“What? You think it makes me less of a man?”

Remi sucked her teeth and walked over to the couch to sit. She crossed her legs, eyes fixed on him. “Don’t even try that shit with me. I don’t care if you were crying. In fact, you should be bawling your eyes out.”

“So, you’re here to witness my misery? Great. Take a pic, it’ll last longer.”

“I’m here because you two need to get your shit together. Don’t get me wrong, I love reaping the benefits of Cherisse’s emotional bakefest, but—” She held up her index finger. “There’s only so much cake even I can eat. You need to fix this.”

“What? I’m respecting her need for space.”

Remi sighed like she was completely exasperated with him. He was confused, had expected a cuss out for hurting Cherisse, but Remi’s reaction wasn’t aligning with what he knew about her. Fiercely protective of her friends, Keiran had been hearing Cherisse and Remi refer to each other as platonic soulmates forever.

So why was Remi going easy on him? Did he look so pathetic that even Remi was taking pity on him?

“She cares about you, and you’re obviously in love with her. Even though you keep fucking up. God damn, get it together. I swear you are the one person that sabotages his own happiness so damn much.”

“I don’t understand what’s happening right now. You’re rooting for us?”

Remi rubbed the bridge of her nose and muttered, “Save me from clueless men, Lord Jesus,” before getting to her feet. “Cherisse hasn’t allowed herself to see anything with anyone in a long time. She’s been cautious, and obviously, you wouldn’t have been her first choice for that.”

“Geez, thanks.”

The look Remi shot him nearly murdered him on the spot.

“But,” she continued. “Stuff doesn’t always go as planned, and it’s so obvious to me you didn’t plan some malicious plot with that asshole, and look, Cherisse in her heart knows that. You don’t even like him. They tried to spin those behind-the-scenes vids in a certain way, but I could tell you were getting frustrated with Sean. But you tried to manage her, which was a big no-no. Might not have been your intention, but you need to show her you’re serious about her. Serious about admitting you fucked up and want to do better. Actions. Not just some pathetic apology saying I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ve said it so many times since you two were forced to work together, so show her you’re genuinely willing to fix this. Apologies aren’t always comfortable, so figure it out.”

He opened his mouth to ask how the hell he was supposed to do that, and Remi held up a hand. “Don’t even ask me. I’ve helped you enough. Bye.”

Keiran leaned back in his chair, pondering. Remi had given him a lot to think about. It was easy to say sorry, but doing something to prove that? Not so much. But Cherisse deserved more than that.