Page 3 of The Best Bad Decision

We’d see about that, but for the moment I nodded as he finally put his hands back on his lap. “Okay, well, we’ve been working through the formal divorce proceedings for about six months…which you probably know.”

Yep.

My grin got another dramatic sigh from him but he didn’t get derailed. “Perfect. There was a couple of months before that where we were trying to decide if our marriage could be saved.”

No. It could not and we’d all known for a lot longer than him.

“Yeah, you knew that too.” He didn’t do more than roll his eyes before moving on that time. “I actually suspected she was cheating before that, though, so our marriage was really over a long time ago.”

When she’d gotten the new job and started working all those long hours. Yeah, we’d guessed that part too because no one enjoyed overtime that much.

“Fucking hell.” Mumbling the curse to himself, he had to take another breath to stay calm. “This neighborhood. God.”

I loved this neighborhood, so I couldn’t agree with him on that part. “If you’re feeling bad, I’ll tell you about the Smiths’ oldest son.”

Atlee frowned at me. “That teenager?”

“Nope. The thirty-year-old.” He was fun…and so was Atlee’s wide-eyed reaction.

“They’re not old enough to have a kid that age.” Blinking, he shook his head. “No, I’m not getting sucked into the neighborhood’s Young and the Restless latest episodes.”

He was so boring…that was one of the reasons I’d thought he was straight.

“So we’re going back to your episode. Great.” I was flexible on whose drama I got to follow, but he was the one who’d come to me, so I was going to need more information before I dragged out my sympathy and dusted it off.

“This is insane.” We both agreed with his grumbling, but since he didn’t get off my couch, I just waited for him to get over his drama and continue. “The situation. Not you.”

Well, at least he was trying to be polite.

That still seemed like a really straight thing to do, though.

“Her affair partner dumped her when he found out she was pregnant. He’s gone back to Italy to be with his wife.” When my mouth dropped open, he nodded and sighed. “Yep, he was evidently here to work on a short-term project. It sounds suspicious to me, but it seems like he finished it up very quickly and headed home. To his wife.”

This just kept getting better.

“And?

There had to be something else, I could see it on his face.

“And their three children. All under the age of five from what I’m told.” Rolling his eyes as I squeaked in excitement, it seemed like he was doing his best not to actually smile. “We’re just going to say that Valerie is not happy.”

I bet.

I was missing something, though.

“How does this involve you?” My question got more dramatic sounds from the ridiculous hottie, but he didn’t make me wait for the answer.

He clearly knew my patience would only last so long when it came to good gossip.

“When he left, she decided I was still a good second choice and tried to get me to reconcile.” My shock got a bark of laughter from him and he seemed lighter. “Yes, that was my thought too, but she was insistent. When that didn’t work, she aimed her sad expression and pregnant belly in my family’s direction.”

Oh.

They were kind of batshit too from what we’d heard over Christmas…and Thanksgiving…and Easter for whatever reason.

I was more religious than they were.

“And they’re all loony tunes enough to ignore that the kid isn’t yours and she’s a bitch.” When he nodded even though it wasn’t a question, I shook my head. “This just keeps getting more and more insane. I thought that issue with the delivery guy was the worst.”