A rush of air leaves my lungs, and my body relaxes. “What?” I’m a little stunned. “For real?”

“Yeah, man. So, what do you say?” He smiles.

“Of course I will.” I stand and we give each other a bro hug and I slap him on the back.

“I didn’t want to just call you on the phone or ask you via text, you know?”

I nod and take my seat again. “I’m honored, Finn. Thanks.”

We grab our drinks and cheers before taking a sip.

“Any idea when the big day will be?” I ask.

“We’re thinking in the spring. It’ll be tight to pull it all together, but we don’t want to wait long. Zahra’s a few years younger than me, but neither of us is exactly young and we want to start a family, you know?”

I don’t, but I nod anyway. “You’re having it here in New York?”

He nods while swallowing his drink. “Zahra’s going to reach out to Mac this week about booking a meeting with her to get started on the wedding plans.”

My smile slips a bit at the mention of his sister, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

We catch up with each other, and when it’s time to part, I offer him my congratulations again before heading to the tube to take it down to his sister’s place. Jesus, I feel like such a wanker.

When I reach Kenzie’s building about a half hour later, I head inside and up the stairs to her floor, where I knock on her apartment door. There’s no answer. As I’m wondering where she is, my phone vibrates in my coat pocket, so I pull it out, thinking maybe it’s from her.

But no, it’s from my mother. In the message preview, I don’t like what I see, so I open the message to be sure I understand correctly.

Mom: Your dad and I will be in Montreal for his work. Thought we’d take the opportunity to visit our favorite son. Maybe we can meet in the middle? I found a charming place in upstate New York. Wouldn’t that be ideal over the hustle and bustle of Manhattan? Already booked you a room!

There’s a link to some kind of resort. I don’t bother to open the link, knowing that with my mother, what’s done is done. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission and all that.

My shoulders slump and I sigh.

“Oh no. Did he know something?”

I whip around at the sound of Kenzie’s voice. I didn’t even hear her approach.

“Where were you?”

She thumbs behind her. “Mrs. Hoffmeister called and asked if I could run to the corner store to grab her some smokes. Sorry, thought I’d be back before you.”