Page 81 of Backup Plan

She thinks it’s stupid.

She’s not even out of her marriage yet, and I’m already trying to get her to move in with me. What woman in her thirties going through a divorce wants to be immediately tied down again?

I don’t blame her.

“I understand if you don’t want to come this weekend,” I say.

“No, it’s not that. I love the idea of coming out to see you. Just…I don’t like lying to Ev, you know? We’re not faking, but I’m also not ready to define any of this. The idea of uprooting...I want to do right by my boys, and I don’t know if it’s full custody with me, if it’s split time with their father, if it’s holidays and two weeks in the summer. I don’t know if moving halfway across the country is right. I feel like I’m doing all of this wrong, and I’m afraid I’ve already fucked them up and they’ll move out at eighteen and never look back.” Her voice is wavering by the end of her rant.

“Jesus, Pen. Is that what you think? You’re the greatest mom in the entire world. You are the center of Sammy and Benji’s entire universe.”

And you’re becoming the center of mine.

I want to say that to her, but I don’t want to add pressure. So I let it go.

We wrap up the call as I tell her I’ll book her a flight, and as soon as I hang up with Penny, I finally get on the phone with my lawyer.

CHAPTER 24: Penny Calloway

Manifest

The second I exit the secure area of the terminal, I spot him.

I try to remember a time when my husband picked me up from the airport, and I’m drawing a blank. He might’ve arranged a ride for me, but he never would’ve taken time out of his day to fight traffic and pick me up.

Liam is wearing a white T-shirt and khaki shorts, and he looks less like a pro football player and more like a tourist, or maybe a local greeting his girlfriend as she exits the plane on her way to visit.

He has a baseball hat on, and it’s pulled down a bit so he can try to avoid being recognized.

He’s never been the star of the team, something that grates on him given his brothers’ positions within the league, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get recognized when he’s in public. He’s from a pretty famous family, after all, and he does all right for himself.

And he’s hot as hell.

I rush into his arms, and the moment he hauls me into him and drops his lips to mine, I feel this sense that I’m home again.

Even though I’ve never actually been to San Diego before in my life.

I’m thrilled to be back in Liam’s arms, and there’s something so natural about being with him. I would never have guessed that I’d feel this way a few months ago, but here we are.

God, my life has fully changed in the last few months. I went from being married to finding out my husband was cheating on me in mid-October. Here we are less than eight months later, and I’m meeting my best friend’s younger brother in San Diego for a sex retreat.

Okay, so that’s not technically what we’re calling it, but it feels a bit like that in my mind. At least I hope that’s what’ll happen this weekend.

I was expecting just a quick kiss hello, but as I feel his tongue pushing at the seam of my lips, I find myself getting lost in the moment.

I’ve never been a make-out-in-the-airport kind of girl—or maybe I have been all along, and it just took the right guy to unlock that side of me.

Whatever the case, it feels somehow freeing to be away from home doing this here in San Diego with him.

I pull back before we get indecent. We have all weekend for that.

We walk hand-in-hand down to baggage claim, and he pulls my bag from the carousel. He drags my suitcase and holds my hand, and we wind up at his car a few minutes later.

“This airport is so much smaller than O’Hare,” I say as I buckle into his rental.

He nods. “It’s nice, right?” As he pulls out of the parking garage, I see the water. The airport is situated close to the waterfront, and while Lake Michigan back home offers nice views, it has nothing on the beauty of the San Diego Bay with the city as the backdrop.

“Where are you staying?”