Page 12 of Pull
“You were there?!” Greg coughed, choking on whatever he was chewing. Everyone’s eyes set on Ryan, and his mouth dropped open, no words coming out.
I sighed out loud. “Yes, he was there. Guys, let’s just address the goddamned elephant in the room so we can get this over with and move on. Ryan lives here.”
And then I stopped talking.
I probably should have kept going andelaborated a bitmore, but honestly the looks on their faces were prettyhilarious, and I enjoyed seeing them completelyshocked like that.
“What do you mean he…liveshere?” Bill asked, quietly.
“Like, you’re letting him stay here…?” Rachel added, clearly trying to make some sense of it in her mind.
I shook my head slowly. “No. I mean he lives herewithus.”
“Withyou?” Greg huffed. “Like a… roommate?”
“No, not that either,” I answered. “We’re… together.”
“What is really going on right now?” Marie asked, focusing on her sister, who was doing nothing more than methodically rubbing her belly and staring at me.
I shrugged at Jess and Ryan, and they shrugged back.
“The three of us…” I gulped, struggling to figure out how to phrase it in the most uncomplicated way. There weren’t many options… It was super complicated. “We got married in Thailand. So… ya know… Ryan lives with us, and he’s going tobe a father to our baby…withus. The three of us.”
I let out a hard breath, feeling like I might fall over. It was one of the more strenuous things I’d ever had to get out in my entire life. Not that I was unsure of anything. I loved my husband more than any words could describe, but telling our friends, the people we’d known for almost our entire lives, was a challenge.
Because this was always when the questions started.
“What the hell are you talking about??”
“How would you get married? You’re already married!”
“That’s not legal, is it?”
“You mean, he slept with your wife?”
“How did this all happen?”
“Does Hailey know?”
“What’s in this dip? It really is delicious.”
“Guys, oh my God, can you please shut up for a second?!” I barked, raking my hand through my hair. “You’re making me want to blow my brains out.”
“Well, you can’t just drop a bomb on us like this and expect us not to have questions!” Bill retorted, and Rachel shushed him.
“Honey, just relax,” she whispered to her husband. “Let’s not freak out or anything. These are our best friends in the world. I’m sure they know what they’re doing… Right?”
She glanced at Jess, giving her a pleading look.
Jess was quiet for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. Then she finally spoke up. “Everything Ben said is right. We’ve been seeing Ryan for a while… After the drama on Christmas Eve, he left and moved to Boston to get away. But then I found out I was pregnant, and we knew we didn’t want to be without him. So Benwent andgot him, brought him home, and well… here we are.” She shrugged.
“You’re making this soundincrediblycasual, Jessie,” Marie breathed, shaking her head. “This is Hailey’s ex boyfriend we’re talking about. And now you’re saying he might be the father of your baby?! That’s insane!”
“No. Notmight be,” I growled, trying hard to rein in my temper. “Heisthe father of our baby. And so am I.”
“This is the weirdest shit I’ve ever heard,” Greg chuckled to himself as he continued eating.
“Yea, we know it’s weird,” Jess sighed. “We’re not trying to make it normal. We don’t care about being normal! We’re just in love. That’s it. And if you guys can’t accept that, then we have nothing else to talk about.”
