Page 55 of In Spades

I groaned. “Will.”

“For science, Kris,” he said emphatically.

“Fine.”

His voice softened. “What’s bothering you?”

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I guess telling him about Chase and Bridget wouldn’t kill me. Hell, it had nothing to do with me.

“So, um, Chase and Bridget came to poker night and, uh—well, I mean—fuck, I’m terrible at this.”

“Keep going.”

I groaned. “It’s stupid and I don’t know how to explain it. I suck at the whole sharing thing.”

“If it’s bothering you, it’s not stupid. Keep going.”

I let out a shaky breath. “So, you remember how Bridget’s engaged to Kyle?”

“I do.”

“Well, I kind of saw Chase and Bridget having a, uh, private moment. I know Chase is messed up over her getting married. You saw it when shit hit the fan at Jokers. But tonight, she seemed really upset too.”

I paused, giving him a chance to put me out of my misery. He said nothing.

“Our friend group is really tight. With Chase and Bee at odds with each other, I don’t know what it’s gonna do to us. It feels like everyone’s already moving on. I don’t want us to have to take sides, too.”

“Why does it feel like that?”

“They’re all getting engaged and married, having babies and more babies. I’m worried that Chase and Bee will be the final straw and that I’ll get...” I groaned. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

“That you’re worried you’ll get left behind?”

I swallowed hard. “Like I said, it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, sweetheart,” he soothed, without pressing me further or offering his two cents. His simple reassurance crashed into me like a wave, washing away the critical voices in my mind.

I closed my eyes and, for a moment, enjoyed the silence. It felt nice to be heard without the subtle judgement of another person trying to fix my problems.

“So, who’s expecting?” Will asked. “It’s not Chase and Bridget, because if that’s the case then?—”

“Oh God, no,” I said, laughing. “Not them. I don’t think they’ve ever actually dated. They’ve just been really close for years.”

“At least the worst-case scenario hasn’t happened.”

“Yeah, that’d be bad.” I giggled. “If that happened, I’d have to skip town with you just to escape the war zone.”

What the fuck just came out of my mouth?

“Well, in the case?—”

A loud car blazed by my neighborhood, drowning out Will’s voice.

“So anyway,” I said, thankful for the distraction. “Steve and Erica Pelham are the expectant couple. Do you remember Erica from the night we ran into each other at the bar? I think y’all were introduced.”

“Of course,” he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “She’s married to Steve Pelham, who is Chase’s partner at the police department. They had a little wedding at their house over the summer after Aly was born.”

I paused. “How do you know all that?”

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