He’d had plenty of first dates with various women, but they didn’t come around much afterward. True, Wendy was friends with both Hallie and Serenity. It was understandable to assume she’d be hanging around.
But that wasn’t how Wendy did things. She valued her solitude. Hence the reason they hadn’t met officially before the wedding.
“You might want to be careful. Don’t want to get caught,” Brent mused, delight lacing his voice.
“I don’t care if she catches me,” Tripp glanced toward his brother. “If you haven’t noticed, I like the way I unnerve her.”
Brent shook his head. “It’s not her I’m worried about.”
At that, Tripp’s brows furrowed. “Then who?”
“Our parents for one. Do you honestly want mom breathing down your neck if she catches even a whiff that you’re finally serious about someone? You know how they can be.”
Tripp grimaced. “You’re right. Not interested in that. At least not yet.” He didn’t want his mother scaring Wendy off. The woman was skittish at best. And she wasn’t interested in anything serious all because of her experience with her friend.
He blew out a breath and forced himself to turn to Leo and Reese. The two were talking about the therapy program that Noah’s wife had funded. There was a small part of Tripp that had felt left out when they’d been brought in on the project. It was like Noah didn’t think he was capable of that kind of responsibility.
But then Wendy had made him realize doing anything other than equine dentistry would be a version of settling. Just like that, he didn’t care anymore.
Leo caught Tripp’s eye and his mouth quirked upward, turning the conversation to him instead. “So, cousin, when can we expect to hear the good news?”
“What are you getting at?” Tripp muttered. He already hated the teasing in his cousin’s voice. There was no denying the next words were going to get to him even more.
“You know, when you pop the question. Because, let’s face it. That woman is a catch. Anyone with eyes can see it. You might not want to wait too long.”
Tripp rolled his eyes. “I’m not ready for anything like that.”
Brent chuckled. “Yeah. When was the last time he had an actual girlfriend? Tripp doesn’t know how to hold onto a girl. Let alone someone as great as Wendy.”
The dark look of fury Tripp sent his brother’s way would have burned a lesser man. But his brother was used to his ire and he simply chuckled. Tripp took another sip of his drink and glanced over to Wendy, his thoughts shifting to something less appealing. “I’ve dated seriously before,” he muttered. “And it didn’t work out.”
“And whose fault was that?” Leo chuckled.
Tripp ignored the jab, instead stating something that caught the attention of everyone present. “Besides, I don’t think I could seriously date her because that would mean she’d end up with someone else.”
The silence that followed was expected. He’d never shared his thought process when it came to dating seriously.
His brother was the first to break the silence. “Wait, are you talking about that girl you dated in Georgia? You can’t possibly think?—”
“Yeah, I’m talking about her. And a couple other women.”
“Will someone fill me in? Because I’m confused,” Reese muttered.
Leo nodded in agreement.
Brent sighed with a shake of his head. He was attentive. It was like one of his superpowers. He could put two and two together as if his conclusions were obvious when nothing could have been further from the truth. “Tripp never dates anyone seriously because he doesn’t want to get attached to them and end up losing them to someone else.”
Their cousins still seemed confused.
Leo squinted his eyes slightly. “And dating someone means they… will?”
Brent had come about as close to explaining Tripp’s fears as he could possibly get.
“Basically.” Tripp squeezed the back of his neck and refused to steal another glance at Wendy. “The women I’ve gotten close to—those relationships inevitably end and a few weeks later they’re with the person they end up getting married to.”
The blank stares from the men present only lasted for a few minutes before Reese chuckled and the others followed suit. “So… you think you’re what? Some kind of final step before a woman finds her true love? Let me guess. It’s a curse or something.”
Tripp shrugged. He hadn’t labeled it as such, but that would be a good way to describe it. “I can’t explain it. All I know is that the women I’ve had more than two dates with end up settling down after they’re with me.”
