Three Date Rule: A True Love Romance Novel by D.G. Whiskey

Author:D.G. Whiskey [Whiskey, D.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-09-10T18:30:00+00:00

24

~Madison~

“There she is! So, girl, how’d it go?”

Clara bounced out of her chair, a big smile on her face as I walked up to my desk.

I’d spent a few minutes in the bathroom fixing my makeup and practicing my expression before I entered the office, but something must have been off, because she immediately sobered.

“Oh, no, Madison. What happened?”

A shaky laugh escaped me at the quick turnaround and my utter failure to hide my emotions.

“What? Is it that obvious?”

Clara rounded our desks and sat on mine. “You look like someone just shot your cat.”

“I don’t have a cat.”

“It’s a metaphor. Did the night not go the way you wanted?”

I collapsed into my desk chair, setting my bag down and breathing deeply to calm myself. “The night was perfect. Absolutely perfect. It was leaving this morning that was the problem.”

“Oh, Madison.” Clara rubbed my arm. “I’m so sad to hear that. You broke up with him?”

I’d always confided details of my dating life to Clara. She knew the routine. Three dates, if the man was worthy. Then came the split. Sometimes, they knew it was coming, and sometimes, I left them in the dark if I didn’t think they could handle it or deserved to know.

Never had I experienced any pain or emotion like this afterward.

“We didn’t even really discuss it. We didn’t have to. I made the expectations very clear leading up to last night.”

Clara shook her head, a small frown on her face. “I don’t know why you can’t just go back to him. Screw your rule. If it’s causing you this much pain, why bother?”

I’d asked myself the same question, but even with how much I liked Carter, it changed nothing. This was the exact scenario the three date rule was supposed to prevent.

“And if we date for a few months and things go sour, what then? How much more devastated will I be?” I asked.

“Then you go through a breakup like a normal person. Yes, it sucks, but we all deal with it. It’s part of being an adult, and it’s the natural result of most relationships. You can’t be scared of it forever.”

She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know. But she also didn’t have my history. I had been broken by Gary, and although I put up a strong front, I’d never truly come back together again.

I knew myself better than she did. “It wouldn’t just be a normal relationship with Carter, and it wouldn’t be a normal breakup. I can already sense it, Clara. If I stayed with Carter, I would lose myself in him. It’s not even his fault, but I would let him become my world, and eventually, I’d be so dependent on him that he could do anything to me and I’d allow it. If he broke up with me at that point, I’d be lost.”

That’s what had happened with Gary after my parents died, and I hadn’t even liked him as much as I liked Carter. I couldn’t trust myself around men for longer than a short fling.

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