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Cassie seemed to be in a daze; her mind was definitely elsewhere. But I couldn’t blame her. None of us could.
“Hello?” Melissa waved both arms like she was signaling a rescue chopper.
“I’m sorry, what did I miss?” Cassie asked, and everyone laughed again. Then she glanced at her phone. “I have to go. I have class in ten minutes, and it’s on the othe
r side of campus.”
I made a quick decision, realizing I was quickly running out of time to come clean with Cassie. I hated hurting her any more than she already was, but I had to tell her the truth. She needed to know that I was not only going to Jack’s wedding, but that I was going to be in it as well. And now was as good a time as any.
“I’ll walk you.” I stood up to join her, and everyone stared at me like I had just crossed some invisible boundary.
“You don’t have to walk me to class, Dean. I’m fine,” Cassie said as we left the student union.
“I know, but I wanted to talk to you.”
“What’s up?”
“I just wanted you to know that I’m going to the wedding. And he asked me to be his best man.”
Cassie stopped abruptly and froze, and I thought she might drop the bag she was holding as her face twisted in pain. I reached out an arm to steady her, but she pulled away.
“Of course you are,” she said, her eyes huge and pained as she looked up at me. “You’re his brother.”
Ashamed of myself, I lowered my gaze and kicked at the ground with the toe of my shoe. “I know, but I feel like I’m betraying you somehow. Standing up there with Jack, it’s like saying that I agree with what he’s doing. And I don’t. I don’t agree with it for one second, but he’s my brother and I love him.”
Cassie threw her arms around me, refusing to let go until I hugged her back. “I love you for caring about me, but of course you should be there for Jack.”
“I just wish I could talk him out of it.”
“Are Gran and Gramps going?”
“They’re not. Gran claims she can’t fly for that long, and Gramps refuses to go without her.” I shrugged. “But honestly, I don’t think they have the heart to watch him go through with it.”
“Does Jack know they aren’t coming?” she asked, and I knew it must hurt her to still care so much about him.
“He knows. I think he’s relieved, actually. He feels like he let them down, you know? He’s dealing with a lot of guilt right now.”
Cassie pulled out her phone to glance at the time. “I’m gonna be late to class. I have to go. Thanks for telling me.” She turned and started to walk away before tossing over her shoulder, “You’re a good friend, Dean.”
• • •
Cassie must have filled Melissa in because the next day at school, the pixie chucked a T-shirt into my lap.
“What’s this?”
“Open it, dummy,” she said with a wicked grin.
When I unfolded the plain white tee to reveal writing in black letters that read Team Cassie, I smiled.
“Am I supposed to wear this around campus?”
“I thought you could wear it under your tux at the wedding,” she said with a wink.
I let out a belly laugh, the first one in a long, long time. It was a huge relief that my interactions with Melissa had become comfortable again. Maybe it was because whatever was between us had taken a backseat to all the drama with Jack and Cassie.
I wasn’t sure but underneath it all, I believed I still wanted to be with Melissa, or at least give us a shot. Jack had been right about one thing all those months ago—I didn’t give up easily and tended to stay attached. I could see that now.
Grinning at Melissa, I said, “I am so doing that. I’m absolutely doing it. It’ll be the only way I can give this wedding a big fuck-you without pissing anyone off.”
