My Boyfriend of 9 Years Said He’d Put a Ring on My Finger When I Acted like Wife Material – I Didn’t Argue, but the Next Morning, He Stared and Murmured, ‘You… You Can’t Do This to Me!’

“Oh my God!” I threw myself between them. “What is wrong with you?”

“You’re going to marry this clown?” Simon pointed past me. “You’ve known him for what, a week?”

Simon froze. “What?”

“This is Ryan. My cousin.”

Ryan raised one hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“I’ve never seen him before,” Simon said weakly.

“Exactly!” People at the bar were staring, and I didn’t care. “You’d know him if you’d come to one family reunion in nine years. Or if you’d listened when I talked about my family, instead of waiting for your turn to speak.”

Simon opened his mouth, then closed it.

“I’m going to get some ice,” Ryan muttered, and walked off.

“I screwed up,” Simon said, his voice cracking.

“You punched my cousin.”

“Not just that. The list.” He swallowed. “It was disgusting. I thought I was making sure marriage was the right decision.”