I couldn’t trust myself to be around Avery much longer without kissing him again. Or worse—forgetting this was all pretend.
But this time, there wasn’t a crowd. No performance. Just us.
And I couldn’t kiss him just because I wanted to. He’d either get the wrong idea, or worse, he wouldn’t want me back.
I didn’t want to stick around to find out which.
"Mr. Jones, Lolita was going to set up your bed for the journey to Las Vegas, but when we got your phone call about your—"
"That’ll be all. Thanks again." Avery cuts in, sticking his hand out for Rhodes to shake, and he takes it. We board the jet, still holding hands.
Low chatter hums from somewhere inside.
"Do you have the same people who work with you on every flight?"
"Surprise!"
My heart leaps out of my throat and into the hands of my sisters, who are all wearing sashes that say, ‘Would be bridesmaid’in big, pink letters.Heat floods my cheeks, and I bring my hands up to cover them.
"What the hellare you guys doing here?" My mouth hangs open as Avery stands behind me, one hand on my lower back.Cassandra’s face on Lizzie’s phone screen eyes me suspiciously, nibbling the inside of her cheek while cradling Willow. Lizzie and Jenna jump for joy in my direction.
"Can’t get married without a Bachelorette party, can you?" Lizzie throws her arms around my neck. She reaches for Avery behind me, giving him a gentle swat across his arm. "This guy planned to have us hereweeksago." She grins, her grip on me lessening as she takes a step back. "Cassandra obviously couldn’t be here physically."
"But I’m always watching," Cass says from Lizzie’s held-out phone.
"While your marriage itself might be—" Jenna pauses to look around us, making sure the coast is clear, "fake, the celebrations will look totally real." She wiggles her eyebrows before making herself comfortable in one of the few empty seats on the jet.
"Mom is—"
"Occupied," Lizzie finishes Cassandra’s sentence, and a pit grows deeper and deeper in my stomach. Something that feels a lot like guilt.
But it’s not as though Avery and I will be professing our love for each other while committing to forever.
We’re committing to an annulment in a few months. That’s all.
"Mom will survive. Especially with Willow here. She’s already been a nice distraction," I tell them, and myself.
Cassandra rolls her eyes, but a smile forms across her lips.
"You know I’m right," I say, and she doesn’t argue.
I glance around at my sisters, the jet, the whole ridiculous setup. "In a few months, my faux marriage will be a thing of the past, and we can all move on like it never happened."
So why do I hate how that makes me feel?
Harley calls out, and Cassandra wishes us luck before ending the call.
"No need to fear, Olive. We prepared for exactly this moment." Jenna pulls a life-size cutout of our oldest sister out of nowhere, placing it on the seat directly in front of where I will be sitting.
Avery clears his throat. "Uh, we better get in our seats, Ladies. We have a long flight ahead of us."
I feel like he’s already second-guessing the decision to bring my entire support system on board. Especially now that one of them is here in cardboard form.
"Is Ryder coming?" I ask while the girls busy themselves, getting comfortable in preparation for the flight.
He shakes his head. "No. He doesn’t…he already had prior commitments. Besides, like you said, it’sfaux. Nothing to have a crowd for. Your sisters and the staff atThe WyndhamChapel can be our witnesses."
"The Wyndham?" I ask, taking a seat next to the window, right in front of the life-size cardboard cutout of Cassandra and her prying, older sister's eyes. It’s like they chose that picture specifically, knowing it’ll haunt me for the rest of my days.
