Page 73 of Until You

Tyler’s eyes widened.

“Dude, you never made any secret of it, and remember, Alex fills me in.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I did until last spring.” He gave him the condensed, PG version of his experience with Nina. “That was the situation I was referring to earlier.”

“And you haven’t dated anyone since?” Eric asked.

“Not until Lanie.”

“That sucks.” He devoured the last chicken strip. “You don’t want her to leave.”

He decided to be honest with this too. “No. I don’t. I don’t understand it—I barely know her—but I don’t.”

Eric nodded sympathetically. “The same thing happened to Ricky Henderson.”

“Who’s Ricky Henderson?”

“A guy in my English class. He fell for a foreign exchange student last year, Mei Ling. An older woman.” He grinned and then it fell. “But then she went back to China, and he was left with a broken heart.”

“Poor bastard,” Tyler said with a frown. He was exactly like fucking Ricky Henderson.

“So what are you going to do?” Eric asked.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll see her as much as I can before she leaves.”

“Even if hurts when she leaves?”

“Yeah.” And that’s what surprised him the most.