“I’m always bad, baby,” he winked, making her cheeks flush pink.

“Oh, great.”

Shelby’s heels clicked hard against the marble as she came toward us, mumbling something into her headset like she was coordinating the Oscars.

“You’re all here—places, people!” She spun her finger in a circle like she was stirring up the air.

“We been in place,” Kensei muttered, low but loud enough for me to catch it.

I turned over my shoulder, smirking at him just as Stacia slid to his side and gave him a quick one-arm hug.

“Hey, Kensei.”

“Wussup, babygirl,” Kensei grinned, leaning into her touch like the charmer he was.

“Guess it’s me and you, pretty boy.” Mars sauntered over to Lex, cupping his face and giving it a playful squeeze before dropping her hand and standing at his side.

Shelby was still buzzing around us like a wind-up toy on its last battery charge—fixing tux jackets, fluffing bouquets, giving out last-minute cues like a general sending troops into battle.

For her to barely be 4’11, her voice carried like she had a megaphone attached to her throat.

“Okay… where is Reverend Keys?” she suddenly huffed, pushing past Wani and Kensei like a woman on a mission.

We watched her stomp down the hall and disappear into a small office.

A minute later, she came back out with Reverend Vernon L. Keys trailing behind her, looking cool, calm, and ready for the show.

He was Zoe’s mama’s pastor… and the same one she’d sweet-talked into officiating this wedding.

Personally? I didn’t give two fucks who stood up there saying the words.

If I’m being real… I was this close to shutting all this fancy shit down and putting me and Zoe on my jet… flying to Vegas… and getting eloped in twenty minutes flat.

The only thing that stopped me?

Knowing how much this day meant to her.

A day she could remember forever. Not for show… not for status… but for her. For us. For our future kids to look back on.

The day she never got to see between her own parents… same as me.

We were both breaking generational curses with this.

That’s how she phrased it to me one night… lying on my chest after we made love.

The smile on her face when she said it?

Yeah… sealed the deal.

And I ain’t gon’ lie… I was a little geeked to see how these pictures would turn out too.

I already had a spot picked out…

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