Page 95 of The Broposal

She sat down on the couch next to me and nervously ran her hands over her work skirt. I didn’t bother asking her any questions. She’d get it out eventually, and the less talking, the better.

Before she could get a word in, there was another knock on the door. Well, if you could even call it a knock. It sounded like someone was banging their whole palm against the door hard enough to burst a blood vessel.

I groaned and closed my eyes. I’djustsat down.

“Aren’t you gonna get that?” Jackie asked.

I forced myself to get up off the couch, dragging my feet as I made my way toward the door. As soon as I turned the knob, it swung open from the outside, and this time Leti marched in.

“So, let me get this straight, ’cause IknowI must have heard something wrong. You left my cousin—” They stopped in their tracks when they saw Jackie on the couch, then gave me a look of disgust that made me want to crawl into a hole and hide forever. “Are you fucking kidding me, Kenny? You seriously left Han for this bitch? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I… It’s complicated” was all I could bring myself to say.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Leti stormed over toJackie and yanked her off the couch by her arm, then shoved her hard.

As much as I would have loved to see Leti kick Jackie’s ass, I couldn’t let it happen. I ran in between them.

“Leti, she’s pregnant!”

Then Leti stopped, jaw open as the news sank in. I’d half expected Leti to have already seen it on Instagram, but then again, it’s not like they followed Jackie. They hated Jackie, so much that it wasn’t even fun to hate-follow her. Leti looked between me and Jackie for a few moments, dumbfounded. Then their eyebrows lifted in anohhkind of expression. “And Han didn’t want kids. Are you telling me it was mutual?”

Jackie scoffed. “Even if I wasn’t pregnant, Kenny would have left Han for me eventually. It was just a stupid lapse in judgment that they were even together in the first place. It was all just a mistake. Right, babe?” There was a warning in her tone. I hated how territorial she got when anyone threatened our relationship. Apparently, even when we weren’t together.

My cheeks went hot. I couldn’t deny Jackie what she wanted right now. But I also couldn’t bring myself to talk about Han that way. None of it was a mistake. How could I possibly say such a thing? Instead, I said nothing. That message must have been loud and clear for Leti.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised,” Jackie said, rolling her eyes. “What could Han possibly offer Kenny that I can’t? Han’s a deadbeat. His life is never going to get any better than it is right now. Obviously Kenny was ready to come back to someone with an actual future. Who he can have a family with. He deserves better than—” Jackie finished her thought with a gasp as Leti’s hand met her cheek.

Then they lunged at Jackie, and I quickly had to wrap my arms around Leti and waddle them backward toward the door.

“You fucking bitch! How fucking dare you! Kenny, get thefuckoff me!” But Leti wasn’t struggling to get closer to Jackie anymore. Instead, they turned around and strode the rest of the way to the door on their own.

Then they left, and I forced myself to close the door, the resounding silence screaming at me to open it back up and run after them, but I couldn’t. Even if it meant closing the door on my relationship with Han and his entire family. I didn’t have any other choice. A few tears fell down my cheeks as I turned to face Jackie.

She had tears of her own streaming down her face as she cupped her hand over where Leti had slapped her cheek. I wished I could have felt sorry for her, but all I felt was anger. She had slapped me like that so many times before, but when she got slapped herself, she wanted pity. Well, I wasn’t giving it to her. Not this time.

But it wasn’t just shock or fear in her teary eyes. It was anger. And I knew then exactly what that meant. Leti may have been trying to help, but they had just all but guaranteed Jackie would make good on her threat against Han.

I went to work the next day with an unbearable pit in my stomach. Luckily Daniel didn’t have me working extra, so I was done after my morning shift was up. I got in my car as soon as I could, ready to fix the mess I’d made. It wasn’t until I sat down in the driver’s seat that I checked my phone to find a missed call and a text from Jackie.

Jackie: Come over. We need to talk.

Reading the text hollowed out my chest. She was going to do it. She was going to report Han. I shot back a quick “on my way” text before pulling out of the employee parking lot and speeding over. I had already been planning on heading over after work, so I told myself nothing had changed. I had to only hope she hadn’t already made the call. I had to hurry.

The second I pulled into her driveway, I rushed to the door, but she opened it before I could ring the bell.

“You’re here.” She smiled at me the way she did before we broke up.

“You told me to come, so I’m here,” I said, trying to hide the disgust in my tone. I was so angry with her, and I didn’t know how to ever not be angry with her.

She smiled again, then walked to her living room, leaving the door open for me to follow. I trailed behind her, the lump in my throat growing with each step.

She sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. I sat, jaw clenched.

“I need you to know that I still love you. No matter what, okay, Kenny?” She reached for my hand, and I flinched before realizing I needed to appease her. I took her hand in mine, the touch sending a cold chill up my spine. Not the good kind of chill. It was the chill you get when you’re walking through a haunted house and realize the hand you’re holding doesn’t belong to the person you thought. Jackie was not the person I thought.

“Then why are you doing this to me?” I asked, trying not to let my voice crack.

She squeezed my hand, but I let mine lie limp in hers. “Forus, Kenny. Of course I’m doing this for us.”

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