“This isn’t helping.”
“I just want you to think about the absolute worst thing. And then we figure out how to make that not happen. Trust me, it’s therapeutic.”
I looked down at my lap. “Worst case?” I exhaled slowly. “Penny leaves and I spiral into depression. I start taking drugs again. I ignore my kids because they look like her. I shut everyone in my life out. And I probably overdose and die.”
“Jesus that’s dark.”
I looked up at her. “You said worst case.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I thought you’d say like…try to better yourself and win her back.”
“I assumed in the worst case I couldn’t win her back.”
“Fair enough, drama queen.” She laughed as she pulled her knees into her chest. “Okay, here’s how to prevent doomsday. You know Penny better at 26 years old. But no one knows Penny better at 19 than I do. She desperately wants someone to love her for her. I think you loving her already makes her feel like you didn’t get to know her. You know?”
“I guess?”
Melissa laughed. “You need to ask her more questions. Even if you already know the answers. Take interest in what she’s saying. Maybe even pretend you don’t know the answers. Make her feel…seen.”
“Seen?”
“Yeah. After you two met, she told me that it felt like you saw her. I know…super cheesy. But it’s what she said.”
“I never knew that.” I could picture Penny telling Melissa all about how we met. She hadn’t gone into specific details in her novel. “What else did she say?”
“Well, she didn’t take off the sweater you loaned her for hours. She kept talking about how good you smelled.”
I smiled.
“Another smile? I’m on a streak,” she said.
I thought about the engagement ring in my pocket. “So getting down on one knee and asking her to be my wife again is a bad idea.”
“Yes. Wait, were you planning on doing that? It’s too soon, James.”
“I only knew her for two months before I proposed the first time.”
“Which was crazy. That was something a crazy person would do.”
I laughed. “If I hadn’t recently gone through a divorce, I probably would have done it sooner. She’s it for me, Melissa. Dramatic or not, she is.”
She gave me the saddest smile. “Then take my advice and go slowly this time around. Okay? You don’t want to spook her. She’s already run away once.”
Yeah. Melissa and Liam agreed. No grand gestures. At least not quite yet. I glanced at the coffee table. The manuscript almost looked like it had been shuffled around. I picked up one of the sheets and scanned it.
"Exactly how many girls have you slept with, Tyler?"
He leaned forward. "I'm going to pass."
"You're not allowed to pass."
He stared at me.
"That many, huh?"
"Look, I know why you're asking. You want to know if I've been with anyone since I started talking to you."
"So...?"