Page 70 of Faking It with the Firefighter

“You’re the expert,” I replied and picked up my cinnamon roll.

“Enjoy. I’ll see you both later.” Sophie walked away, leaving us to get to the matter at hand.

“So, how about these vows?” I asked with a nod.

Donny pulled up his phone. “I’m a football player, not a writer. I don’t know the first thing about writing vows, especially vows I’m going to read in front of millions of followers.” He shoved a hand through his hair, and the light shining through the windows highlighted the bags under his eyes and the lines carved into his face. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink. I was beginning to understand the pressure he was under. Donny blew out a breath. “I think I’m gonna have to use AI or something.”

I lowered his phone. “No, Donny, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not real. This is your wedding. You’re committing your life to someone. You can’t have a computer come up with the reasons why. You should know those by heart. What attracted you to Blair? What are you excited about for your lives together?”

Donny stared blankly at his phone and didn’t answer my question. “It’s just all of this wedding stuff is so stressful. Blair has been obsessing about every single detail. Making a huge deal about the sponsorships we’re getting. And we need those sponsorships, Rex. The bills keep coming, and I’m not playing football anymore... It’s a lot. I haven’t had time to think about what’s in my heart right now.”

“Just take a breath, Donny,” I said, and he did. “Just talk about the small moments. Like how you love to kiss her whenyou wake up in the morning.” My mind flashed back to my lips on Abigail’s as the morning sun peeked in through her curtains just an hour ago.

Donny grimaced. “Blair doesn’t let me do that until after I’ve brushed my teeth. And I mean, she’s right. Right?”

“Right,” I answered, forcing a smile. “Well, you can talk about what you’re looking forward to in the future.”

Donny chewed his bottom lip with a wrinkled brow. “But I don’t know what I’m looking forward to. Is that bad? I was looking forward to playing football for the next three years, at least. I was looking forward to winning the Super Bowl someday. But now…” He swallowed thickly. “Now, I don’t know.”

A pang went through my heart. Donny was grown up, and Ididwant him to stand on his own two feet, but he was still my little brother. I remembered how lost he’d looked when Dad died. It was exactly how he looked now, thinking about his future. Utterly lost.

My brother glanced at me, brow wrinkled. “I thought this whole writing-your-own-vows thing was stupid, but now they’re making me think. What if I can’t write them because I shouldn’t be marrying Blair?”

Whoa. I hadn’t been expecting that to come out of his mouth. I chewed on his question, then asked one of my own: “Do you want to marry Blair?”

He shrugged. “I think so.”

I think so? We’d all heard about the wedding day jitters. But I couldn’t imagine saying something like this just hours before my wedding. That’s the kind of thing you just knew.

We’d grown up in a house with parents who were obvious about their resentment for each other. They’d stuck it out, but ithadn’t seemed worth it. Misery had dripped down the walls of our childhood home. The only reprieve had been death. Literally. When Dad died, things got easier.

And Donny wanted to sign up for that again?

I leaned in. “Listen, Donny. If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.”

“Two point four million people are going to watch this, Rex.”

“Yeah. So?”

“‘So?’ That’s it?”

I shrugged. “None of those people know you, Donny. This is the rest of your life we’re talking about.”

He pressed his lips together and averted his gaze like he was considering it. And there was a part of me that wanted him to call off the wedding. Not because I didn’t want him marrying my ex, but because I wanted my brother to be sure. “No. We’ve come too far to call it off. I’m going to marry Blair today. Let’s just get back to the vows, okay?”

“Are you sure?” I pressed.

He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. So what else can I talk about?”

I wasn’t satisfied with his answer, but I knew he was going to do what he wanted. I was his best man and his brother. It was my job to support him. “Well, you could talk about the kind of husband you promise to be.”

“You mean, like, a good one?”

I stared at him. He stared back at me.

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