Happily Never After

by Lynn Painter

She was so pretty that it kind of took my breath away, and I was glad I was wearing sunglasses so she couldn’t see how much time I spent looking at her.

“And the truth of the matter is that if you fell madly in love with him today and threw all caution to the wind—and then he cheated on you two years from now—would it really feel that much worse than denying yourself the love and companionship you deserve?

“And I’m scared that if we get in a relationship, I won’t know how to trust you. Like, I don’t think I can trust your feelings for me because I’m such a broken mess.”

real