Page 122 of Roommate's Guide to Love

“This is highly unusual,” Logan chimes in, doing his best to play the part of a flustered lawyer. “For this to happen, I’ll need to call Simon. Get it approved by him.”

“Take your time,” she says, sitting back and crossing her arms. “I can wait.”

Logan and Porter shared faux-worried looks as they stand up. But just as they’re walking away, Porter turns back to Bonnie. “If I do this. If I sell the bar and give you the money, you’ll give me Grace? You’ll sign over any future claims? She’s mine?”

Bonnie nods. “All yours, son.”

God I love it when a plan comes together.

Porter and Logan walk back to his office, just like Plan B says to, as I turn back to Bonnie.

Now, Plan B has me sitting here, not saying anything. When we were going through the different scenarios, Porter was very insistent on that. The problem is, Bonnie’s looking at me in a way I don’t like, and I might be a new version of Quinn, but I’m still me.

Sorry Porter. I’m going to be asking for forgiveness on this one.

“What are you looking at?”

Bonnie smugly smiles. “He’s going to leave you.”

Well, that I wasn’t expecting. “Excuse me?”

“Porter. He’s just like his daddy,” she says. “And he’s going to leave you just like he left me.”

Now, a bigger person would ignore this. Take the high ground because someone went low.

That’s not my style. I kick at the knees. And I don’t play fair. And I was raised on two-thousands rap and liquor that should have been illegal.

“Bonnie, and I say this with zero respect, but shut the actual fuck up.”

She doesn’t do the fake clutching of her pearls like she did the other day. Instead she just leans closer. “Big words coming from…well…I’ll let you finish my thought.”

I literally laugh out loud. “Really, Bonnie? Weight jokes? That’s all you got? I figured you as a better opponent than that.”

I lean closer, because it’s been a while since I’ve unleashed the chamber, and I’m about to go all in on this woman who tried to rip away my life.

“Listen here you horrible, horrible bitch. First of all, everyone in this town knows you left Frank and Porter, not the other way around like you’re trying to claim. I’m surprised they didn’t throw rocks at you the first day you showed your face here. So that whole ‘he left you’ spiel? Give it up. Just like you did on trying to fix your face.”

“I—”

“Oh, I’m not done yet. Also, do you find it ironic that you left this town to start a new life, ended up in a smaller town in Indiana because that’s all the bus ticket you could afford, before getting married and getting pregnant again? Kind of seems counterproductive.”

“It—”

“Again, I’m not done. Very rude of you to interrupt.” I take a breath, and this time she listens. “I never have to worry about your son cheating on me. And I hope heislike his father. In fact, I know he is. He’s good and kind. Thoughtful and fun. He’s exactly who Frank raised him to be, no thanks to you and your deadbeat ass. And frankly? I think the best thing that ever happened was the day you packed up and left. Good riddance to bad rubbish, you know?”

She tries to open up her mouth again, but I haven’t hit her with the last bit. “And lastly. You’re going to get this check. You’re going to walk out of here. You’re going to leave us forever. I don’t want to see you in this town again. I’m going to make sure no one ever speaks your name. And we’ll sure as hell never think about you. And when you run out of money, because you’re going to, just remember that your choices have cost you everything. You lost your family. You drove everyone away. Your daughter literally went off the grid to get away from you. You’ll never see your grandchild. You’ll never see Porter again. And that’s on you, Bonnie. That’s the bed you’ll lie in every night. And I hope you fucking rot in it.”

She slowly backs away, as do I, as Porter and Logan come back into the room, envelope in hand.

“Simon approved,” Logan says, sitting back down. “He authorized me to pay you your sum, and we’ll take care of the payments between us on the back end.”

Bonnie hangs out her hand. “I need to see it. Make sure you aren’t playing me.”

Logan holds it up, but keeps it out of her reach as Porter hangs his head. “Proof of the check. But you don’t get it until you sign the documents first.”

He pushes the papers toward Bonnie. “I need you to sign these. I quickly drew them up. These say that under no circumstance from here on going forward, that you’ll attempt to gain custody of Grace.”

The three of us watch intently as Bonnie stares at the papers. These are legally binding. The only thing we’re waiting on—and the only thing to fuck Plan B all to hell—is if Bonnie actually reads the contract. Because it doesn’t say a thing about us promising her money for this signature. That way, in case something goes south, she can’t sue us for breach of contract.

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