My boyfriend says I'm a free babysitter

My boyfriend, Chad, left his Facebook logged in on my laptop when he hopped in the shower.

A notification popped up from his group chat with his buddies.

"Dude, Chad, that was a genius move, I gotta hand it to you! But seriously, isn't that a little messed up to do to your girlfriend?"

My face went white, and my hand trembled as I clicked open the chat.

…

The conversation had started at 4:03 that afternoon, right when I was out grocery shopping – Chad had been craving my pot roast.

Before I left, he said he was gonna kill some time playing games on my laptop.

"So, I heard you got engaged to your girl? That doesn't sound like you, Chad, getting all tied down like that?"

"What? No way, I just found myself a free maid, that's all."

My blood ran cold, and my mind went blank. I couldn't believe these were the words of my super-sweet boyfriend.

"Don't give me that crap! Everyone knows you dropped like twenty grand on that ring, dude!"

"Yeah, I spent twenty grand on that ring, plus another five grand in other gifts, plus the diamond earrings and necklace. All in, that's about thirty grand on her!"

"Man, you have it bad, Chad, you must really be in love with her to be throwing down that kind of cash!"

"Our party boy Chad is actually getting hitched?! Can't believe it."

"The power of love is somethin' else!"

The other three guys were going on and on, but then Chad's next message hit me like a punch to the gut.

"Cut the crap, you guys. Love has nothing to do with it! It's a strategy. If I didn't spend all that dough, would she believe me and move in with me?"

"Amy is so old-fashioned it's ridiculous. After two years of dating she wouldn’t even sleep with me, saying she was saving it for marriage, total BS. I had to get my folks in on it and spend thirty grand on the engagement to finally make her trust me and agree to move in."

"That's cold, Chad, you went all out like that just to get some action?"

"Dude, I was about to lose it! It's been two years, I had to finally see what all the fuss was about!"

"And? Was it worth the wait?"

"Nah, just okay, super awkward. I got ripped off."

"Well, now you gotta take responsibility for the girl."

"Yeah, women who are that reserved are rare these days."

"Not me, once I'm done playing around with her I'm dumping her."

The chat went silent. After a half hour someone finally chimed in.

"So, you blew thirty grand just to sleep with a girl for a few months? That's just a really expensive way to pay for sex!"

"You guys are so dumb! It's not a hook up if she has to pay me back the engagement ring and other stuff if we call it off! I’ll get to have my way with Amy for a few months, and during that time, she'll be spending her own cash to cook for me!"

The group chat was quiet again for two hours, likely because Chad’s sleaziness shocked them speechless.

That was right around the time I called him for dinner. I guess the roast had too much gamey taste for his liking, he seemed annoyed. After he fini...