Page 62 of Teasing a King

When the others arrive, they’re all carrying something. Hannah has supermarket bags filled with chips and cookies. Claire has a box from the local bakery that I suspect contains my favorite cupcakes. Quinn walks in, looking ready to give birth any minute and carrying a large baking dish covered in aluminum foil. She’s dangerously close to waddling, but none of us point this out to her.

“I didn’t have time or energy to stop at the store,” Quinn says, “So I stole a pan of lasagna from the kitchen at the Jester.”

Hannah stares at her, wide-eyed. “Andie is going to kill you!”

Quinn shrugs. “She won’t hit a pregnant woman. Besides, it was an extra. I asked.” She sticks out her tongue at Hannah who just shakes her head.

One by one, they all turn to look at me, the humor leaving their expressions.

“What happened?” Quinn asks, lowering herself carefully onto the couch beside me.

I let out a long sigh. “Guys, I fucked it all up.”

“Let us be the judge of that,” Claire says, taking a cupcake from the box and holding it out to me.

I smile, grateful all over again to have these women on my side.

“I broke things off with Van.” I say it quickly, like ripping off a bandage. It doesn’t make the words hurt any less, though. When no one says anything, I continue.

“I told him I just want to be co-parents and friends. I said we have to end whatever this is and just focus on being the best parents we can.” I glance around at the other women. All of them are looking at me like I just told them I’m running away to join a cult.

Quinn is the first to speak. “The fuck? Why?”

Claire tips her head in Quinn’s direction. “What she said.”

I shake my head. “It was never going to work,” I say. “We’re too different. We come from different worlds. It was always eventually going to end. I just figured it’s better now than after the baby is here. I don’t want to confuse our child. It’s best if we make a clean break now before it gets more confusing.”

Hope looks at me, her brows knitted in confusion. “I’m with these two,” she says, pointing at Quinn and Claire. “The fuck?”

I take a deep breath and try again. “This is for the best,” I say. “He’s only with me because of the baby. Sooner or later, he’ll realize that. And I don’t want to just be another responsibility for him.”

Hannah speaks for the first time since I told them about the breakup. “That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.”

I’m stunned to hear her speak so boldly. Quinn is usually the bold, outspoken one. “I thought you were the nice one?” I say dryly.

Hannah shrugs. “Being nice doesn’t mean I can’t tell you when you’re being an idiot.”

My mouth drops open. “Rude!”

“I call it like I see it,” she says. “You asked for our opinion, so I’m giving it to you. That man is so ridiculously in love with you. I don’t know how you can’t see it.”

I shake my head. “He’s just trying to do the right thing. It’s why he asked me to move in with him. It’s why he’s so nice to me. I know he’s attracted to me, but that’s not love. Sooner or later, it will wear off and he’ll realize we don’t work.”

“Mya?” Hope says, waiting for me to look at her. “I love you. You know that, right?”

I nod.

“But Hannah’s right,” she says. “You’re being an idiot.”

I glare at her. “Luke told him everything,” I say, trying to make her understand. “Last night when they all went out.”

Hope gives me an understanding look, her face softening. I feel like crying again, but I manage not to. “It was onlyafterwardthat Van suddenly decided to tell me he loves me. He feels sorry for me. He feels responsible for me. And I don’t want that. I won’t be someone else’s burden.”

Hope shakes her head. “Give him more credit than that,” she says, her voice gentle. “He wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it.”

Quinn leans forward. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?”

Claire and Hannah share a confused look and I sigh. Hope gives me a one-shouldered shrug as if to say it’s my call. I guess it’s time I tell them everything. Now that Van knows, there doesn’t seem to be much point in keeping it secret anymore.

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