Read So Much for My Happy Ending for Free Online

do is stand there and drink the wine when she hands it to you. You will come, won’t you?”
    Tad squeezed her hand. “Of course, April and I will call as soon as we can coordinate our schedules.”
    Mom gave us both another kiss and then skipped out of the apartment, leaving me with the alien-vegan life-form that claimed to be my fiancé.
    Tad turned to me for the first time that evening and reached out to squeeze my waist. “I think she likes me now.”
    â€œWell, at least somebody does.”
    â€œOh, come on.” He pulled me in a little closer. “All I did was tell her what she wanted to hear. What’s wrong with that?”
    â€œWhat’s wrong with that?” I pushed away from him and crossed my arms in front of myself protectively. “Whatever happened to being yourself?”
    Tad blinked his eyes in apparent incomprehension.
    â€œLook at this place.” I shoved a bowlful of potpourri under his nose. “This isn’t you. If I wanted to marry the male version of my mother I’d find myself a Hari Krishna guy and be done with it.”
    I thought I saw a flash of anger cross his features, but I wasn’t done yet. “And what about the way you treated me at dinner? You acted as if I wasn’t even there. Worse, you acted like I didn’t matter. Did you hear me when I asked you about the apartment and your newfound interest in astrology? I mean, if you don’t respect me enough to take me seriously, maybe we really should rethink this—”
    â€œGive me a fucking break!” I stepped back as if avoiding a physical blow. Tad had changed again. Not into the man that had proposed to me last night but into something new. Something really, really angry. “So I wanted to impress your mother, so the fuck what? If your mother was a normal person, I’d have put on a suit and called her ma’am. Would you have had a problem with that?”
    â€œActually…”
    â€œI proposed and you said yes. Did you mean it or not?”
    â€œOf course I meant it, but—”
    â€œBut what? I mean so little to you that one bad dinner is enough of a reason to end it? Or are you so insecure that you can’t handle my taking the time to focus on someone else’s needs, even if that someone else is your own mother?”
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œWhy the fuck do you think men give women roses?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œWhy do men give women roses? Why do we arrange candlelight dinners and give you cards with little hearts on them? Do you think that we do it because we secretly love sweet frilly things?”
    â€œI don’t know…”
    â€œWe do it because we want to make the women we love happy. We want to make them smile. Tonight I wanted to make the woman-I-love’s mother smile, and you’re bitching me out for it.”
    When this argument started I was pretty sure I had a legitimate point. Now I was totally confused. Had I been in the wrong? Did I owe him an apology?
    â€œLook, I guess I just, I…” I faltered and looked around for something to help me find my bearings. “Maybe I overreacted.”
    Tad nodded but didn’t say anything.
    â€œI’m…I’m sorry.”
    He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “It’s all right. I know you’re tired.” He stepped closer again and pulled me to his chest. I felt suffocated.
    â€œTell you what,” he continued, “why don’t we blow out these stupid candles and cuddle on the couch. Maybe we can even have a little more wine, and if you want, I might have a few ants we can murder.”
    â€œOkay.” I managed to force a smile. Something very strange had just happened, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it was.
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    At five-thirty the next morning I woke up in Tad’s bed alone. I had vague memories of finishing off the remaining wine and Tad helping me to the bedroom. I was