Part 2Five Men, One Tent, Her Parents

Alyssa went white. She nearly lost her footing.

She couldn't believe I'd raised my voice, let alone ended it.

But at the word lawyers, her eyes cleared right up.

“Jason. You — you're saying you want to break up?

“You're angry. It doesn't count.”

I didn't give her room to talk her way back in.

“I canceled the wedding photos. The card on my account gets reported lost within the hour.

“If the money isn't back in a week, the collection letters go to your parents' address. Don't put them through that.”

Alyssa started to panic.

Then her phone lit up with a number she hadn't saved, and I watched her decide she wasn't giving up the camping trip either.

She wrapped both hands around my arm and let her voice go sweet.

“Jason, let's both calm down. Fine, I lied. I'm meeting friends.

“Girls. My girlfriends. I didn't bring you because it would've been awkward for them.

“They're all single. What am I supposed to do, walk in with my fiancé?

“Three days! Just give me three days, and I promise there won't be a next time.”

I pulled my arm free. The corner of my mouth went up.

“Three days?”

I was about to take her apart with it when a sports car came growling up the street below.

A minute later Tyler Quinn was at my door, taking the last few steps at a jog.

He came in loose and easy, and greeted me like we'd known each other for years.

“You must be Alyssa's boyfriend. She and I have a client thing lined up. You knew that, right?”

I didn't bother looking straight at him. I sat down and let myself smile.

Girlfriends one minute, clients the next. They hadn't even bothered to line the stories up.

“Go on, then. Don't keep your coworker waiting.

“First time I've watched somebody drop a rock on his own foot.

“Land the contract, fly a few drones afterward. Sounds like a wonderful life.”

Alyssa didn't say a word. Tyler heard the tone and decided he'd been disrespected.

“What kind of man drags something out like this? She isn't even married to you and you've already got her tied up in knots.

“What happens after the wedding? She needs your permission to sit down at the table?”

Alyssa shook her head at him, hard, trying to shut him up.

Too late. He'd clearly been fed enough of her version of me to think he was rescuing somebody.

“Don't be scared. I've got your back.

“Jason, right? I know it's not nice to hear, but there is nothing wrong with the way Alyssa treats people. You're a lucky man that she said yes.”

That genuinely made me laugh.

We were both grown men. A guy who picks up another man's fiancée for a night in a tent with four more men knows exactly what he's doing.

And here he was in my living room, giving me a lecture on respect.

So I took the door he'd opened for me and handed him the whole thing.

“You know what? If Alyssa's that wonderful, you should marry her. You'd be over the moon.

“You've clearly got the money for it.

“Saves me calling a courier, too. Take her boxes to your place.

“She needs about three thousand a month, she doesn't do housework, and she loves drones. You two already share a hobby.”

Tyler couldn't get a word out. He'd walked straight into it.

The blood went out of Alyssa's face as well. I do believe she felt something for me — she'd picked me as her fallback while she was in that group, after all. That's a kind of endorsement.

Tyler thought about it for a second, then kicked the suitcase over.

“You think marriage is a joke? Alyssa and I don't have that kind of history!

“You're marrying people off who've never even dated. I'm telling you, we've got work to do. Stop making a scene.”

Alyssa stamped her foot, tugging at her own hair.

“Jason, I — I'm going for now.

“We'll talk when I'm back. I don't agree to any breakup.”

I gave her a small smile and nothing in my eyes.

“Promise me. Promise you'll let me explain when I get back.”

She dragged it out, hovering, on the edge of tears.

Tyler saw the smile and it clearly bothered him. He stuck his neck out and raised his voice.

“Come on, you're a grown man. Give her a straight answer!”

I stretched, slowly.

“Will the two of you swear to it?

“Swear that if this is anything other than work — if you're lying to me and it's a drone trip — then neither of you ever has a good day again.”

Then I lay back on the couch and picked up my phone.

“Lie if you want to lie. Pull the door shut on your way out.”

Alyssa couldn't move forward or back. Tyler had a headache coming on.

Watching the pair of them calculate how bad this could get, I had the best idea I'd had all day.

Why not let Alyssa's parents see for themselves how their daughter behaves in a tent?

I only hoped the two of them had strong stomachs.