Straight 'A' Student

Chapter 17

"What time are you leaving, baby?" Connor asked after putting their plates in the sink. It was her last day in Boston before they all headed out to Cancun.

"Avery said she'll be here at 4" Summer answered and Connor groaned as he laid his head on her.

"I can always leave work and come take you to the airport".

"Absolutely not baby, that's so out of the way" Summer laughed.

"I've barely gotten to spend time with you in the last month and a half. I'm gonna miss you, angel".

"I'll miss you too. One week in Cancun then I'm all yours".

"Good. Hey so I wanted to talk to you about something before you left" he sat up and faced her.

"Um, sure, is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I talked Josh a little while back and he said you had asked about my relationships".

"I'm sorry if you think I overstepped, really, I didn't mean to. And just so you know, he didn't tell me anything-".

"Angel, it's not that. I'm not upset at all, I just owe you an explanation".

"Okay" Summer said to tell him to continue.

"Um so, I was engaged before. A little over 2 years ago. Her name is Kira, we dated for over four years. Kind of on and off for the first year then pretty serious the last three. She was very adamant about wanting to get married young and start a family. I was pretty set on making sure I had my career stable and paid off all my student loans and just being able to enjoy life. Eventually she started telling our parents that she believed we were ready to get married and then they would push me to propose. That went on for months until I finally gave in and did it".

"Gave in? Did you not think you were ready?"

"I guess not. People say when you know you know, and I think I could see us being married in the future, but no where near that time".

"So what happened?"

"She and our mothers and her sisters started planning the wedding. The plan was to have the bachelor and bachelorette parties the week before the wedding. Before then Joshua would always push me about being sure and asking if it was what I really wanted. I figured it all had just been cold feet or that eventually I would realize being married to her wouldn't be so bad, so I always told him I was sure" Connor shrugged before continuing "um cut to my bachelor party, I'm drunk and he asks again. I guess with a little liquid courage I was finally able to tell myself the truth and realized that marrying her would be a mistake, I felt trapped and suffocated and unhappy and that was only the engagement. So the next morning I went to the hotel where they had the party, apologized for leading her on, and told her I couldn't get married to her. It probably wasn't the best time to do it, but I couldn't keep lying to myself or her about it. She tried to convince me it was cold feet but I knew that wasn't the case so we ended it".

"The engagement or the relationship?"

"Formally the engagement, I think I would've tried to reconsider down the line, I don't know. We went our separate ways that day then the next morning her parents came to my place shouting and angry, saying that I ruined her life and made her go insane. That she hadn't stopped crying, that she was hysterical and falling into a depression. I felt horrible for leading her on, but I wouldn't have changed what I did. I know this makes me sound like a dick, and wildly unpredictable, but you deserve the truth" he said and just watched her sit there. She seemed to be looking past him and he wasn't sure if it was because she was angry or if she was just processing.
"You can ask me anything about it" he said after a minute and she nodded.