Page 79 of The Broposal

“It doesn’t matter. You need to break it off. He can get his green cardlegally—”

“You know it’s not that simple, Jackie!” I shouted.

“—or, I can tell them all about your lies.”

“You wouldn’t” was all I could bring myself to say.

She got out her phone and started dialing. I grabbed it out of her hand. She actually had the immigration and customs enforcement number saved to her contacts. How long had she been planning this?

“Break up with him, and I won’t,” she said, her words slurring together. I couldn’t bet Han’s citizenship on the fact that it was just a drunk threat and not a real one. She had the number saved.

“You know how fucked up this is, right?”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do? I told you already, this baby needs two parents. Two parents who aretogether! I don’t want this kid to be split into two homes like I was.Weshould be the ones getting married, not you and Han! You really left me no choice here. So… you have to leave him. I need him out of the picture so we can raise this baby right.”

I punched my steering wheel.

“Oh, comeon, I’m not asking for anything unreasonable here. We could have a stable, happy life together. I still love you, you know. And I know you still love me. That kind of love doesn’t just go away overnight.” She reached for my hand, but I yanked it away.

“Don’t—” I started, before deciding not to piss her off. “I’ll break it off, okay?” I said. “Now, will you please get out of my car.”

“Kenny, I have no other options!”

“Just leave me the fuck alone!” I cried, tears streaking down my face for the second time that night.

Jackie sighed. “You’ll understand eventually.” She grabbed her phone out of my hand and got out of the car, slamming the door shut.

I drove home with a lead foot, much faster than the speed limit. I wished I could have a do-over on this whole night. I couldn’t break up with Han… but I couldn’t let Jackie report him, either. Instead of going inside, I pulled into my parking spot and started sobbing.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

HAN

Iwoke up with the biggest smile on my face. I felt like I could take on the world. But when I rolled over, Kenny wasn’t in bed anymore. I rolled onto my back and sighed, still unable to wipe the smile from my mouth. I was a bit of a blanket hog, so maybe that’s why Kenny had left.

I hugged my sheets, pressing them against my face. I felt like if I didn’t grab on to something tight, I’d just float away, but I needed to stay grounded. For once, I wanted to be exactly where I was. Life was good.

When I moved to get out of bed, I realized I’d left my crutches in the living room by the couch, but that couldn’t ruin my morning. Nothing could. I didn’t even care that I had to go back to work today for a ten-hour shift where I’d be working on one foot. Well, I cared, but I was somehow more concerned about having to leave Kenny than having to work with a sprained ankle. What the hell was my problem? I couldn’t find a fuck to give. I washappy.

Daniel had me scheduled for the late shift today, and since I didn’t have to go to work yet, I took my time in the comfort of my bed. After a while, I decided I’d rather be with Kenny than in bed. I got up and hopped my way to the door, then to the living room, where one of my crutches was lying on the ground. Kenny was sitting on the couch drinking coffee. There was an extra mug for me on the coffee table, like always.

“Thanks, babe,” I said, feeling a sense of freedom at using the nickname without witnesses or alcohol to coax it out of me. But Kenny didn’t smile at the term like he had the night before.

“Are you riding home with Tatiana after work, or should I get you?” was all he said.

“We get off at the same time, so I’ll just ride with Tatiana. But, um, you okay?”

Kenny just shook his head. “I don’t know… I have to go lie down. I’ll get up to take you to work,” Kenny said, then got up and left without another word. I wondered again if I’d done something wrong.

A sense of dread washed over me as realization hit. Kenny must have been having regrets about the night before. Serious regrets. Sure, we were drunk, but it had still felt genuine to me. Maybe for Kenny it was different. Maybe it was just a drunken mistake. Embarrassment heated my cheeks, and my chest sank at the rejection.

I wasn’t usually the one to want to talk things through, and today was no exception. I just sat on the couch watchingThe Great British Bake Off, but I was completely in my own head the whole time. Maybe if I didn’t address it, it would just go away. I could pretend like last night hadn’t happened. We could go back to being best friends and go through the wedding the way we had originally planned. It wouldn’t be too bad. It wasn’t likeI didn’t enjoy being Kenny’s friend. Ilovedbeing Kenny’s friend. I could go back to that. I’d be happy to go back to that if it meant nothing else had to change between us. I only hoped he could write it off as a drunken mistake and not read too much into it, since he obviously didn’t feel the same way.

But he didn’t come out of his room until it was time for me to go to work. We had to leave a little earlier than usual, since it would take me a while to get down the stairs on my crutches. Pretty much the only conversation I got out of Kenny was him offering to hold my crutches while I used the railings to hop down, which was now my go-to method. Much faster.

Kenny still didn’t say anything during the car ride.

“We’re cool, right?” I asked. I couldn’t take not knowing.

---