Page 32 of Smoke After Hours

“Oh really now.”

“Yeah.” His face grew serious. “Word is, I’m so infatuated with you that our friends and family worry that I’m never letting you go.”

I giggled out of nerves as he pinned me with that intensely addictive look of his. “As long as they know that my obsession with you runs just as deep.”

They knew though.

And so did he.

With a love like ours, it was too strong to hide it.

420 epilogue

Toasted: An Impromptu Tease & TasteSmoke HopWedding Weekend

Some Blissfully High Days or Weeks or Months Later …

VOLLEY

The day was set.The mood was perfect. The moment was right. Over the years, I could honestly say that I never got jaded by love. I’d experienced heartbreak before and growing apartfrom a partner. Yet, Bentley knew me better than anyone in my entire life. She was my best friend. My roommate. My confidante and the one person who could make me laugh and piss off in the same breath.

She no longer needed protection, but I wasn’t leaving her side. She was stuck with me forever, my soul burning for her in a way that was as simple as breathing.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” Black Elvis said, with entirely too much Luster’s S-Curl Activator in his hair. “You may now kiss the bride.”

The crowd went wild as I stood there in disbelief that it was actually happening. That love was winning.

What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend catching up with some of our first High Hopper members had resulted in a wedding we all should have predicted was coming.

Messiah and Sadie.

“I’m so happy,” Messiah cried, wiping the tears from his face after kissing Sadie and knocking down Black Elvis in the process when he shot a first pump in the air. “This is the best day of my muthafuckin’ life!”

All Bentley and I could do was laugh as we stood in the first pew of the chapel, cheering along with everyone else. Not only were Santiago, Nova, the Lockwoods, and the Fairbournes present, but a lot of our Pot Palace crew was, too. Ryan and Jake had made the trip and so had Noah, Amiya, and Kamryn.

We were an eclectic group of people, but somehow, we all just fit together as square pegs in a round hole. Cannabis connoisseurs to our core and believers that through weed anything was possible.

Like witnessing two people get married who were so fucking wrong for each other, that you couldn’t help but be happy for them and grab your popcorn to watch the inevitable train wreck on the horizon.

Their reception was unlike anything I’d ever been to. MJ hosted all of Messiah’s guests at his cannabis club, Blunt Minded Joint, giving us a private terrace that overlooked the mountains.

We played dice. We drank liquor. We smoked weed. We got so fuckin’ high off life that by the end of the night, we were all crawling on that terrace, talking to cactuses and shit. When my eyes met Bentley’s, the happiness reflected in them consumed me.

“I’m in,” she whispered, leaning her forehead to mine while we sat next to each other

Meanwhile, Messiah and Sadie told all their guests to pretend like they were spies in a jewelry heist, these crazy muthafuckas actually doing it, although they failed at being stealth.

“I bet Blair Underwood could do this shit doped up on six blunts, six shots, and with Jada Pinkett Smith on his back,” Ryan not-so-quietly whispered.

“Who’s Jade Pinkett Smith?” Noah asked, causing everyone on the terrace to pause what they were doing.

“Is he for real?” Amiya asked Kamryn before looking around the room at the other Pot Palace folks. “Does Mr. Wall Street pay attention to any pop culture references?”

Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but Noah cut him off with his laugh. “Just kidding everyone. I know who she is. She’s married to Will Smith, who slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards.” Noah brushed his nails against his navy suit that he was wearing like it wasn’t eighty degrees of dry desert heat even with the shade the outdoor terrace offered.

“Okay, phew,” Kamryn stated, clutching her chest. “Even though everybody and they mama know about that incident, I’m glad you aren’t that out of touch.”

Jake raised a curious eyebrow. “Ry, why Jada gotta be on Blair’s back though?”

---