Page 81 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

I’d somehow managed to convince my family that I was marrying a stranger and they’d believed it so intensely that they’d assisted me in planning a wedding. The next seven days were crucial in maintaining the farce, and while I didn’t see an issue coming from me and Kris, this week’s tasks made my heart pound with worry. We were supposed to leave the arranging of the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner to our families and just show up at the appointed time. The logic was that they’d been present for every step and should have more than enough knowledge on how things should go. It was sound thinking, but still my stomach was tied in knots.

We’d been holding their hands at every step of this thing and now we were supposed to just let them run off without supervision? What if they’d only been pretending to get along this entire time? Or what if they didn’t really believe this was real and were just holding their tongue to be polite? Or, what if someone revealed something about one of us that made the other family want to stop us from getting married? On top of that, Cinta was allowed to join in on the planning, but wasn’t able to tell me anything at all. What was the point of having inside intel if they couldn’t spill the beans? There were so many variables and I couldn’t figure out what was worse.

No, that was a lie.

The worst of it is that Kris and I were under instructions not to see each other until the rehearsal. We weren’t even supposed to call or text. So, not only was I suddenly outside of the loop, but I couldn’t even be soothed by her kisses and reassurances. This of course meant that we were unable to discuss what happens after we make it to the altar. We’d come this far without either of us bringing it up, but it had been on my mind since the moment I realized things were becoming more intimate between us. This far in, with only days standing between us and The Big Day, would’ve been the perfect time to have that conversation—but apparently the Instant I Do producers had thought of everything, because now we wouldn’t speak again until I met her at the altar. It was the pits.

I wasn’t at all surprised to find Kevin at the door when Cinta and I were preparing to head to the rehearsal on Thursday. At that point, I’d been expecting him every day and was surprised when he didn’t show up. He asked for a moment of my time and I agreed, following him to a Sprinter van that was parked in the lot of my apartment complex. Inside was a variation of the setup that I recognized, with a camera mounted onto an arm which was attached to a pole bolted to the floor of the van. There was a second arm that extended from the pole which held a monitor. After sitting in one of the two chairs that sat opposite the equipment, I looked to Kevin for further instructions. His face was kind as he regarded me.

“How are you feeling?”

“Right now? I’m nervous as all get-out.”

He chuckled. “I can understand that, but if it makes you feel better, you have nothing to worry about.”

My eyes widened as I stared at him. “Was that...are you saying—”

I stopped when he held a finger to his lips and winked. Sinking back against my seat, I sighed. Okay. If Kevin was saying that I had nothing to worry about when it came to the rehearsal, then I could work with that. He would know better than anyone.

“Okay,” he began, “you’re going to watch a quick video and then we’ll do your final Jitter Cam.”

Blowing out a breath, I laughed lightly. “Wow, is it really my last one?”

“Yep. Unless something happens and the whole thing falls through tomorrow.”

My face fell and he quickly shook his head.

“It was a joke, dearheart. Breathe.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It was, but you’re feeling sensitive right now so I’ll apologize.”

Like clockwork, I began to worry my bottom lip. “So, about that video you want me to watch?”

“Ah, yes.” He pressed a few buttons on the camera and the screen lit with a frozen image of Kris. I shot a quick look at Kevin but he nodded at the screen, urging me to pay attention. The video started and I quickly recognized the space around her as her living room.

“Whassup. I’m Kristin Zavala, but I go by Kris. I’m twenty-eight, five-ten, and—I’m not telling you my weight because I think it’s fucked up that you ask for that. Why should how much I weigh have any bearing on whether or not I can convince mi gente, my people, that I’m getting married? It shouldn’t, and if you don’t pick me because of that then it is what it is.”

As she shifted in her seat, leaning back and tossing an arm along the back of the couch, she licked her lips in that incredibly sexy way she always did. I felt a smile start to build and I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth to hold it back. Kevin’s eyes—along with the camera—were on me and I didn’t want to appear so dang lovesick if I could help it.

“I’m single and looking. My sister, Rhea, calls me a hopeful romantic because I’m always looking. I’m a lesbian; used to be a teddy bear stud but then I lost about fifty pounds and now I’m just a regular-ass butch. I documented my accidental weight loss on social media and gained a pretty big following from it. Now, I’m a content creator and influencer. I stick to weight-lifting and food, and it’s working well for me. I also showcase my family a lot. There are a ton of us and we’re pretty close, so it’s impossible not to. I wouldn’t call myself an IG hottie but others have, so do with that what you will.

“I want to be a contestant on Instant I Do because I’m looking for a wife. Shit. That sounds wild when I say it out loud. Does anyone ever say that? Probably not, but it’s the truth. This single shit is for the birds and I’m ready to start a family. I know what you’re probably thinking, but I can assure you that the women in my DMs are not wifey material. I love it when women shoot their shot, and I respond to all of the messages in my inbox but that hasn’t served me well so far. Man, I give these women a chance and every single one of them has left a sour taste in my mouth. Most of them hit me up and pretend that they want something real, but when it all boils down, they just want to be able to say they got with me. It doesn’t even make any sense because I have way less than a million followers and I’m not even verified.”

She sighed, dragged both hands down her face, and licked her lips. I could hear the frustration in her voice and my heart went out to her. Everything she’d told me over the past few weeks stemmed from the emotions flitting across her face on the screen in front of me. It wasn’t game curated especially so that I’d help her make it to the altar. She wasn’t using me as a launching point for her business. She hadn’t been lying that first night with everyone. It was real. What was building—had built—between us was real. My bottom lip trembled, and I quickly brushed away a few tears that were hell-bent on streaming down my face before I could stop them.

Kevin held a box of tissue out to me.

“Thank you,” I murmured, a fresh wave of heat blowing over me at the reminder that I was crying on camera.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice comforting, caring.

Stuttered laughter fell from my lips. “I’m in love with someone I just met six weeks ago. I am definitely not okay.”

He waved a hand in the air. “That’s normal stuff. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

I gaped at him. “What’s normal about falling in love with someone you just met? Please explain it to me. I would love to know.”