Lass Ride: Crossroads

Chapter 7

Normalcy was such an odd thing, an average taken over weeks or months rather than a snapshot of any given day. More than a week had passed since Becky had met with Hunter at the hospital, and each day she kept that to herself weighed on her more. As much as she wished there were a way for everyone to be on the same side, she didn't think it was possible. There was going to be a line, an irrefutable line, and no matter which side she was on, she knew some of her friends would end up on the other. Hunter had texted a few times with contract updates, explaining what was a sticking point and what had been accepted, and as soon as she got the notice that the contract was finalized, Becky felt paralyzed by choice.

Keeping on as she had been was obviously an option, and in many ways the easiest one. All she would have to do is tell Hunter she had changed her mind, and then they would all be dancing to the same tune again: Becky and her friends eking out a living in the indies, Hunter and WWE chipping away at their options until an inevitable move overseas fractured their group. Roman had a family to consider, one he would never uproot and move on a whim—and just like that, they would be scattered, some to Europe and others to Asia, only reuniting on holidays or during cross-promotional events. The likelihood of everyone going back to WWE was slim, as were their chances of all getting signed to a lesser promotion; as much as the smaller leagues would love to have their group, none of them had the budget to sign so many names at the same time, even if they would be big audience draws.

A rift was going to be inevitable no matter what; all that was yet to be determined was who was on which side. And she was the one who would get to choose first.

So Becky aimed for a scattershot serving of normal. As much as she wanted to cherish her final few days with her friends and make them warm, positive memories, she knew it would be too suspicious. She let herself get irritated at the volume of a football game. She declined an offer from Sasha to go clothes shopping. Some days she slept in; others she was the first one to start the coffeemaker. She tried to vary her moods and routine enough that when her friends inevitably looked back and tried to psychoanalyze her behaviour, there would be no discernible pattern, nothing they could blame themselves for not seeing at the time.

It also meant that, as much as she might have liked to, she didn't have sex with Seth before she left. They had been rebuilding their trust far too slowly for it to seem natural. Becky did cheat a bit, though, the evening before she left, and let herself linger with Seth in the backyard. When his fingers brushed the bare skin at her waist, she wanted to grab his hand and keep it there, but she forced herself to take a step back. "Don't apologize," she had said quickly. "I . . . just don't think it's a good idea." And it wasn't, but not for the reasons he would be thinking of. "Big day tomorrow and all. . . ." They would be spending most of the day on the road, which would give her plenty of time alone with her thoughts.

Seth's smile was losing more of its sheepishness each day, and she hoped her abrupt exit wouldn't set him back. "What happened to that Gryffindor nerve?"

"Not sure you should be trying to seduce me with comparisons from a children's novel series." It had made Becky laugh, though, and then Seth had joined in, and she had felt reasonably assured that the moment would be paved over in his memories with a general sheen of normalcy. If someone asked him if Becky had been acting strangely, he wouldn't be likely to say Well, she told me to get her hand away from her ass and made fun of me for making a Harry Potter reference.

The hustle and bustle of the next day, full of travel and unpacking and buying supplies, gave Becky plenty of opportunities to subtly transfer things from her saddlebag to her large rucksack without drawing attention. She retired to her room somewhere near the middle of the pack: not first like Renee and Dean—who definitely weren't going to sleep—and not last like Sasha, who had to call her cousin about doing new theme music. She made sure her copy of the rental key was easy to find, and she put everything for her bike beside it; as much as it pained her to leave it behind, she hoped her friends could make use of it somehow.