Page 40 of Spring Breakup
Dean hoped that Tyler was learning things about him too, but he doubted it. Dean had too much practice hiding his true self behind a happy face. It was hard to turn that off. And honestly, Tyler seemed uninterested in looking deeper.
He saw Dean as the shallow guy he usually tried to be, and Dean didn’t have anyone to blame but himself.
“Let’s talk about something fun,” Dean said.
“Like what?”
“First kisses.”
Tyler groaned. “Can I veto?”
“If you want.”
“Blah. It was a girl during Spin the Bottle in seventh grade. Not exactly life-shattering.”
“Have you kissed many women?”
Tyler shook his head, his eyebrows doing that complicated thing Dean loved so much. “I had a girlfriend in high school. In retrospect, it was a mutual beard situation, but I didn’t realize it at the time. She’s married now. She and her wife have a kid on the way.”
“Ah, we’re that age. Everyone’s procreating.”
Tyler sat up. “What about you? First kiss?”
“A girl named Charity during Truth or Dare. I was about sixteen. Then a guy named Justice that same night, not during Truth or Dare.”
“Wow. Such virtuous names.”
Dean laughed. “I’d never realized.”
“Two in one night. How precocious.”
“Not really. I didn’t hit my full potential until well into adulthood. I was a late bloomer.”
Tyler smiled. “I find that hard to believe.”
Dean switched to massaging Tyler’s other leg.
“It’s the truth.”
“I bet you’ve been breaking hearts since middle school. Leaving weeping and gnashing of teeth in your wake.”
“No.” Dean stroked down Tyler’s leg to his foot. “I’m friendly with my exes. Even Viggo.”
“What aboutyourheart?”
“Untouched so far.” The only threat to Dean’s heart was sitting right across from him. He wasn’t sure when that had happened or when it had become so obvious to him, but Dean knew it without a doubt.
Tyler gazed out at the forest. “Should I be heartbroken about Francis? Because I’m not. I expected to be miserable for this whole vacation. I mean, I cried on the plane, but then I got here, and I’m fine.”
“He sounds like a jerk.”
“He was perfect for me, though. Same principles. Same goals. Career-oriented but nottoocareer-oriented. Close to his family. Smart and logical. He was perfect on paper.”
“Paper isn’t a substitute for feelings, though. Or chemistry.”
“I’m not a good judge. I can’t trust my feelings.”
Dean tried to decide whether it was worth putting his hypothesis about Tyler into words.
