Page 61 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man

As expected, she didn’t immediately respond. I assumed she was still with Kate. I had no idea whether she’d decided to tell her the truth.

Later that evening, I was mindlessly flicking through the channels on the TV when a text came in.

Alex: I’m coming down to your room.

Thank God.

I jumped up from the bed and stood by the door. She’d barely had a chance to knock when I opened to let her in.

Alex brushed past me as she began to pace, rubbing her hands along her arms.

Her eyes were distressed when she finally turned to me. “I don’t know what to do, Brayden.”

I wanted to reach out and hug her, but I wasn’t sure if that would make things worse. “Tell me what happened after I left, Alex.”

“I chose not to tell her about you.” Her eyes glistened. “I couldn’t ruin her night when she’d come to surprise me like that.”

“Okay.” I sighed. “I wasn’t sure.”

“I do have to tell her, though. And it really can’t wait much longer.” Her voice shook. “But I don’t know how. I’ve never lied to her, Brayden. I don’t think I can live another day like this. I need to tell her first thing in the morning, because even these past two hours of lying felt like a lifetime. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. It was such a horrible feeling.”

“Where is she now?” I asked.

“She went back to her room after dinner. I’m supposed to watch a movie with her in a few. She has no idea anything is off. God knows how, because I feel like it’s written all over my face. I told her I wanted to change and wash my makeup off. So I don’t have too much time.” She stared up at the ceiling. “This feels like a bad dream I can’t wake up from. I’d give anything to go back in time and—”

I pulled her into a hug, interrupting her train of thought—I couldn’t help it. Despite the turmoil of this night, it still felt so damn right to have her in my arms. “I’m sorry, Alex. I feel like this is all my fault.”

She let me hold her for a few seconds before stepping out of my arms. “It’s not your fault. But we do have remarkably shitty luck.”

“I worried you were mad that I’d forced you into lying to her.”

She reached for my hand. “You did the right thing. I wasn’t ready to admit everything to her right then and there. We needed time to process first. I knew from the look on your face that you were as shocked as I was.”

“I would’ve never knowingly put you through this. Please know that.”

“I do know that, Brayden. It just doesn’t make the situation any easier.”

“Did she say anything about me after I left?”

Alex nodded. “She laughed about the coincidence mostly. Said she couldn’t believe how small a world it is. She spoke about you for about ten minutes over drinks before dropping the subject.”

I braced myself. “I’m sure she didn’t have great things to say…”

“She said while she’d really liked you back then, you weren’t ready for a relationship. She ended things before you had a chance because she sensed it was coming. She wanted to beat you to the punch. But you probably know all this. She doesn’t seem to have hard feelings, but I think she was disappointed by the way things turned out. In fact, I remember her talking about it back when it happened, even if I don’t remember all the details since it was so long ago.” Alex tilted her head. “How long did you and she date?”

“I honestly don’t remember, but I think about three months. She’s a great girl. I have nothing but respect for her. But she’s exactly right. I wasn’t ready for a relationship back then. It feels like a lifetime ago. I was so young. We both were. What she and I had ended before it really began.”

“But you did have sex…” Alex chewed her lip.

I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement. Either way, I couldn’t deny it. “Yeah,” I admitted, closing my eyes briefly. “I can only imagine how upsetting that is for you to hear.”

She nodded, clutching her stomach as if she wanted to vomit.

Heck, I felt like vomiting myself.

“Do you have any idea how fucked up it is to feel jealous of your own child?” she cried.

I wanted to look her in the eyes and tell her whatever Kate and I had meant nothing compared to my feelings for her. I also wished I could tell her I hadn’t so much as thought of Kate since college. But that seemed insensitive. This was her daughter we were talking about. Being dismissive was only going to make me look like an asshole. Even if the truth was that Kate meant nothing to me at this point in time and Alex meant…everything.