“Sounds fun,” Keiran chimed in. Cherisse scowled. He’d seen those crowns on Pinterest before. How hard could they be?

Ava squeezed Cherisse’s shoulder, waving bye to Keiran as she steered her sister over to the woman patiently waiting to measure them. “It will be fun. I promise.”

Chapter 8

Cherisse

THE PROMISED FUN WAS a damn lie.

Her first attempt at a flower crown looked a hot mess and nothing like the creation in the video she’d been trying to follow. It was closer to one of those Pinterest fails.

“Well, this isn’t so bad.”

Cherisse’s fist closed around one of the silk flowers, crushing it in her palm, jaw tight as she looked over at the perfect flower crown Keiran was holding. Of course, his was an exact replica of the one in the video. The universe was definitely having a laugh at her. What were the odds he’d be good at this?

“I hate you.” She couldn’t stop it from slipping out. She’d been fighting with her one crown for what felt like forever. Apart from the one in his hand, Keiran had three others already made and placed off to the side.

Keiran laughed, eyes scrunching up in the corners. “I can show you if you want. Yours isn’t that bad. You just need more flowers to fill up this side.”

She ignored him, going back to doing battle with her crown. She’d get it done without his help, thank you very much. Hopefully, when the others arrived, at least one of them would have as much trouble as she did, so she wasn’t the only one with pathetic-looking crowns.

She reached for her phone and texted Remi, again: where are you? If I have to be with him another minute you’ll find a crime scene when you get here >.>

Remi: five mins away. Promise ;)

That wink said it was more like ten or twenty minutes. She’d been at Eric’s for an hour already, and only Keiran had shown up so far. Everyone else was late. Typical. Eric’s place was a short walk away from his parents. Cherisse wondered how Ava felt about that, having in-laws that close. The house had apparently belonged to Eric’s late aunt, who’d left it for him. It wasn’t as ostentatious as his parents’ but pretty damn close, boasting a couple of guest rooms and a massive kitchen that Cherisse envied. The pool in the back yard looked inviting right about now, too. Eric and Ava had enticed them over for crown-making with mention of a potential pool party after. Except they’d both been gone forever, doing Lord knows what—she hoped it involved getting stocks for later—leaving her here with Keiran and the damn crowns.

“Why are you so bad at this?” Keiran asked, gesturing at her pitiful-looking flower. “You’re supposedly good at creating these delectable treats everyone raves about, and yet...”