When he finally allowed himself to pick up the phone and dial, his heart was thudding again. Was he really going to do this?

“‘Sup, man?”

He took a breath and said, “I need a huge favor.”

Chapter 34

JUNE

Cherisse

CHERISSE HAD NEVER felt more conspicuous in her life. It could be her imagination—after all, there was a lot going on. But she felt eyes on her and refused to look directly at anyone for fear of seeing their pity. Word would have filtered down to the rest of the wedding party, at least about her and Keiran supposedly being an item. Not everyone would be privy to what transpired after that, but who knew?

The wedding rehearsal and dinner that followed was lovely but awkward for her. First, she didn’t know how to react, seeing Keiran again after a week of radio silence. Then she felt like she had to act like nothing was weighing on her, that she was fine because her sister didn’t deserve a Maid of Honor who was too busy dealing with her own problems to give her all.

Everyone else was buzzing with excitement about the walkthrough at the Green Meadows venue. She was just trying her best not to look at Keiran while maintaining a casual air of being unfazed by his presence.

That didn’t last because she could avoid him for only so long. The main con of their roles in this wedding.

Suck it up.

And so, she did, even as she felt his eyes on her the entire rehearsal as they did their walk up the runner that was laid out on the grass, leading right to the arch where the ceremony would take place. Most of the major setup was already complete. Tomorrow, her main duties were going over the dessert stations and the cakes setup with Reba and attending to Ava. Both she and Scott would be working double duty, him with the makeup and her with the desserts. Her plan for tonight was to get Ava and all the bridesmaids to have an early night after dinner. No one was showing up hungover on wedding day. She would see to that.

The last week had been her channeling her energies into ensuring everything within her purview was set for the wedding. Keeping Ava calm was key. Her sister appeared to be doing just fine. It was Cherisse who had a whirlwind inside her.

It was becoming more unstable as they were forced to do the walk several times because Cherisse kept trying to hustle through it so she wouldn’t have to keep locking arms with Keiran to walk up the aisle, which was counterproductive because it made them have to do it over and over while her stomach was a jumble of nerves. She expended way too much energy, trying to act like everything was normal. Like she didn’t care about him right now.