Page 37 of Cass

“It’s hard to describe. They both very clearly loved us. They were both heavily involved in our lives. They never fought, but the three of us just always knew they didn’t have a normal marriage. They were like two separate entities living in the same house with the same children, but they never interacted in a way you would expect from married couples. What struck me the most was that they never laughed together. They both laughed with us, but never with one another. How can you spend your life with someone and never laugh?”

“Is that why you’re the way you are? It’s important to you to laugh?”

“I suppose it is. My wife and I will laugh our way through life. I will never be the type of person who sweats the small stuff. It’s a waste of time and energy.”

“Hayden isn’t like you though. It’s interesting that he’s so different from you.”

“He’s always been serious. He stresses about everything. He always has. I swear he used to have nightmares about leaving matchbox cars outside in the rain.” I laugh.

He shrugs. “I don’t stress about anything. I know he’s worrying enough for the both of us. But he hated their marriage too. It’s not the lack of laughing that bothered him. It was the lack of love. Seeing Dad not fall in love until he was forty-nine years old was like a slap of reality to him. He’s fearful of not finding anyone who loves him. Though, I’m pretty sure he has that now.”

“Yes, he and Jess are very cute together. He seems happy with her. Despite your differences, you two seem to be fairly close.”

“He’s my twin. I may give him a lot of shit, but at the end of the day, he’s my best friend. It’s a comfort to know that there’s someone out there who has your back no matter what.”

I smile in understanding. “I get it. Darian is that for me.”

He nods. “The weirdest part of living in New York City was living without him. I missed him.”

I smile. “Awww, that’s sweet.”

He points at me in jest. “Don’t ever tell him that. I’ll deny it.”

I laugh. “I think he’s relaxed a little bit since he’s been seeing Jess. She brings out the best in him.”

“She does. Don’t tell anyone, but he and I went ring shopping. He’s going to ask her to marry him.”

“Wow. He’s young for that.”

“When you know, you know. Now back to you, Sexy. Tell me about your husbands.”

I sigh. “There’s not much to say. I foolishly got married to Scott’s college friend the night of his wedding to Darian. We drank too much and made a stupid decision. Looking back, I can admit I was struggling with losing her.”

“Losing her?”

“To Scott. To Harley. Darian and I had lived together for four years. She moved into Scott’s house as soon as we graduated college. I thought we were going to law school together, but she ended up going at night because she got pregnant with Harley. It was a big loss for me. At least that’s how I saw it at the time. I was emotional, and made a poor decision. It also coincided with the end of my relationship with my father. I was just really messed up at the time. I felt like I was losing everything.”

“Will you tell me about your father?”

“Not tonight. Let’s save that conversation for another time.”

“Okay. I understand. What about your third marriage?”

This one hurts. He can tell. He grabs my hand. I look at him. “It was a one-night stand shortly after my divorce from Roman. I hadn’t had sex in so long. I was careless and got pregnant.” I see the shocked look in his face.

“We both freaked out and ran to get married. I lost the baby a few days later. Darian and Scott dragged me to get it annulled. Thank God they did. The marriage was a huge mistake. He’s not a good guy. I run into him now and then. He’s a sleaze. I’m glad I got away from him relatively unscathed.”

He squeezes me. “I’m sorry, Cassandra.”

I gather myself. “It’s okay. I have a shitty track record with men. I never got it right.”

He looks at me with conviction. “Until now.”

I shake my head. “We’re not right either, Trevor. You know that.”

“You’re wrong. Everything about us is right.”

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