Page 111 of Broken Vows

Days slip by.

Levi’s over every night. Some nights we barely make it past the front door before his mouth is on mine and my back is pressed against the wall. Other nights, like last night, we don’t have sex at all. We sit on the couch for hours with my legs draped over his lap, his hand moving slowly over my ankle while I tell him about my day and he listens attentively to every detail. Then, when I fall asleep, he carries me to bed.

The unexpected gentleness of it has stayed with me all day.

We’re careful around Theo, keeping things light and normal when he’s around. Friendly. neighborly. Nothing that would make him look at us twice.

But behind closed doors, something between us is deepening. Fast.

I’m curled up on the couch in my robe when Levi lets himself in with the key he made himself after insisting on upgrading all my locks and adding security lights along the side path.

He’s been like this for days now—hyper-focused on safety. He asks questions about what time I walk to my car after class, how full the parking lot is, and whether anyone ever lingers around. Earlier today he even insisted on coming to the grocery store with me.

At first it felt sweet. He pushed the cart and reached things from the high shelves. But it quickly became clear he wasn’t just being helpful. He was acting like a bodyguard.

His eyes moved over every aisle, every corner, every person who got too close.

When a guy crouched beside me to grab a box of granola from a lower shelf, Levi’s voice cut through the aisle.

“Wait.”

The man looked up, saw Levi’s face, and immediately backed away.

A few minutes later in the produce section, a worker smiled at me and asked if I needed help finding anything. Levi stepped in beside me and set a possessive hand against my lower back. The poor man practically fled into the apples.

And then at the checkout, he paid for everything before I could argue.

I’m not sure what has gotten into him. But honestly, I kind of like how fussy he’s getting about me. It should feel overbearing. Instead, it makes my chest ache. Because I think this might be Levi’s way of showing he cares.

As he steps inside, Fifi lifts her head from her bed, gives a half-hearted growl, then flops back down with a dramatic sigh.

I smile and stand, a little too pleased to see him in a way that feels far too domestic. “I made something for Theo.”

I lead him into the kitchen. “I was prepping snacks for school tomorrow and made too much, so I packed some for Theo.” I open the container on the counter. “And for you too, if you like zucchini muffins.”

He looks down at the neatly packed box.

For a second, he says nothing. Then he takes one and bites into it. Unfortunately, he also gets a mouthful of paper. He pulls it from between his teeth with no change in expression and keeps chewing.