is the right thing to do, Reagan?” Ben looked over from the seat next to me in first class. “I mean, this feels a little rushed.”
I clutched my purse to my chest, thankful I hadn’t brought it with me to the lake. Looking down at the cup of ginger ale on my tray, I nodded. When it didn’t feel sure enough, I nodded harder. “I need…space. I need to breathe.”
“So you’re leaving a town with nothing but air for LA? You’ve heard of smog, right?” Ben pried my fingers off my purse strap and pressed his vodka cranberry into my hand. “Drink. You need to relax at least a little bit.”
My eyes filled with tears and I shook my head. Looking up and meeting his eyes, I felt my lip wobble and blew out a breath while wiping my cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
He took the drink away and clutched my hand. “What’s going on? You showed up at my doorstep, demanding I take you back to LA, and I didn’t push you, but you’re freaking me out. I’ve never seen you this distraught and I managed to get you slapped by my wife and fired in the same day.”
The stewardess cleared her throat from beside us and offered me a pack of tissues. She shot Ben a disapproving look and leaned over to pat my hand. “Are you okay, honey? Can I get you anything?”
I shook my head and choked back more tears. I took the tissues and fought to open the package before bursting into shaking sobs that startled both the kind stewardess and Ben. While I fought to contain them, Ben rushed to make sure the woman knew he hadn’t caused the tears.
“What I did was a while back. This isn’t something I did. I’m not sure what exactly this is.”
“Jenny told Russ about me being with the guys. He kicked me out and hates me. He hates me so much. Then Jenny told me the guys were just with me as a bet. And Pearl hinted that I’m pregnant!” I accidentally shouted the last word and then buried my face in my lap and cried even harder.
“Oh, god. Is it mine?”
I slapped Ben’s arm and groaned. “No! We were always careful. And don’t sound so horrified about it. And maybe Pearl was wrong. She’s just a crazy old gossip.”
The stewardess slowly straightened and cleared the shock from her face. “Um. Wow. You know what? I think I’ve got something chocolate somewhere. Would that help?”
I nodded. “Please.”
“I wasn’t horrified, per se, but now that things between us are really over, for good, I’ve been thinking about how much I messed up with my wife. I was thinking about calling her. A kid would kill those plans, though.”
I patted his hand. “I hope she gives you hell. Men are the worst.”
“I thought you were going to be sweet for a minute there.” He sighed. “You were so much sweeter when we were dating.”
“You mean when you were one of my bosses?”
“Touché.”
We sat in silence as the plane took off, hurtling us away from Lunar. I’d run all the way to Jim and Mary’s lake house, only finding the wrong house twice before getting to theirs. Then, while Jenny watched on, I’d asked them to give me a ride back to Lunar so I could flee town. Thankfully, they were the most amazing couple. They’d listened to me cry and explain things that no employer should’ve ever had to hear about their employee, and then they’d offered me a place to stay. I’d just cried harder.
I’d grabbed my purse and a bag of my things from Russ’ before rushing to Ben’s and begging him to leave with me. I didn’t think I could do it on my own. Having a friend by my side made it possible to get through the pain of walking away from Lunar again.
“All three of them, huh? No wonder I didn’t stand a chance.” Ben laughed when I groaned. “I’m kidding. I know you have your reasons for leaving, Reagan, but I’ve got to say. When those guys were threatening me away from you, it didn’t seem like you were just some bet.”
I curled up in the seat and chewed on my lip. “It didn’t feel like it, either. They didn’t deny the bet, though.”
“So, they’re men and did something stupid? You care about them.” He looked down at my stomach. “And you might be carrying one of their children.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Ben. Seeing Russ attack them and hearing him tell me to leave… And then having Jenny trigger all of my fears… It was too much. It’s been too much since the beginning. I’ve been selfishly taking what I want, not caring about how it’s going to affect anyone else. They’ve all been best friends since they were old enough to pee outside together. And I just ruined that.”
“You didn’t ruin it. It sounds like Russ did. I’m not going to push you, but I think you should rethink running. I’ve never seen you so happy. I think you might be home in Lunar.”
I rested my head on the seat and closed my eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“I’ll give you a week of feeling sorry for yourself and then I’m going to start pushing.” Ben patted my hand and chuckled. “I can one thousand percent say that I didn’t think I’d be leaving Lunar with you, lecturing you on going back to your other three boyfriends.”
“And I can say with the same conviction that I never thought I’d have three boyfriends.”
“Liar.” He was grinning when I looked over at him. “I heard a few rumors while I was hanging around town.”
Groaning, I closed my eyes again. “Wake me up when we get to LA.”
“Sure. Expecting mommas need their rest.”
I slapped his arm. “I’m not pregnant, Ben. Probably. How would the town gossip know?”
“Take a test and put it to rest, then.”
I shifted and swallowed around a ball of nerves. “Why waste the plastic?”
“Chicken shit.”
“Yep.”
