Page 84 of Undeniable Temptation

“Fuck. Me.” Mason balked.

“Yeah… That about sums it up.”

Leah crossed her arms over her chest and stared in a daze. He couldn’t stand the indifference. She needed to scream at him. To react. The hollow detachment was pure torture to his guilt.

“I want to say congratulations, man,” Sean started, “but that shit won’t leave my mouth without me cringing.”

He shrugged. “I hadn’t expected high-fives.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking about going back to her.” Blake rested his elbows on his knees. “She’s toxic. With or without a kid.”

“But a baby needs a father,” Mitch argued. “He can’t leave her high and dry.”

“Christ,” Leah hissed. “Cut him a break, he only found out yesterday.”

He returned his focus to her, loving how she stood up for him. Loving her more than life itself. “Truth is, I’m still struggling to come to terms with it.”

Personally, he was confident he could make a rash decision and handle the consequences. But Leah needed time, and through all the mess and destruction, his main focus remained on her.

“You’re stupid if you think that kid is yours.” Mason didn’t hide the disgust in his tone. “She could’ve spread her legs for half the US population while you’ve been separated.”

“Mason…” Alana warned. “I think we need to be supportive.”

“We’ve been supportive of Julie’s crap for years.” Sean slunk back in his seat. “I think I’ve reached my limit.”

“God, you’re an asshole.” Leah shoved to her feet and squeezed by Mitch. “I can’t stomach the garbage all of you are spewing. With the myriad of defiled women lying in your wake, you’d think the four of you would be less judgmental about an unplanned pregnancy.”

She strode through the cabin, her footsteps shaky, and shut herself into the bathroom with a slam of the door.

Then the silence returned. This time thicker. Heavier. Nobody looked at him. He was visually shunned and made to feel like a leper, and rightly so. His friends had put up with Julie’s bullshit for years, keeping the majority of their thoughts to themselves even when his wife hadn’t.

“I’m sorry, Ryan.” Alana broke the tension. “I wish I knew what to say.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Mitch leaned forward and landed a soft punch to Ryan’s shoulder. “I gather Leah didn’t take the news well.”

“How could she?” He stared at the bathroom door, wishing he was comforting her instead of explaining himself. “All I want to do is tell her it’s going to be OK, but I can’t bring myself to lie to her.”

“Oh, Ryan.” Alana took Leah’s seat on the sofa beside him. “It’ll work out.”

“You might just need a break,” Mason offered. “Forget about her while you pull your shit together. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

“Forget?” He gave a bark of laughter. “I wish. She’s all I can think about, but now I’ve got a kid, and no matter what happens, it’s going to affect her.”

“Fuck, man.” Mitch shook his head. “I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Alana’s hand rested on his thigh with a reassuring squeeze. “Like Leah said, you only found out yesterday. There’s no rush to make a decision.”

“Yeah, no rush.” He sighed. “Apart from knowing I’m holding her happiness hostage.”

* * *

Leah saton the lowered toilet seat, staring at the unfavorable reflection in the bathroom mirror. She looked like death. No exaggeration. There was major luggage under her eyes, her skin felt dirty, and even her hair lacked the usual bounce. And no amount of foundation or mascara could diminish the carnage.

It hadn’t been an easy feat to scrape her heart off the living room floor. The process required numerous boxes of tissues and a scathing mental chastisement before she reclaimed her resolve and pieced together the broken parts of her soul.

Like always, distraction helped. It soothed and consoled, shoving away the spiral of demise hovering over her shoulder like a shadow.

She spent hours working out a plan to get the Slicker-Grander issue out of the way. She even gave the duo a nickname—Slander—but the title seemed a lot funnier at two in the morning when she was delirious and recovering from her emotional breaking point.

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