# Read the first page of This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan Read the opening of This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan free, no signup. A planner's perfect life unravels and she starts over. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/this-could-be-us-kennedy-ryan - Genre: Book club romance - Year: 2024 - ISBN: 9781538706848 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781538706848&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781538706848 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781538706848 ## The opening I’m sure I loved her once. And she loved me. I remember the fluttery emotions early on, the quick-burn passion, the commitment that felt like it was anchored in cement. It became something that required little thought or feeling. What had once been a groove carved between our hearts settled with dismal comfort into a rut. Seated across from Tremaine now as we “mediate” the end of our marriage, looking into her eyes, I only see the remains of that love—mutual affection and respect. We failed each other epically. Not through cruelty or infidelity, but through neglect. The idea we had of a love that would last forever, it’s a casualty of hardship and indifference. This should hurt more. I should be more disappointed that my marriage is over, but instead there is a sense of relief that almost overwhelms me. A breath that has been lodged behind my ribs, maybe for years—I released it when Tremaine finally asked for the divorce. What should have felt like a slice through me instead felt like a sigh. Yeah, this should hurt more, but it doesn’t. So all I can think about now is the end and the new beginning, whatever that means for her, me, and our twin boys, Adam and Aaron. “Custody,” says Kimberly, the child specialist, glancing up from the small stack of papers on the coffee table in our living room. “We need to create the parenting plan.” “Right,” Tremaine agrees, uncharacteristic uncertainty in her eyes. A small frown knits the smooth brown skin between her brows. Her hair, in two-strand twists, billows around her face like a weeping willow, softening the keen features. “I don’t know how much they understand.” “Adam gets it,” I say. “He’s been asking about divorce nonstop. He told me today it derives from the Latin divortere, which means separation. He can’t always wrap his emotions around things, so he leans more on facts.” “Wonder where he got that from?” Tremaine asks with a wry smile. Tremaine used to joke that the diagnoses for our twin boys might not be autism. Maybe they’re just mine because they share so many traits with me. I admit I may not have a formal diagnosis, but the more we’ve learned about autism over the last decade, the more of myself I’ve seen and understood. “In my meeting with the boys,” Kimberly continues, “it did seem that Adam grasped what was happening. Aaron... I’m not so sure.” Both boys are on the spectrum, but they present differently. Aaron doesn’t have much expressive language and is classified as level 3, which simply indicates the intensity of support he needs. Many tend to underestimate him, to overlook him, because he doesn’t often speak. Adam, classified as level 1, is less “observably” autistic than Aaron to others, so people often assume he needs less support than he actually does. Because he’s so bright in the ways in which we often measure intelligence, people may offer him fewer accommodations or expect things he has trouble giving. Some people still speak in terms of more or less severe, but it’s all autism. Just different needs that evolve, and we meet them as best we can. We don’t compare Aaron and Adam, but try to meet each of them where he is with whatever he needs. They started at basically the same place, but along the way their paths diverged—Adam making more gains faster and Aaron lagging behind, still gaining, but less and more slowly. ## Books with a similar feel - [Daydream by Hannah Grace](https://uncovered.ink/read/daydream-hannah-grace.md) - [My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella](https://uncovered.ink/read/my-not-so-perfect-life-sophie-kinsella.md) - [Asking for Trouble by Tessa Bailey](https://uncovered.ink/read/asking-for-trouble-tessa-bailey.md) - [The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-bookshop-on-the-shore-jenny-colgan.md) - [Remain by Nicholas Sparks](https://uncovered.ink/read/remain-nicholas-sparks.md) - [The Pairing by Casey McQuiston](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-pairing-casey-mcquiston.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.