It was a chill atmosphere, one he hoped he’d get to walk with Cherisse sometime. He rubbed at his chest as if to keep the feelings bubbling up at bay.

“They’ve really fixed up this place,” Eric observed.

They were set up near the railing, arms draping over it as they looked out at the water. This area had seen some major development over the years. It was evolving into a full-on hotspot for locals and tourists.

“Nice spot.” Scott was on his phone again, and Keiran had a few guesses as to whose timeline he was checking.

“Anything interesting going on?” he asked casually.

Scott continued scrolling. “If by interesting, you mean all this thirst trap posting going on. Damn.” He stared down at his phone. “Who’s even allowed to have a face like that? Also, quit fishing.” He looked up at Keiran. “If you want to see what she’s up to, no one’s stopping you.”

Keiran rolled his eyes. He didn’t reach for his phone. Instead, he caught up with his boys—even though Scott’s eyes were still glued to his phone—and they talked about the wedding, work, anything that wasn’t related to the birthday girls’ current celebration.

The conversation was a good distraction from Cherisse and other things that were cropping up on the horizon, workwise. He’d finally spoken with his father because the track was officially done and ready to be teased to the public, except his father was being mum on exactly when they’d drop the teaser online.

They hung around the boardwalk until one in the morning when yawns started to break out, and tiredness crept into Eric’s face. His friend was having a rough time at work with difficult clients and older employees who still felt he had to prove himself capable of running his father’s company one day. Keiran didn’t envy Eric in that regard at all.

They’d decided to call it a night after more yawns were deployed and were on their way to their respective cars when Keiran’s phone chimed. He nearly dropped it when he checked his chats.

“Jesus, fuck.” He skidded to a stop.

Eric and Scott stopped walking too. Damn, he’d said that out loud.

“Everything good?” Eric asked, concern clouding his face.

“Oh, yeah, just fine. Great.”

“You sure?” Scott prodded.

“Yes, was just caught off guard by a...thing. But it’s all good.” Caught off guard was really selling it short. He’d damn near bitten his tongue off at the photo Cherisse had sent him. They’d clearly returned to the hotel. She was on the bed, lying on her side, fluffy white robe on, the front of it gaping open to reveal her lacy bra, a hint of stomach, then a slice of her matching lace panties. The message read: make my birthday wish come true? Room 411

It was a booty call, plain and simple. He told himself to ignore it. Go home. They had so much to talk about, and this was clearly not an invitation to talk.