“Maybe,” Nick said. “Just remember this.” He pointed at me with the index finger of the hand holding the glass and seemed to look down that finger at me. “If you ever hurt her, I will have to kill you.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said, eliciting a small laugh from Nick. It felt good to hear that laugh again, even if it was half-drunk. “And thanks for coming around on Becca and me seeing each other.”
Nick did a little salute, and I knew instantly that he wasn’t driving home. I looked over my shoulder at Mason, who was standing at the ready and nodded to him.
“Hey, Nick,” he said as he came up to us. “Why don’t I drive you home. I have to go out that way anyway.”
As they left, I pulled his glass off the table and washed it out. Opening my wallet, I tossed a few bills into the till to cover his drinks.
I was excited as I pulled onto my street, going over exactly how I was going to tell Becca about her brother’s admission of guilt. But when I pulled into the driveway, her car still wasn’t there. I walked inside and found a note stuck to the refrigerator saying that she was staying at Melissa’s that night. It would mark the first night she had stayed with me that we didn’t have dinner together. I grimaced, not at the fact that she hadn’t made dinner like a cliché housewife, but that I wasn’t going to be able to spend that time with her. That I wouldn’t be able to share the good news.
Then again, she deserved a girls’ night, too. As understanding and encouraging as Melissa was about our relationship, it couldn’t be easy for a best friend to suddenly be spending their time with someone else. Especially so shortly after she had just gotten her back after the failed wedding. Both of them probably had a million things to talk about and didn’t want my prying ears around to hear them.
So, instead, I got back in my car, ran by a fast-food taco place and made a series of terrible decisions for the well-being of my stomach, and drove home with a bag full of regret in my passenger seat. As disappointed as I was that Becca wasn’t there, I understood it and hoped she was at least going to have some fun. Plus, I was looking forward to a short night of video games, streaming bad television, and greasy, gimmicky tacos.
28
Becca
After taking the pregnancy tests and seeing them all come back positive, I was overwhelmed, scared, and emotionally frayed. I had no idea what I was supposed to think or what to do next. Melissa looked into my face.
“You have to tell Tyler what’s going on,” she said.
“I know.”
“Becca, I mean you need to tell Tyler now. Like, we should go up to the bar and you could tell him,” she said.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it myself. This is a lot. I have no idea what this even means. Not for Tyler, anyway. We’ve never talked about children or how many we want. Or if we even want them at all.”
“You should probably have talked about that when you decided to be together,” Melissa said.
I glared at her. “I’m aware. Thank you. And how about you? Do you have that conversation with all the guys you see?”
“No,” she said. “But that’s because I’m not always serious about the guys I’m seeing. If I think that there’s any chance it could actually go somewhere, then I do.”
I sighed. “Look, it’s going to be fine. You know Tyler is crazy about you.”
I nodded. “And I’m crazy about him. That doesn’t mean he’s ready to hear something like this. I just need a little bit to kind of process it all. Then I’ll tell him.”
She looked at me like she wasn’t totally convinced but then relented and nodded. “Alright. I guess it makes sense for you to take some time and figure yourself out. And you might as well take that time here.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Of course. I want to milk this whole having my best friend back in town thing as much as I can. Unless you have plans or think Tyler is going to expect to see you,” she said.
I shook my head. “No. He’s working. And since tomorrow is his day off, he’ll probably stay at the bar a couple of extra hours. He has this thing about taking time off. Somehow it makes him feel like he’s slacking and not doing his part. Even though his brothers all take time off, too.”
“Good. Then it’s settled. Can you think of anything you might want to eat that doesn’t make your stomach turn?”