"I found the chapel online. It doesn’t take bookings, I checked. But it’s close to the airport."
"It’ll do," I say to reassure him.
"Did you invite Josie?" he asks, his shoulder brushing mine as we get settled.
Oops.SheknowsI’m going to be here, obviously, but she didn’t bother telling me if she was coming. "Should I have?"
It’s not like she would need to ask for an invite. This marriage was all her idea.
Avery shrugs. "Eh, too late now."
Chapter twenty-seven
Avery
WhenIwasyounger,I always knew to dream big.
Go to college on a full ride.
Get drafted to the NBA.
Be the only man on a private jet, surrounded by beautiful women.
I thought that last one was too niche and would never happen. And now that the day has come, and I’m on the jetIown, with three very attractive women sitting around me? I regret ever putting that shit out into the universe.
There hasn’t been a lick of silence since the plane took off. Not even five seconds of peace. Thankfully, I’ve had my laptop to distract me, and Rhodes has just announced that we’re about to land.
The reality of the situation must be sinking in for everyone, myself included. Only, I’ve had the last six and a half hours to think about it while staring at my screen, trying my hardest not to be involved in any conversation.
Not that they didn’t try.
Lizzie and Jenna attempted to ask me all kinds of questions, and I answered as best as I could without giving too much away that wasn’t necessary, while the cut out of Cassandra glared at me, making damn sure I didn’t say the wrong thing.
I don’t blame her. She’s protective of her youngest sister. I learned that in the five seconds I saw her on FaceTime, and in the six hours her picture shot daggers at me.
She and I have that in common. Only, I bet she wouldn’t walk out of a confrontation with a broken wrist that made everybody question her character, and put her job on the line.
Or she might. She looks like she can handle herself.
And while the mini interrogation went down, my eyes wouldn’t leave Olive.
Six hours is a long time to observe somebody, but I realized that in the presence of her sisters, Olive seems so….reserved, like she isn’t her complete and total self when she’s around them.
Or maybe she is, and the person I’ve come to know over the last few weeks has been a mask that she forces herself to wear for some reason.
I guess the truth will come to light in time. People can only hide their true selves for so long before the glass breaks.
"I’ll take that," I say to Olive, who stands to get off the plane, her enormous bag draped over her shoulder.
She smiles sweetly at me, but it vanishes and turns into curiosity when I offer to take the bags of Lizzie and Jenna, too.
I don’t think it’s a jealousy thing, no. Olive doesn’t seem like the type to have a jealous bone in her body. It’s more confusion and surprise that I would offer to take everyone's bags, and not just hers.
I don’t know why I feel the need to prove myself to her inner circle.
Maybe it’s not about proving anything, maybe it’s just manners.
Or maybe it’s because I want Olive to see me trying.
