Page 76 of Molly

He nods, grabs his phone, taps away, and then places it back down in front of me, holding his finger on the fast-forward icon. I watch as everything moves quickly. The security officer leaves, and shortly after, so does Beckett. Ryan sits down, types on his phone for a bit, and then starts cleaning up. He doesn’t stop until the time stamp reads 3:57AM. Beckett takes his finger off the screen, and Ryan stumbles over to the couch, lays down, pulls out his phone, types and then falls asleep within seconds. That must have been when he messaged me... Beckett hits fast forward again, and we watch Ryan sleep until after 7:00AM. He wakes, slides off the couch and starts cleaning again. I guess he was telling the truth...

I clear my throat and sit up straight in my chair. “Okay. Well, it’s good to know he wasn’t lying.”

“But?” Beckett asks.

“But that wasn’t the only issue, Beck. I don't trust him. Jess got in my head, and I doubted him.”

He nods. “Yeah, I get that. He caused that doubt by lying when this whole Jess thing started. But he tried to fix it. He isn’t a bad guy...”

“I know,” I whisper sadly.

“Mol, I came here to ask... to see if you're really done with him. Is this it? You passed the point of no return? I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t want him walking around with false hope, thinking he can win you back if he can’t.”

I sigh, and my eyes drift to my desk in the corner of the room. The photo frame sitting on it used to hold a photo of Emma. Now it displays one of the three of us. We’re all smiling, looking at the camera. We look so happy, like a family.

“I don't know,” I answer softly, still staring at the picture.

“Right, well, that’s not a no.”

I nod, feeling the corners of my mouth rise slightly for the first time in a week. He pushes his chair back, standing and stretching. I guess that’s all he wanted to say.

“Beck, what happened to your eye?” I ask as the light hits his face, highlighting what looks like a healing bruise.

He shakes his head and says, “A story for another time.”

I nod, accepting that he obviously isn’t ready to talk about it. I stand to walk him out, and as he turns to leave, Penny walks into the room. They both freeze, eyes locked on each other. A few seconds pass before Penny snaps out of her trance and smiles slightly as a silent hello. His face doesn't move, so she nods to herself and moves to the kitchen, crouching down to get into the fridge.

Beckett watches her for a few seconds before moving his attention back to me. “Sometimes men fuck up, Molly. Doesn’t mean they don't love you, doesn't mean they'll do it again,” he mumbles before stomping out of the room.

I watch him go and then look over to Penny, who’s still crouched in front of the fridge, staring at the empty doorway. I sit back down and wave at the chair across from me, hinting at her to take a seat. She does, surprisingly, still looking a little shell-shocked. “You ready to talk about it?” I ask. We never got around to discussing her issue last week. I came home, had a meltdown, and she’s avoided the subject ever since.

She looks down at her bottle, picks at the label, and lowers her voice to a whisper. “He slept with someone else… I heard him with someone else.”

“You… heard him?” I ask, bewildered.

She nods.

“You’re sure that’s what you heard?”

She nods again, and as she blinks, a tear runs down her cheek. “I was going to tell him I loved him. I went to surprise him at work.”

I sit frozen for a second. My brain tries to process everything I just heard. Did Penny just admit to being in love? Beckett wouldn’t. Would he? Surely she heard wrong... I clear my throat. “So, he cheated on you?”

She shakes her head. “No. We weren’t together, together. Not officially. I said some pretty hurtful shit...” She laughs sadly. “My heart doesn’t seem to get that cos it’s been aching like a motherfucker since.”

“Pen, sweetie, I'm so sorry.”

She shrugs. "You know me, I don't do commitment. I tried it, sort of, and look what happened.”

I reach across the table and cover her hand with mine. “Fucking men.”

She nods, wiping the tear from her face. “Mol, for what it’s worth… I think you should give Ryan another shot.”

I feel my eyes widen. “Since when are you Team Ryan?”

She scoffs. “I amalwaysTeam Molly. But I feel like as your coach, I should point out that you’re making the wrong move here. He loves you. I see it. He’s a bit of a dickhead, but I really don’t think he meant to fuck it all up so bad.”

I nod, taking in what she said, and I hear my phone vibrate in my pocket.

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