“Well, yeah, ’cause you stop with the glass slipper. Nobody ever tells you about what happens when the king takes a mistress.”
“Not every man cheats,” Fen argued.
“Enough do.”
“Love how you lump us all together,” he grumbled.
She shrugged. “It’s what I’ve seen.”
“In your life, in your one corner of the world. It’s like judging an entire city by one sketchy neighborhood. Not logical.”
“It’s logical to protect yourself,” Bree argued.
“Yeah, from bad guys. But we’re not all bad, Bree. Look at my family. My parents have been married for thirty-three years and they’re still best friends.”
“They’re the exception, not the rule.”
“So, I guess, bottom line is, you have to make up your mind whether you’re gonna be the exception or the rule. I already know which one I’m gonna be.”
You say that now, but you can’t guarantee how you’ll act in five or ten years.
It would have been rude to let that thought loose. Fen was a good guy. But he was as human as the next, just as human as Gary, who’d wound up ruining their family.
“Nobody makes wedding vows expecting to break them,” she pointed out.
“Nobody gets up in the morning expecting to be in a car crash or get cancer. Life’s full of risk, Bree. You can’t hide from it all.”
No, but you could make sure you had your armor in place. “I’m not hiding from anything,” she insisted.
“Okay, if you say so,” he said.
“Can we drop the subject?” she snapped.
“Fine with me. Like my dad always says, just because you want someone to open a locked door it doesn’t mean they will.”
“Whatever that means.”
“I think you know. But hey, done talking about it. What did you get up to this weekend?”
Here was another less than desirable topic. She’d done... nothing. Her Saturday had been as lackluster as her Friday. Bree had called a couple other friends, looking for someone to hang out with but had struck out. It seemed all her friends were either deep into serious relationships or starting them. She’d liked to have gone clubbing with Gaylyn, but Gaylyn’s plans with her two-second love didn’t include a third wheel. Monique had also had plans, with her family.
Bree hadn’t been in a family mood, so she’d binge-watched theJack Ryanseries with John Krasinski, who she was sure was the nicest actor on the planet and who she would have loved to have had for a dad.
“I just hung out,” she said vaguely, and hoped Fen didn’t ask for more details.
“Well, you missed a great band and awesome food,” he said.
“There are lots of great bands in LA.”
He nodded. “Truth.”
And that was the end of all conversation. He turned up the music and kept it going until they got to the beach.
Once there, it was all about surfing and playing two-on-two pickup volleyball games. The beach was populated with smooth-chested men in board shorts and girls with long hair, showing off perfect bodies in bikinis. Bree, herself, was aware of a couple of guys checking her out—who were there with girlfriends, the skeezoids! Well, that was the beach. Everyone checked out everyone.
Had her dad’s cheating on Mom started with just checking someone out? Neither one of her parents had said much about what happened. It was obvious neither of them wanted to think about it. Her dad’s favorite line was “It didn’t work out.” Her mom’s was “We got married too young.” That was the deal with Dad, but she’d been older when she married Gary. That time should have worked. It hadn’t. Two love fails, two broken hearts. Mom insisted she wouldn’t go for a third try. She’d better not.
A woman with a serious butt hanging out of a thong bikini walked by as they were taking a pop break on their beach blankets and Fen sneaked a look. But he quickly moved his eyes another direction. As if he knew Bree was watching him.
