Chapter 5 Tahoe #2
I nod and steel myself for trivial drama I’m sure to forget in five minutes.
“Okay, well, he was the quarterback at my high school, and obviously, she was a cheerleader. They were together all four years of high school. They broke up a couple of times, but everyone always knew they would get back together, so girls wouldn’t date Whit because they were afraid of Britt’s wrath, and all the popular jocks steered clear of Britt because, well, Whit probably would have killed them had they touched her.
You get it? They were meant to be. Written in the stars.
In true fashion, Whit cheated on her with most of the popular girls from the town over, and Britt cheated on him too.
She’d banged the whole band by senior year. The percussion section twice.”
I laugh at the imagery that creates. “Wow. I have a feeling that’s not the worst part.”
She shakes her head and licks her lips. She’s getting to the juicy part.
“Whit wanted to break up for good after prom. It was because he wanted to go to college and be single. I think he had scholarship offers, but Britt went crazy when he mentioned it. She took a whole bottle of headache reliever and wrote a note professing her undying love. She ended up at the hospital getting her stomach pumped.”
I raise my brows. “They’ve been together ever since?” It’s a foregone conclusion. People attach themselves to those they think they deserve—to the comfortable agony of false truths.
She nods. “Insane, right?” Caroline’s eyes are wide as she nods her head. “They deserve each other, but I still can’t believe they’re getting married.” She says the word “married” like a spoken reverie, and I know her stance on the subject without asking.
“I can’t believe they haven’t gotten married yet. Idiots like that usually do stupid stuff sooner. They don’t make people wait to show their true colors,” I proclaim. “Ready to go in?”
“Marriage is not idiotic,” Caroline hisses. “It’s romantic and sweet, and it’s one of the only things that’s the same as it was way back when. It hasn’t changed.”
I knew it. Unsurprising, but a conversation I’d avoid having with another living human like the plague.
The word spoken aloud makes my heart race.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve never considered marriage before, or maybe because it’s something so permanent in my world of impermanence.
The divorce rate among the Teams is nothing to shake a stick at either.
Last time someone spouted off that as a reason for staying away from it, it was over seventy-five percent.
Those are about the same as BUD/S dropout odds.
Even with Stella, after years of dating, I wasn’t ready to take the plunge, and I thought she was my forever.
I’ve lived a wild life full of change and variables.
A constant never appealed to me. “It’s an old-fashioned way to tie a ball and chain around balls.
Just think, back in the day you wouldn’t be flying your airplane or twisting a wrench.
You’d be pregnant in the kitchen, resenting the very institution you deem so worthy. ”
She crinkles her forehead and purses her lips. “I’d never resent love. The real kind that makes you want to do things like be pregnant in a kitchen. Lucky for me I can also turn a wrench and fly a plane as well. Marriage is love, and I have to believe in that. If I don’t, what else is there?”
The determination with which she makes this proclamation shakes me to my core—makes me want to believe in something just as fiercely.
Something more than life, death, breathing or not, good or bad.
I can’t help it. I let my guard slip, and I envision what Caroline wants.
It’s not Stella who I picture in my life, wearing my ring, either.
I swallow hard, noticing how her eyes are dancing over my face. “Okay,” I state simply.
A megawatt grin splits across her face. “Okay? That easy, huh? You don’t want to argue.”
I can’t help but smile back. “Or you’re right. I’m the first to admit when I’m not an expert on a certain subject. Given our current subject matter, I’m definitely not. You could be right.”
She presses her lips together. “I am right.” This is all it takes to lighten the mood. Caroline’s face falls. “Guess we should go in.”
My throat is still tight, and my mind is still fuzzy with images I’d like very much to get rid of, but I’m not sure how. “You talked mad shit about them. Pretty sure meeting these two is going to be the highlight of my evening. Let’s go.” I open my door when she hops out.
She waits for me at the tailgate. “Can you behave in the mildest manner you’re capable of?” she asks, clasping her hands together in front of her stomach. “I wasn’t talking bad about them, either. I just told you the truth.”
I wrap my big arm around her shoulder and pull her against my side. “I can try, but nothing about me is mild.” I ignore her correction, but I mentally note she doesn’t even like the suggestion of meanness. She’s that good.
My dick twitches.