Page 69 of False Start

Maya is here; she comes any time she's not up against a deadline making merch for It's Personal, which, lately, is almost every week. Now Camila is here too. All those years working with my brother and he never once had her over. He'd be happy to keep hoarding her to himself at his place in Westchester, but once they got engaged, Mom insisted she come.

I paste a smile on my face for the happy couples, though seeing their happiness and love is slowly killing me inside.

"Whattup, bro!" Damon shouts across the table. "My stomach was about to start eating itself before you showed up."

I give him the finger, which earns me a slap to the back of the head from Dad.

"Ouch, Dad! My bad."

Dad gives me a look that says "cut the shit", but softens when Mom comes from the kitchen with a plate of cornbread rolls. She definitely has his heart. She always has. Despite the Bachelor Pact my brothers and I made, we grew up surrounded by love and support, with parents that were true models of commitment and sacrifice.Why, then, were we all so scared of it?

Mom takes her seat next to Dad and looks around the table, her smile warming each of us.

"It's beautiful to see so many new faces at dinner each week. Our family is growing, and I couldn't be happier to see all of my sons find love."

Damon snickers.

"Not all of us, Mom. Noah, Cory and I are all still happy to play the field."

"Speak for yourself," I mutter without thinking. When I look up, I see everyone has matching gobsmacked expressions on their faces.Great.Now my love life is going to be the topic all through dinner.

"It's nothing," I say, waving my hands. "Forget I said anything. Adam, can you pass the rolls?"

Adam hands over the rolls with a mischievous grin, but Mom intercepts them.

"I don't think so, Cory. Am I to understand that you have someone special in your life?"

The hopeful expression on her face is equal parts heartbreaking and amusing. Mom has been hard up for grandbabies ever since Henry graduated law school. I guess she thought he'd finally settle down then. Unfortunately for her, she had to wait almost a decade more for one of us to get serious with a woman, let alone get her pregnant. Though I did notice Maya's wine glass was conspicuously empty.

"No, Mom. Nothing like that. I just meant that I think I'm done playing the field. I mean," I gesture to Adam and Henry, "look at them. They found someone and they both look the happiest I've ever seen them."

Both Adam and Henry nestle closer to their women, but Noah almost growls.

"Good for them. Don't get me wrong; I love Maya and Camila. But that doesn't work for everyone. Some of us prefer totravel light."

Noah's words make Camila roll her eyes, Dad and Henry groan, and Damon snort around a mouth full of gumbo.That man never stops eating.

"Comparing women to luggage may be why you're not having any luck with them," I quip, before taking a drink of my wine. Maya almost chokes, and Henry, Dad, and Adam all wear unreadable expressions. No doubt they didn't expect such a sentiment fromme.

"Whoa!" Noah rears back. "Since when are you some love guru?"

"Yeah," Damon finally chimes in. "Last time I was in town, you were clubbing and going to movie premiers with Noah just as much as I was."

I sigh and put down my fork. It's hard; Cajun Night is my favorite.

"Yeah, well. A lot can happen in a year," I mutter, really wishing I'd kept my big mouth shut. I can still feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Go on," Mom says encouragingly. "What happened a year ago?"

I sigh again, resigned to the fact that I'll have to spill my guts about everything.Even Bethany.

"A few months before Adam brought Maya to dinner that first time, I started seeing a woman I work with. Bethany."

Almost everyone is silent in the wake of my bombshell. Everyone but Damon.

"Wait a second. You broke the pact?"

"Yeah, I broke the pact," I bark. "It was a stupid pact made by a bunch of knucklehead high school kids who didn't know shit about love or relationships." Dad clears his throat. "Sorry, Dad."

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