I Blame Wattpad for My High Expectations of Men

Prologue

~Summer of 2024 - Present Day~

So no, my dear readers, not all love stories end with the two main protagonists living happily ever after because while he's currently exchanging the famous 'I do's' with his now wife-to-be on some exotic island located all the way on the other side of the world, I sit here in the comfort of my own home, about to witness one of the best on-screen kisses of all time once again. Ryan Gosling looks at Rachel McAdams with so much love, passion and desire as he tells her, 'yes! It wasn't over. It still isn't over,' and then plunges towards her — aaaaand I'm forced to hit pause just before his lips are about to hit hers when a sudden vigorous knock sends me two feet in the air.

This is my thirtieth time watching 'The Notebook,' and never once has a knock on the door interrupted Gosling from eating the shit out of McAdams's face. I sit there, pondering if I should rewind the scene to see if I'll catch it again when suddenly, there it is AGAIN...wait a minute. I turn my head to the left, and that's when I finally realize that the knock is actually coming from MY door.

AND...the end, finally. It took me almost a year to complete this shit.

I mean sure, it's not exactly how it all happened — the ending is definitely much more different — but why not? The beauty of writing your own shit is that you can tweak it into whatever the hell you want. Given that my last book ended with a tragic death, I think the least I can do is give my readers an open ending with this one. Hopefully, they'll appreciate it because I honestly don't have anymore strength to keep editing it myself. It's time to send this thing in to Beth.

Hi, my name is Lola Dino and believe it or not, there was once upon a time in my life where you'd have to threaten to take my Sour Patch Kids away in order for me to read a romance novel. Fast forward eight years later, and surprise! Now, I'm writing them for a living. That's right, folks! The high schooler who once loathed those sappy, cliché plots changed her views upon accepting her best friend's 'recommendation' to give Wattpad stories a try during her freshman year of college. The events that happened after, however, not even THE Anna Todd herself would have been able to conjure up in that beautiful, creative ass mind of hers. Simply put, they are anything but fictional.

Thus, as I rewind my mind back to the infamous days that, quite literally, ended up changing my life, I have decided to spare you guys the suspense and say that although our story was beautiful in its own little way, he and I did not end up together like almost every other Wattpad story happy ending out there suggests. Instead, the moments we shared became my inspiration during my journey of becoming a romance writer because if there's anything I learned about love in these last few years, it's that if you honestly do love a person, don't be afraid to let them go. If they come back to you, it was truly meant to be and if they don't, then it never was to begin with. And as I wrap up the final rough draft of my latest novel to send it to my impatient ass editor, so that I can finally go watch some Netflix for God knows what time this week alone, I can safely say that I definitely experienced the latter. He's currently somewhere far away from me, living the life that only others could dream of, and that's okay...

Okay, fine. In other words, after spending the last three years hating the living fuck out of both of our despicable asses, I can finally say — and with a straight face, at that — that not only am I now happy for him, but I am also beyond grateful that he of all people was my first love because he has taught me a lot and we've learned together. And if I can now share those lessons with others in hopes of helping them out in life as well, then why not?

So yes, I still may be very much single. And no, I haven't come to love anyone since. But without further ado, my fellow hopeless romantic readers, welcome to my own personal Wattpad romance story that explains why...I blame Wattpad for my high expectations of men.

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*Author's Note: Hey guys! After reading SO MANY AMAZING romance stories on here, I came up with a little idea for another story of my own. The description and prologue give a somewhat decent portion of the plot away, but I still might have some more twists and surprises in store for you all. What I'm really interested in at the moment, however, is to see how many of you would actually be interested in reading this story so that I can conclude if it's worth posting it or not. As for now, I'll keep the description and prologue up as they are and if I feel like enough of you are interested (by voting/commenting/sharing the story, etc.), I will start posting up the actual chapters regularly! Thank you guys so much in advance, and please let me know if you have any questions! Hope to hear from you all soon! Stay blessed! :)*