Page 114 of Ransom

"Race you there?" I arch an eyebrow.

Before he can answer, Jonas sprints past us, his hair flopping with each step. "I think I saw a badger!"

Kade's head whips around so fast I swear I hear his neck crack. His eyes light up like Christmas came early, darting between me and Jonas's retreating form.

I pat his chest. "Go on."

"But—"

"Baby, you look like you're gonna burst. Besides, badgers are mean as fuck. I respect that."

He plants a quick, hard kiss on my lips. "I fucking love you. We'll practice later!" Then he's off, running after Jonas while yelling something about getting pictures.

I plop down on the nearest bench, stretching my legs out in front of me. The late morning sun feels nice on my face, and honestly? This is perfect. My man's happy, chasing fuck knows what kind of wildlife with his brother, and I get to people-watch in peace.

A group of old ladies walks by, whispering and pointing at the bus. I wave cheerfully, making them laugh and wave back. They don't know me, they don't know what the fuck I'm doing here, but they still smile. I like that. I like it here.

Janey drops onto the bench beside me with a sigh. Holding her breath, she lifts my coffee cup out of the hand closest to her, and places it in my other. Her morning sickness is better, but the food aversion thing is wild. How the fuck would I handle hating the smell of coffee? Would I even survive?

Jesus. Being pregnant is treacherous.

I don’t know how no one else has figured it out. I’m also not sure why the hell she hasn’t told us. She’s crossed the twelve week mark. She’s good.

“It’s got a lid,” I mutter, but she just gives me a look.

In the distance, I hear Kade shout, "Jonas, wait the fuck up!" followed by a thud and a muttered 'fuck.'

"Was that your husband, or mine?" she asks.

“Could go either way." I scan the square, noticing a distinct lack of four-year-old chaos. "Where's my favorite tiny human?"

Janey's bottom lip juts out. "Evie stole her. Something about getting ice cream and buying hair bows."

"Without us? The betrayal." Evie's an awesome mom. And Mia’s freaking delicious. I'm not sure I'd be so ready for kids if I didn't have that little terror to love on. She's incredible, and I have to think that my kids would be, too.

We sink into comfortable silence. No car horns, no sirens, no rush of traffic. Just birds chirping and distant laughter. The air smells clean, like grass and sunshine.

"So." Janey nudges my shoulder. "Blair."

"Right? I only caught a glimpse, but damn." Admittedly, I cyberstalked Ransom and found a few pictures of him with women, usually at some fancy event. In them, he had a polite smile on his face and a polite hand on their back. There wasn't any heat or any sense of affection.

And none of those women looked anything like Blair. As a bigger-than-the-curve woman, I think I'm well qualified to say that Blair McKenna is wrestling size. Broad shoulders, strongarms, juicy thighs. And she's even taller than me. She's maybe what I would look like if I cut out the snacks, which, face it, is never going to happen. And there's something about her that makes me want to be her friend, like she's the cool girl in high school.

Weird.

I’m usually the cool girl.

"Those eyes." Janey fans herself, grinning. "No wonder Ransom's still hung up after twenty-five years."

"And those shoulders? Girl works with her hands." I wiggle my eyebrows. "Bet Ransom likes that."

"Becca!" But Janey's giggling. Her eyes drift across the square to McKenna's Auto. "You know, she did head over to that garage..."

"We shouldn't."

"Definitely not."

"It would be totally inappropriate to just pop in."

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