Page 111 of You've Got Male

“Love isn’t always easy, but it should be treasured and protected, no matter the circumstances.” Lenard leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “And we should protect the ones we love, and we didn’t protect you. We took advantage of your generous spirit. You have always been so happy to do for others that you rarely let people do for you.”

“But you needed me,” she assured them.

“Now, you need us.”

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

“If you were, you wouldn’t have spent the past few days locked in your room crying,” Moira said.

“And you wouldn’t have felt the need to lie to us,” Lenard said.

“I shouldn’t have lied but—”

“We weren’t listening,” Moira said. “In our quest to make you happy, you got your heart broken.”

“It just wasn’t my time.”

“Oh baby,” Moira whispered. “Time isn’t ever ours unless we take it. You deserve to be happy, and I think Jonah made you happy.”

He had. He really had. Until he hadn’t. In her head she knew Jonah hadn’t set out to sabotage her plans, but her heart was having a hard time getting past being forced to walk away from her dream once again.

But had she been forced? And if the roles were reversed, andit was Camila in trouble, wouldn’t he have done the same thing? Undoubtedly yes. Just look at how he’d dropped everything to drive her and her teammates to camp, or how he’d made her dinner for no reason other than to be nice. He listened to her, really heard what she was saying, and then went out of his way to do nice things for her.

Like the corsage and surprise party. And instead of showing her appreciation, at the first hint of complication she had bailed. Just like everyone else in his life.

Wait.

Oh God!

“You want to talk about it?” Lenard asked.

“I told him I loved him and then blamed him when life attacked. Just like Mateo bailed when he realized being a young parent wasn’t all about going to Disneyland and bragging rights.”

“Sometimes, it seems easier to protect ourselves from the possible fallout of love, when in reality, finding love is what makes it bearable when the bottom falls out,” Lenard said.

“Take your dad and I. We were both in so much pain from the divorce that we wouldn’t have been able to bounce back. The only reason we did is because we had each other to lean on, had the love and friendship to protect us.”

“Your mom could’ve walked away the minute I told her I was gay, but instead she put the hurt aside and embraced me.”

“I think you’re forgetting when I burned your Gucci collection.”

Lenard winced. “I still think about those vintage ties.” He sighed. “The point is, we promised each other that we would always be in each other’s lives. No matter how hard life became.”

“When you find your soulmate, platonic or otherwise, hold on to it with everything you have because you’ve only got one,” Moira said.

“How could he be the one?” Evie asked, but her heart was suddenly clear on where it stood. “We have nothing in common except for that we have nothing in common. I told myself if I ever got serious with a man again he’d be emotionally mature and available, with a life that meshes with mine, and would have his shit together.”

“Sweetie.” Lenard laughed. “You work with your gay father, cougar of a mother, boy-crazy teen, and sleep in a room that has boy band stickers on the walls. But you also live surrounded by love and people who would do anything to protect your happiness.”

“Even if it means sticking their noses in my dating life?” Evie asked.

“Apparently someone needs to,” Moira said. “Left to your own devices you dragged your friend’s widower into a fake relationship, lied to your family and friends, pulled one over on America, kept him a secret, then dumped him when your priorities didn’t align.”

“When you say it like that, I sound like an asshole.”

“Everyone is the asshole at one time or another,” Lenard said with a waggle of his brow.

Evie smoothed her hands over the comforter. “I just don’t want to get further down the road and realize that it could never work.”

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