Page 91 of Broken Vows

“What the fuck happened?”

“Nothing,” I mutter, stepping out of the car and trying to slip past him. “I’m fine.”

He steps into my path. “Carmen.”

My eyes sting again.

“Nothing,” I repeat, but my voice cracks on the word. “I just failed a maths test. Again.”

“Let me see it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Show me the damn paper, Carmen.”

I pull it from my bag with a shaky breath and hand it over.

He scans the bold red FAIL stamped across the top, then the mess of wrong answers beneath it. For a long moment, he says nothing. Then he folds the paper neatly and gives it back.

“One test doesn’t mean shit.”

I wipe under my eyes, trying to pull myself together. “I feel so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.” His voice is firm, but then his face empties out, something cold and unreadable sliding into place. For a second he looks like a different man entirely.

He exhales through his nose. “I’m sorry to ask this right now, but can you do me a favor? Can you pick Theo up from school? I’ve got to go deal with something. Won’t take long.”

I nod quickly, grateful for the task. “Yeah…of course. Theo and I have been talking about baking cookies again. It’ll be a good distraction.”

Levi’s expression softens. That rare, crooked grin tugs at his mouth, the one that always makes my heart do something stupid. “Save some for me?”

“I will,” I promise, managing a small smile in return.

He hesitates, his eyes lingering on my tear-streaked face. Then he steps closer, one big hand cupping the back of my head with surprising gentleness. He presses a slow kiss to my hair, then another to my temple.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he says. “I mean it.”

Before I can answer, he pulls back, brushes one last thumb across my cheek, and heads for his car. I watch him rip out of the driveway, my fingers drifting to the spot where his lips had been. The awful weight I carried home already feels lighter.

I look down at the failed test still clutched in my hand.

It still hurts.

But as I slide back into the car, and start the engine, already working up a small smile at the thought of Theo’s happy little face when he sees me waiting at the school gate.

25

LEVI

Ipull up at the community college and kill the engine.

Paul Henderson. That was the name on Carmen’s test.

The thought of her crying because of this asshole has had me pissed off the entire drive over. No one makes Carmen cry. This prick has done it twice now. And some of her working was right—she should’ve gotten points for that.

I sit in the driver’s seat for a long moment, staring through the windshield at the bland brick building ahead.

This isn’t my problem.