Boyfriend #14
Tad Harrison, age thirty-five
She’d broken down and purchased the Pride and Prejudice DVDs by now, but she hid them away for Tad’s sake. It was the least she could do to help him feel like the most important anything in her life.
He certainly seemed like the real deal. She’d found him on the apps where his profile indicated that he was as serious about marriage and children as she was, and their relationship progressed in an efficient, mutually satisfying manner.
They were engaged after a year (no ring, just a verbal agreement), and though they kept separate apartments at Tad’s request, they adopted a dog together and sometimes even talked baby names.
This was it. Jane was finally going to get the family of her dreams.
If only Tad would set a date.
“Things don’t feel quite right,” he’d say cryptically. “Not just yet. But soon.”
It was her best friend, Molly, who grew suspicious first and used her investigative skills to uncover the truth—Tad had not only a “backup fiancée” but an additional on-again off-again girlfriend.
The worst part? Worse than wasting over two years on that confirmed loser, worse than the humiliation of betrayal? He kept the dog.