LOGINShane’s POV Seven Weeks LaterI sighed as I sat behind my desk.Technically, I was supposed to be working, but I had finished almost everything on my plate, and tax season was very so much over.This was my downtime.Which meant I had no excuse for staring at the blank page in front of me for the last twenty minutes.My wedding vows.I rubbed a hand over my face.I had no idea what the hell to write.Maya and I were finally getting married next week.Finally.We were supposed to get married last December, but after having the twins, Maya hadn’t felt comfortable in her body yet.I respected that.Didn’t mean I hadn’t wanted to marry that woman immediately.Hell, I think some part of me knew the first day I met her that she was going to change my life forever, but it was what it was.We pushed the wedding back to May.Then May came, and she still wasn’t feeling completely comfortable.After that, we had some issues come up in June involving my son, my ex-wife, and his girlfriend.That
Isla's POVThree Months after the wedding.....“Hello, Dr. Eunice.”“Hi, Isla. Have a seat.”I smiled faintly as I sat down and adjusted myself in the chair. Dr. Eunice opened her notebook.“Okay. How are you doing today?”I shrugged.“I’m living.”She gave me a small nod.“All right. Give me some updates.”I sighed.“Well, school is starting again. SJ is a sophomore now. The girls are moving up too. One is going to junior high, and the other one is still in primary school. They’re doing pretty good.”I paused.“My ex-husband and his fiancée are finally getting married next month, I guess you could say, they are doing good.”Dr. Eunice wrote something down.“They were supposed to get married last December, but I’m not sure what happened with that. Either way, they’re getting married soon.”She looked up.“How do you feel about that, Isla?”I bit my lip.“How am I supposed to feel about it?”She studied me for a moment.“Then let me ask you something else. Why haven’t you moved on?”I
Crandon’s POV Continued Once we were outside and away from everybody, Silas looked at me.“Hey, bro. What’s up?”I took a deep breath.Then let it out.“Okay. Be real with me.”His face changed slightly.“I know you tell Tiffany everything, and I’ve tried asking her, but she won’t tell me.”I stared at him.“Where the fuck is Chance?”Silas bit his lip.Then looked away. That told me enough to know whatever answer was coming wasn’t good.He sighed.“Chance cheated on us.”I frowned.“What?”“He cheated on me and Pam.”Silas looked down.“And then he left.”I stared at him.“What the fuck are you talking about?”“He’d been cheating on us for about two years.”“Two years?”“Yeah.”I couldn’t believe it.“The reason I found out was because, you know, he travels a lot for business. So him being out of town never looked suspicious.”I nodded.“One particular time, he told me he was going to New York.”Silas rubbed his jaw.“I don’t think he remembered telling me that.”He looked at me.“
Crandon’s POV Three days later, most of our family and friends had finally arrived, and technically, the Michaels weren’t just friends.They were our family.We had grown up together. We laughed together, joked together, worked together, and had been there for each other through damn near everything. At the end of the day, whether we called each other cousins, brothers, sisters, or whatever else, it didn’t matter.We were family.Even the whole debacle with Lorna, Jeremy, and Ms. Diane had somehow worked itself out.Actually, it had worked itself out a little too well.Ms. Diane was practically Jeremy’s best friend now.She loved that man.Lorna, on the other hand, was pissed because her mother was suddenly walking around arm in arm with her boyfriend like they had known each other for twenty years.I just shook my head.I knew Ms. Diane was going to love him.My mother came up beside me and looked around.“Son, is this the location for the rehearsal dinner?”“Yes, Mom. This is it.”
Crandon’s POV By the time we finally made it to the airport, I was already tired, and yes, we were picking up four people.First, Lorna and her new beau, Jeremy.With Lorna living most of her life in LA, you would think she would’ve flown in with the us earlier, but apparently, they opted not to.Probably trying to avoid Ms. Diane.Couldn’t say I didn't blamed them.We were also picking up my parents.Somehow, my mother had managed to get one cake through airport security.Only one.I was honestly shocked they let her get that one through, but somehow she did it.What she didn’t realize was that cake will not make it to the wedding.We pulled up outside LAX, which had officially convinced me that O’Hare wasn’t the worst airport in America.I pulled up to the curb while everybody waved us down.She hopped out, and between all of us, we started loading everything into the truck. Lorna, Jeremy, and my parents loaded their suitcases, and Tempest carefully took possession of my mother’s
Crandon’s POV Seven Months Later“Okay, Mom, I know you’re upset, but you won't be able to transport ten cakes from Chicago to L.A on a plane unless it's private.”My mother frowned at me through the phone.“I don’t understand why not. My cakes are the best cakes. Everyone says that.”I sighed.“You’re coming to LA five days early, okay? You can always come to Tempest’s mom’s house and make some cakes. You didn’t have to make that many.”She scoffed.“I just don’t understand. I made all these cakes, and now they're going to go to waste.”I rolled my eyes.“Mom. Did you think about that before you made ten cakes? Unless you were planning to drive them here, how were you going to transport all of them? And driving still wouldn’t be a good idea because it’s almost a three-day trip. Why would you make that many cakes?”My mother sighed dramatically before my father got on the phone.“Son, she just wanted to bring cakes for you and your guests to enjoy with all the pre-wedding activities
Shane’s POVSitting across from Maya feels unreal, like I slipped into someone else’s life and forgot to check the mirror on the way in. She’s beautiful in that effortless, dangerous way. The kind of woman you don’t approach unless you’re prepared to have your whole equilibrium shaken, and here she
Keisha’s POVI sit beside Kole, watching him spiral in real time, and honestly, I’ve seen a lot in my life. Boardrooms full of men twice my age trying to intimidate me. Audits that would make lesser people sweat through their suits. Hostile takeovers. Corporate warfare.But this?This girl has been
Crandon’s POVAs I walk around Knox’s wedding, I sigh, long and heavy, because I see her.Her.The beauty that should’ve been mine.The one I really, really, really fucked up with.Carmen.She’s standing a few feet away, laughing as her cousin comes down with the bouquet like she just won the Super
Kole’s POVWalking around my brother’s wedding, I feel… good. Like genuinely good, proud, happy, and whole.I watch Knox laughing with Sienna, the way his hand stays anchored at the small of her back like he’s afraid she might float away, and it hits me how far we’ve come. There were plenty of tim







