Page 17 of Broken Vows

Fifi seems utterly unbothered by my confessions.

“The funny thing is,” I murmur, stroking one finger over her soft, folded ear, “I’m more alone now than I’ve ever been…and somehow, I’m less lonely than I’ve ever been.”

When I glance down again, she’s fast asleep.

I pull her in a little tighter, press a kiss to the top of her head, and close my eyes.

6

LEVI

That didn’t go to plan.

The damn woman almost took me out with that door.

I stand in the middle of my living room, dragging a hand over my stubble and replaying the whole thing from the beginning. I introduced myself. I carried her grocery bags. I was polite.

And she was interested. I know when a woman wants me. I saw the way she looked at me, the pause before she answered, the way her eyes moved over my body when she thought I wouldn’t notice.

Same look they all get. She was already thinking about it.

At the door, I figured she was playing coy. Making me spell it out because she wanted to hear me say it.

Apparently not.

I catch my reflection in the dark TV screen and stare at it for a second. Same face. Same build. No sudden horns. No missing teeth. No obvious reason for a woman to look at me like I’d just embarrassed both of us.

I kick an empty moving box across the room. It skids over the floorboards and slams into the wall, and the jolt tears through my bad shoulder hard enough to make me hiss through my teeth.

Serves me right.

I drop into the armchair and stare at the nearly empty room. Other than the oversized TV Theo begged for, there’s jack shit in here. One chair. A moving box. A lamp with no shade because I broke it carrying it in. That’s it.

I should probably buy some furniture. A sofa, at least. Maybe a coffee table, so the kid has somewhere to put his cereal bowl that isn’t the floor. Normal people probably have other shit too, things they shove in corners to make a room look less depressing. A plant, maybe. No. Plants die, and I don’t need more responsibility right now.

I drag a hand over my face. I’ve got at least eight years of this domestic bullshit ahead of me, whether I like it or not. Kids move out at eighteen, right? I left at thirteen, but that was different. Theo isn’t doing that. Not if I can help it.

He needs a proper place. But not here. This place is temporary. I’ll buy furniture for the next one. Johnathon Beaver already sent through a couple of listings, but nothing decent yet.

First, I need to get this job done.

I unlock my phone, hesitate for half a second, then type anyway.

how to seduce a woman fast

The results load. I scan the first couple of articles and close the tab immediately.

Manipulative, pushy garbage. The kind of shit written by men who think no means try harder.

It doesn’t.

No means no. That’s not a complicated concept. I knew that long before I knew much else.

I set the phone face-down on the arm of the chair.

Maybe the problem wasn’t the offer. The problem was the delivery. I came on too direct for her. Most women like that, but Carmen might need some romance first. Fine—I can do romance.

I’ll give her time to cool off, then I’ll try again.