Page 65 of Unexpecting

″Hey, Casey,” Ben, one of J. B.’s friends, called out as soon as he saw me come out the door. But it was nothing like the usual exuberant greeting I got from him. The other two—Clay and Will—said hello, but they also seemed unnaturally subdued.

″How’s it going?” Clay said, but his eyes trailed back to J.B. before I could answer. J.B., of course, hadn’t said a word. He didn’t even look at me. I watched as he took a shot and felt partially vindicated when it bounced off the rim.

″Hey, guys,” I said weakly. It was awkward just standing there, so David took my hand and led me across the lawn to the street, where his car was parked. If he hadn’t, I think I might still be standing there in the doorway.

″They didn’t even talk to me,” I said softly to David. “They always talk to me. I know those guys; I like them and I thought they liked me, but if they’re treating me like a pariah—”

″He told them he got you pregnant,” David said under his breath as soon as we were out of earshot. “They don’t know how to act, because it’s clear he doesn’t know how to deal with it.”

″Well, that’s obvious.” Damn this—I was close to tears. Being shot down like that hurt more than I thought was possible. I was so mad at myself for letting it bother me. It was so much easier just being mad at J.B.

″No, it’s obvious that J.B.’s going to come around if he’s telling his friends about it,” David said reasonably. “If he wasn’t, you’d be his dirty little secret, and he wouldn’t have said two words about it to them.”

″Maybe I don’t want to be anything to him,” I said stoutly. “I don’t need him.”

″No, you don’t, but it’s going to be hard telling your heart that. Poor Casey,” David said, wrapping his arms around me. “Poor, pregnant, little Casey.”

″I’m not going to be little for long.” I hugged him tightly in return.

″Take pictures. I can’t wait to see the belly.”

I stood on the curb waving until David drove out of sight. Then I stood there for another few minutes, getting up my courage to walk past the gaggle of hot, sweaty men playing two on two in the driveway. I prepared myself to be shot down by J.B.’s icy glare.

It was just my luck that the basketball got loose and rolled toward the street as I was walking up to the house. I stopped it with my foot and picked it up. Ben came loping up to get it from me.

″Hey,” he said with a warm smile. “How’s it going?”

″Good,” I said stiffly. I passed the ball over to him.

″That your new boyfriend?” he asked with a frown. “I thought…”

“No, that’s David. He’s just a friend. He’s leaving for Italy, so he came to say goodbye…” I trailed off, uncertain of why I was explaining things to Ben. Ben’s a nice guy and I’ve known him for a few years, but it was silly to think he was concerned with my life.

“Ball, dude!” Will called to him. Ben passed him the basketball but remained beside me.

″Look, Casey, J.B. told us that…” He grinned sheepishly at me. “How’re you feeling?”

″Not great,” I told him truthfully.

“Yeah, Maura was sick a lot, too, in the beginning,” he commiserated. He’s been married for almost ten years, and he and his wife have two little boys. “It’ll get better.”

″I can only hope.”

″Listen, she sent over a bunch of books for you to read,” Ben said in a low voice. “All that getting-ready-for-baby stuff that scared the shit out of me when she made me look at them. But I’m sure they’ll be helpful for you.”

″Thanks, Ben, that’s really sweet of you.” I was so touched at the gesture I didn’t tell him I probably already owned most of the books published on the subject. “Thank Maura for me.”

″No prob. And Casey, take care of yourself.” Ben smiled at me before rejoining the game.

I was almost to the door before J.B. deigned to speak to me. “What did he want?” he said in a voice reminiscent of a growling dog. I almostsnapped back with a none of your business, jerk-off, but then I decided to be polite.

“David? He’s leaving for Italy, so he came to say goodbye. I don’t know when he’ll be back. I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”

″Oh.” J.B. looked taken aback. “I thought you and he—”

″No, it was never going to work out. We’re just friends. He’s gay—now,” I told him needlessly, unsure of why I was telling him this when I could barely tolerate speaking to him.

″What?” J.B. goggled. “You’re kidding!” The others had resumed the game, obviously trying to give us privacy.

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