I don’t ask him what he means by this. Instead, I take another sip of my newly served drink and say, “So are you still going to stay together?” I don’t know who I am at the moment. The real Wren Lawson would never involve herself in someone else’s personal life like this. She’d never even have tried to engage in a conversation with a stranger in the first place. Must be the alcohol, or the fact that asking him about his problems takes my mind somewhere else.

He blinks slowly, his gaze getting lost for a moment. “Nah. What’s the point in staying with someone who doesn’t see herself with you in the long run?”

I don’t answer because he has a point. One I’ve lived by my whole life. The reason why I’m single and plan on staying that way forever. I lift my glass in my second toast of the night.

The music around us becomes slightly louder, and I close my eyes, slowly moving my body left and right. Drunk Wren really is a different person. The AC is cold against my skin, which feels amazing compared to the sticky June air of downtown Boston. My hair was starting to curl out of my tight bun as I walked here.

“What about you?” Tall Guy asks, head tilting.

“Hm?”

“Why are you drinking?”

My eyes drift down to the glass I’m holding.

“I told you my reason. It’s your turn now,” he adds, and even though he’s drunk, he makes a fair point. And if there’s one thing I care about in life, it’s fairness. I didn’t become a lawyer for nothing, after all.

“My genes suck,” I answer simply, the test results I received today flashing in my mind, all those letters I could barely decipher sticking a punch to my jaw.

While this might not be the kind of detailed answer he’d expected, it’s more than I would’ve given anyone in normal circumstances. It’s surprising that I’ve even given him that. Apparently, there’s something about this guy that makes me be honest. Maybe it’s the small wrinkles around his mouth that tell me this man smiles more often than not, or maybe it’s the warmth in his gaze, the color of a flickering fireplace. Or maybe it’s the fact that I know I’ll never see him again after tonight, so why not?

Tall Guy nods like he understands exactly what I mean. He probably doesn’t, but I appreciate the fact that he acts like it.

“Life always finds a way to screw us,” he answers after a while. “But you know what helps?”

“What?”