Chapter#3

Joe was up next, and I was anxious to see him in action. Joe was the most ballsy one of the four guys. He would literally do or say anything to anyone, but I had a feeling he was going to take a loss on this one.

And my feeling was more of a certainty, since the guys and I had invited his wife to participate in his challenge.

I loved how she was his weakness. How anything that came up to do with his wife he would take a second breath before doing it or saying it. All he wanted was to make her happy.

I twinged a little each time I saw the spark when their eyes met. It was a love I knew I would never have.

We had moved on to the park now, and because it was a beautiful day it was crowded. There were plenty of strangers to involve in our shenanigans.

I sat next to Betsy backstage while the guys prepped for the challenge.

"So, are you excited?" I asked looking at her swollen belly. She nodded, as a large tide of pride swept across her pretty features.

"Yes." She said, rubbing her belly. "I can't wait."

I smiled, relishing in her joy and selfishly taking a bit for myself.

"OK, we are ready." Q announced from the curtain.

I rose, and then helped a very pregnant Betsy to her feet.

"Thanks." She said with a smile.

Q pressed his hand against her back and helped her out of the room.

When Betsy was gone Q stopped me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Hey, are you ok?"

I nodded, not able to meet his face. If I did I knew I would cave, but he forced me by removing a hand from my shoulder and putting it under my chin.

"Hey." He said. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." I said, though I had done my best to control my voice I couldn't stop the crack that had broken it.

Q tightened his grip against me, invading me deeper with his stare. I looked past him to where the other guys were watching from the monitor.

"Come on." I said, squeezing Q's hand. "We are going to miss it."

"Fine." He warned. "But this isn't over."

He sighed and let me go past him just in time for the cameras to start rolling.

After the intro, we watched as Joe sat on a park bench.

"OK man." Q said into the mic. "You see any pretty women here?"

Joe nodded, taking his stare around the park.

"Yea, there's a lot."

"OK, so all you have to do buddy, is flirt with them."

"Hey baby."

Joe turned and laughed seeing Betsy sitting next to him.

He turned to a camera and shook his head.

"Nope." He said, throwing the empty coffee mug onto the ground and stomping away.

We all laughed and with that Joe took a loss.

After the day of filming we decided to go out to eat. With all the guys undecided about where to go I offered to let Betsy pick. I always got frustrated when they couldn't decide, Besides, if she was craving something I wanted her to have it.

"How about pizza at our place?" She offered. "I just want to get in my pajamas and forget about how fat I've gotten."

The guys and I all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Thank god. I could feel the hangries creeping in. I didn't even care that it wasn't diet food.

"You're not fat." Joe said, wrapping his arm around her and kissing the top of her head. "You're pregnant, and beautiful and I love you."

"Awe, that's really nice." I said pressing my hand up against my chest.

"Pussy." Q called from behind me.

I reached around and wacked him in the arm, not hard, but still he mouthed the word ouch and rubbed at it.

"You know, maybe this is why you're single." I said, crossing my arms in front of me. "Maybe you should be more like Joe."

My heart broke, seeing the way his eyes fell to his feet. I should have known better than to say something like that. Ever since he was dumped by his fiancé for a cop he never felt good enough, always comparing himself to others, but to me he was perfect. I wished I could have told him that. I think now he needed to hear it.

"Shit. Q, I'm sorry."

He held up his hand, bringing his eyes back up. "Nah, it's cool."

Then he looked at his watch and pushed past me.

"Hey man, listen I'm going to have to skip it tonight." He marched in front of Joe and reached his hand out.

Joe released his wife's hand clasped Q's just before hugging him. He mimicked the same action with Murr then moved onto Sal.

"Nah man." Sal said after they broke apart. "Come with us."

Q looked at me then back at Sal. "Dude I can't. Not tonight."

He paused, and turned back to me. "I'll see you."

I held out my hands to hug him but he dodged me, walking in the other direction towards his car.

I watched as he disappeared, and something in me cracked.

"Hey." I heard Sal call after me. "Where are you going?"

I didn't even look back. I just kept running until I bumped back into Q.

He turned around when my body washed up against his.

"Fayth." He said, helping me to my feet. "What are you doing?"

I shook my head and brought my head between my knees to catch my breath.

"Dude, don't skip out because I'm an asshole." I said, half begging.

He shook his head and pulled me into a hug. "No. You're not an asshole."

He pulled back slightly so he could look at me again. "You're right."

He shrugged his shoulders and twirled his eyes around. "Maybe your delivery was a little blunt, but you're right."

He looked around as if making sure we were alone, well alone as we could be in the park anyway. "The truth is I'm jealous of Betsy and Joe."

His features softened when he looked at me and I could feel the walls inside of him falling.

"It's just that I haven't found the right person to be like that with."

He traced his hand onto my ring finger and played with the white gold band that adorned it.

"Not like you have."

I laughed at his presumption and shook my head.

He grabbed my face gently and pulled it back up to his.

"Fayth, what's going on?"

I shook my head again, allowing my face to drop so that I could cover the tears that threatened to spill out of me.

"Everything." I said, looking back up at him, no longer ashamed of my tears.

I pulled myself away, giving my words room to travel. "Greg wants me to leave the show."

Q ripped the hat off his head and ran his fingers through his hair before looking at me again.

"He's making me choose before the end of the season. It's the show or him."

I could see the anger swell in him. He clenched his teeth and shook his head.

"So, what are you going to do?" He said without meeting my face, and I knew why he wouldn't meet my face. It was because he knew what I was going to say.

"I'm leaving the show at the end of the season."

He threw his head back and laughed, but this wasn't the cheery laugh that I have known from him. It was a laugh etched with anger.

Truth be told it scared me a little, because it wasn't the Q I knew and loved.

"So, that's it?" He said wiping at his eyes and coming close to me. "You're just done?"

"Q, I don't have a choice."

"That's bullshit." He said cutting me off and throwing his hat on the ground.

I could feel the people in the park staring, and at this point I was aware of our small band of friends behind me. Though I didn't know how long I guessed by the way their faces wrinkled it had to have been for a while.

"You have a choice Fayth. We all have a choice."

"What do you expect me to do?" I said, thundering my voice and shattering the conversations of the park goers around us.

"I'm a woman over 40. I can't just have a pick of any guy I want."

"Yes, you can." He said, pulling the crowds closer to us. "You are magnificent, and talented, and beautiful."

He brought his face close to mine and regarded me softly as he undid the ponytail that trapped my dark hair.

My scalp tingled as he ran his hands through my hair. I closed my eyes, relishing in it.

"You could have anyone you wanted."

I grabbed at his hand and forced it to my cheek.

"What if the man I wanted didn't want me?"

He cocked his head to the side and laughed.

"What makes you think he doesn't? Maybe he just didn't want to get in the way because he thought you were happy."

I opened my eyes, exposing myself to the reality of Brian Quinn's eyes drawing against me.

Around us the crowds were now cheering and pulling out their phones. For years fans had wondered if we loved each other, but now they had their answer.

His brown eyes pressed firmly into my grey ones, accented by a soft tenderness that I felt like was there just for me.

"The thing is Fayth I have found the girl that I can be romantic with."

He looked back to Joe and Betsy with a nod before turning back to me.

"She's been my best friend for almost twenty years."

My vision became swallowed by tears, consumed by so many emotions all at once. Brian Quinn wanted me. He wanted me.

"Fayth Lynn, I love you." He reached his hand to my cheeks and caressed them.

"Will you give me a chance?" He whispered, so no one holding their phones could hear.

"I want to." I said, pressing my head against his. "But what about Greg?"

He pulled back, just enough so he could look at me again.

"Well at least now you know you have options." He said, wrapping his fingers in my hair once more before releasing mine. "So, it's your time to decide."