Leanne woke up when room service arrived.

Since she didn’t order it, Trev must have. He’d chosen an assortment of options: pastries, yogurt, and fruit, along with a heartier breakfast that they shared. Before he moved in, she usually grabbed a protein bar and coffee. This qualified as luxury. There was something subtly charming about a partner who tended to the details, taking care of her without being overt about it.

She genuinely liked Trev, and she enjoyed sleeping next to him, which wasn’t the norm. Generally, she preferred for people to get out of her bed when she was done fooling around with them. In a rom-com, Leanne would be the character who rolled over right after sex and offered to call a rideshare without a flicker of hesitation. While she loved the idea of marriage, she’d never been able to get comfortable with relying on someone else, and she knew herself well enough to accept that her marital failures were mostly her own fault. The fact that someone could choose to go always hovered in the back of her head, so she pulled the plug before anybody bailed on their own.

Better to leave than be left, right? But here I go again.

Yet this time, her heart ached when she imagined the inevitable ending of this agreement. Nothing lasted, no matter how much she wished otherwise. The important thing was to get what she needed before Trev decided to go his own way. It wasn’t that she planned to discard him once he served his purpose, but the minute he showed signs of restlessness, she knew herself. When the time came, she’d pull the trigger preemptively on reflex, to preserve her dignity.

With effort, she put aside those negative thoughts and set up their food on the two-person table in front of the window. They ate a lazy brunch, then her phone beeped. She glared at it. If that’s Junie…

“It might be important,” Trev said.

If it was about work, they could go to hell. Despite her better judgment, she read the text, and sure enough, it was from her mom. You’re really not home? Are you avoiding me?

As her mother had done to her many times, Leanne left the text on read. “Should we go for a swim? We have time before we need to get our license.”

“I packed my trunks,” he admitted with an endearingly sheepish grin. “Better to be prepared, I thought.”

“I’m into it. I’ll put on my bikini.” She wrapped up in the hotel robe and slipped on some flip-flops.