Page 35 of The Complication with the Best Man

I couldn’t eat right now if there was a gun to my head. Not with what I have to tell her. “I’m not really hungry, but you go ahead.”

“Oh.” Tamra frowns at the plate she prepared for me. “I’ll just wrap it up and save it for tomorrow then.” She takes her plate over to the kitchen table, so I sit across from her.

As she scoops fried rice onto her fork, I watch for a minute, wondering how to go about bringing this up. It’s something I’ve pondered all day but haven’t come any closer to figuring out. Now that I’m here, it seems even more difficult.

She looks up from her plate, forehead wrinkled. “You’re quiet. What’s going on?”

I blow out a breath and push a hand through my hair. She clues in that something is going on with me because she straightens up and slides her plate to the side.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Why do I feel like I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say?” She holds my stare.

“Because you’re not going to like it.”

“Did something happen this weekend in Alaska? Did the event space at the resort fall through?”

I swallow hard. “No, everything with the wedding plans is fine.”

Her shoulders relax, and she slides her plate back in front of her. “Oh, thank God. You had me worried for a moment. If it’s something?—”

“It’s not about the wedding.”

She closes her mouth and blinks a couple times, finally seeming to get the gravity of what I have to tell her. “Go on…”

“You know when were broken up, and I went to Alaska for Hudson’s wedding?”

“Yeah.”

“I slept with Harper.” I let my words sink in for a moment before I continue. “She was the maid of honor, and as you know, I was the best man, and we spent a lot of time together and well… we ended up sleeping together.”

The disbelief on her face morphs into anger. “You slept with our wedding planner, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t know she was who you hired until you mentioned her name when we got to Alaska. And yes, I should have told you. But let’s not pretend I betrayed you in any way for sleeping with her in the first place. We were broken up and had no plans whatsoever to get back together. I was a single man.” I hate that I have to keep reminding people I didn’t cheat on anyone when I slept with Harper. I wasn’t committed.

She ignores my comment. “Did something happen between you two this weekend?” She leans back into her chair and crosses her arms in an accusing way, which only pisses me off. “And more importantly, if so, does anyone know? You could royally fuck our arrangement, Finn.”

I shake my head. “Nothing happened. We might not be romantically involved, but to the world, we’re engaged, Tamra. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“So, the two of you have just been keeping this little secret from me the whole time.” She throws her hands in the air. “I look like an idiot.”

Tamra’s not mad because she’s jealous. She’s pissed because she wasn’t in the know, and I don’t blame her. I should have just been honest with her from the start. Had I known then what I know now, I would have been.

“It’s not like that. I just didn’t see the point in upsetting you and making you uncomfortable when there was nothing between Harper and me. I never thought I’d see her again.”

“So why are you telling me this now?” She tilts her head, and it reminds me of a dog sussing out its prey.

“Because Harper is pregnant.”

She bolts up out of her seat, presses her hands to the table, and leans toward me. “Pregnant?” Her face is filled with horror, no doubt already knowing what this means for us. “Are you serious, Finn? You got her pregnant? Jesus, didn’t you use a fucking condom? How stupid are you?”

“We did use protection, but no protection is fail-safe,” I snipe back at her, sounding like my freshman health class teacher, Mrs. Barnes.

“I can’t believe this.” She walks away from the table, hands threading through her hair. “I can’t believe this.” Tamra keeps saying the sentence over and over as she paces beside the table. After a minute or so, she whips around to stare me down. “How long have you known?”

“I just found out this weekend when Harper told me.” I leave out the part where I found out accidentally. I believe Harper when she said she planned to tell me.

Tamra rolls her eyes. “How nice. The minute I’m not around, you two cuddle up to play happy little family.”

---