Chapter Nineteen: Bombshells

Blair sat on the bed of her motel room, sipping yet another one of her Coke and Southern Comfort concoctions. She tilted her head as she eyed a shirtless Cody standing in front of the mirror in only his jeans.

I truly am a lucky girl, she thought as she eyed Cody up and down.

Cody noticed Blair looking at him and smirked. "Whatcha starin' at, girl?" Cody drawled.

Blair only crossed her legs and took another sip of her drink, giggling. "How did you get to be so damn hot?" She blurted out.

Cody only chuckled. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed. "Well…sugar…that's a secret I'll never tell," he whispered, tapping her nose.

Blair pouted. "Aww…you're a meanie." She then fell back on the bed.

Cody grinned, laying next to her. She's drunk, he thought. Lemme see if I can mess with her a bit.

"You're pretty hot stuff yourself, Blair," he said, brushing the hair out of her face. "I bet you could get any guy…or even girl you wanted."

He expected Blair to yell or deny or even curse him out. However, she didn't. Instead, she only nodded her agreement. "The only girl I ever wanted married a man", Blair said aloud sadly, thinking of Jo. She took another sip of booze. I said that out loud, didn't I? She thought. Damn it.

Her mind went back to what she'd told Jo earlier. Blair had been a little drunk but she knew what she'd said when she called Jo a vision of loveliness and she meant it. She had secretly hoped Jo had noticed and was disappointed she hadn't.

'Have another drink, Blair'… Is how Jo responded that made Blair's heart sink.

She ran off to be with Rick. I'm actually glad Cody came over when he did because I probably would've drank myself into oblivion.

Cody's eyebrows shot up. "So…you're…" He trailed off.

Blair only shrugged and took a long sip of her drink, tilting her head towards Cody.

"Since it's already out in the open…what the hell…I've never told anybody this…but I'm into both guys and girls. I've just never exclusively dated a girl I absolutely wanted to date before and the one girl I was interested in is already taken – by a guy."

Cody nodded. "Jo, huh?" He asked, gazing at Blair knowingly.

Blair only blushed, confirming Cody's suspicions.

"Aw, looks you got a crush! Ain't that sweet!" Cody exclaimed, making Blair blush even more. He chuckled. "Well, Blair, don't you worry about a thing. Your secret is safe with me. Now tell me this – how do you feel about me?"

Blair pondered Cody's question. He wasn't a jerk like Casey or Lee and he wasn't tied down like Jo was.

"I like you, Cody. A lot, actually," Blair admitted, giving him a mega-watt smile.

Cody beamed, brushing more of Blair's hair out of her face. "Good, because I can treat you right, Blair Warner. Better than anyone else ever will. Trust me."

Jo continuing gawping at the shiny, beautiful ring she'd placed on her finger.

Is this some kind of cruel joke bein' played on me or somethin'? There better be some Candid Camera video on or some shit, Jo thought.

Rick nervously rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants, staring at Jo. "So…what do you think?" He asked. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. I mean…I could go and get a job. A job of some kind. I mean, you've been telling me that for years, right?" He then chuckled nervously.

Jo gave Rick a skeptical look. "Why now, Rick?" She wondered, sighing.

Rick's face fell at his wife's question. "Well, Jo…I just don't wanna lose you," he admitted. "And I get the feeling you're about to split. For good."

If only he knew how true that was.

Jo only stared at Rick, her mouth agape, not knowing how to respond.

"Rick, we've gone all these years…we've never made it work," she finally said. "We're not gonna be able to just…I mean…what kind of job, Rick? Can ya see it? I can't."

Rick pursed his lips in thought. "Look, Jo, it's me, OK? I'm the one. I never made it work. I do love you. It's just that I never thought I'd be where I am now – making my dreams come true in a career I love and I also never thought…I don't know what I thought. What do you want me to do, Jo? What do you want?"

What do I really want? Not you. Jo thought snarkily.

Jo bit her lip. She then sighed. "I don't know," she said frustratedly. "It doesn't even fuckin' matter anymore. I just want ya to be happy. You're a good man, Rick, ya really are, but you're a terrible husband. Your timing was just really bad."

Rick looked crushed. Is this really happening to me? He thought in disbelief. What is going on here?

The two only stared at each other in silence.

"Are you doing this to punish me, Jo?" Rick asked finally. "Please say you are."

Jo sighed, feeling her heart sink a little at hurting Rick but she knew it had to be done. "Believe me, Rick, the last thing I wanna do right now is punish ya," Jo said, giving him a sad smile.