Page 172 of Sweet Dominion

I smiled. “She must have grabbed the DJ’s microphone.”

Lei groaned in annoyance.

Aunt Min’s voice rose even louder. “I hope you two are not doing anything naughty! We are all very hungry and it is time for the Grill Off!”

I got out of his hold. “You heard her. We should head out and watch my new chef whip Banks’s ass on the grill.”

Lei grumbled under his breath, “This fucking cookout.”

Chapter thirty-two

The Cookout

Lei

Will Smith's "Summertime" blasted from the speakers which was an odd choice considering that it was very much the fall.

Yet somehow it fit the vibe of the day.

Moni and I sat at the Judge's table.

Also judging, Jo was on Moni’s left, telling her all about her new job at the South’s comic book store.

Chen lounged on my right more relaxed than I’d seen him in a while.

Duck had told me that he’d gotten some green gummies from Jo on their little joy ride in the East. After our Diamond Syndicate meeting, Duck had given Chen a gummy.

I just didn’t think Duck explained to Chen that there was weed in those gummies.

This will be interesting indeed.

I checked out the rest of the judge’s table.

Chloe was on Chen’s right chatting it up with Aunt Suzi. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they had not stopped since we sat down. And every few minutes there was this boisterous laugh from the both of them that made me want to figure out the topic of conversation.

But more important, what really caught me by surprise with them was the fact that Chloe now wore a sparkling blue gown and tiara that pretty much matched Aunt Suzi’s get up.

Well. . .they’re now best friends. And I’ve got one of Moni’s sisters wearing blue before the end of the night. I’m counting that as a win.

Aunt Suzi snapped her fingers and yelled, “Yas, Queen!”

What? Why did she say that?

Chuckling, Chloe's face lit up with a smile and her gestures became more animated as she broke down some story to Aunt Suzi who was absolutely captivated. Her eyes were wide open and she had a big, delighted smile on her face.

Okay. That’s perfect.

And then right at the end of the table, Dima, Rose and Barbara Whiskers hung out.

We’d added Dima and Rose as the last set of judges, mostly because Banks argued they might be the only ones at the table who could betrulyimpartial. And TT refused to participate in judging. She wanted to solve her puzzle in her room.

I could tell Moni wanted her to spend time out at the cookout, but she gave in. Next Aunt Min left five of her trusted female guards to watch TT.

Either way, I couldn’t help but stare at our new judges—Dima and Rose. Even more, I had to admit that they were striking together and appeared absolutely happy and joyously lost in their own world.

Hmmm.

Dima leaned in to whisper something to Rose and she laughed.

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