An awkward silence descends over the room.
‘So… can I get anybody another drink?’ Ally asks. ‘Serenity?’
Harmony looks to me, then to Jake and back again. Just as we planned, she was not expecting to see me walk through the door. ‘W-What is this?’ she murmurs.
Jake reaches for my hand. I don’t stop him. His fingers feel warm as they interlace with mine.
‘So,’ Jake says as he addresses the others, ‘we came here to tell you that… Serenity and I… we’re in love. We’re a couple.’
I swallow. Jake squeezes my hand in reassurance, yet suddenly it feels like it’s too hot in here.
The moment the news has sunk in, Hudson Briar inhales sharply. A muscle flexes in his jaw. His chin juts out as his gaze turns on Harmony. Her eyes meet his and, in the corner, she blanches. I see the quiet devastation on her face as she watches him stalk from the room. A moment later we hear the front door violently slam, and Harmony flinches at the sound.
Dalton shakes his head.
‘I’ll go,’ says Ally awkwardly, and goes after Hudson.
‘I don’t understand,’ Harmony says moments later. ‘How did this happen? Y’all never should have even exchanged more than a couple of words. Y’all shouldn’t have even been in the same space. We shouldn’t even be in this room together.’
She indicates to the pair of us. I look at Jake. ‘We met in a grocery store,’ I say, trying to keep the guilt out of my voice but it creeps in. ‘By accident. Before the first game of the pre-season. I didn’t know who Jake was and he didn’t know I was CMC.’
‘We didn’t mean to break any rules,’ Jake adds. ‘If anything, it was my fault. Serenity tried to get rid of me. But I didn’t let her tell me no for an answer.’
Harmony buries her face in her palms. Dalton rolls his eyes. ‘Is it really that big of a deal?’ he says, pointedly in her direction, because she’s still backed into a corner.
‘It’s clause five of the contract!’ she snarks back at him.
‘So you’ve been telling my brother the last five years! Yet it seems like these two managed it.’
He’s indicating toward Jake and me. Harmony is visibly conflicted.
‘This is bad,’ she mumbles.
‘Bad for who?’ Dalton asks in disgust.
‘It’s against the rules!’ Harmony exclaims.
‘Oh, the rules, the rules, always the goddamnedrules,’ Dalton sighs.
‘It’s alright for you, there’s nothing in your contract about not bagging yourself a member of the CMC!’
‘And if there was, I would have had it removed! Not that it makes a difference to me, I’m married.’
‘But that is exactly why you guys get to do whatever you want, and as cheerleaders, we are held to a completely different standard!’ She waggles her finger between us. ‘Nobody can find out about this. This cannot come out.’
‘There’s more,’ Jake says, and my stomach rolls over. ‘You might wanna be sitting down for this.’
‘What do you mean,more?’ Harmony questions. ‘Oh god, you’re pregnant.’
‘I’m not pregnant,’ I reassure her.
I can see her chest rising and falling, the distress etched into her features.
Behind me, I hear the front door open. Moments later, Hudson reappears in the threshold. Sheepishly, he clears his throat as he re-enters the room, pushing his fingers through his beard and ignoring Harmony completely. I see the hurt in her eyes as she tracks him coming back across the room.
‘What’d I miss?’ he mumbles.
‘Nothing,’ Dalton states. ‘Same old shit about not breaking any precious rules.’
