Page 6 of Pretty Broken Wings

He just lied. In front of my boss. Of course, he did. Blood rushes in my ears, but Axel just continues to grin like he doesn’t see me.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Newman. You have a nice night.” Mrs. Todd waves her hands in a soothing motion. “So sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jane.”

I stare between the two of them, realization slowly sinking in. They know each other. Because, of course, they do.

“Have a nice night, MissRaven.” Axel throws me a wink, then takes off, leaving without paying.

CHAPTER THREE

As a general rule, I don’t fuck with women. Well, Ifuckthem. Then I cut them loose. Sometimes, I have to peel them off me if they try to crawl back. Sex means nothing other than a good time and a nut-draining orgasm.

Women, I find, don’t agree with me. I’m more of a let-me-use-your-body-then-let-me-go kind of guy, and that’s why I have one big rule: never fuck the same woman twice.

The grilled cheese sputters on the stove, a butter bubble popping and snapping me out of my thoughts.

Celeste—or Raven—was pissed tonight. So pissed that I could see the way her pale skin blotched red as she yelled at me. I wonder if she would have treated me the same way as that man in the stall? That night, when I heard the smack, I thought that whoever was in there was hitting her, and I almost booted the door down. But then I heard her sexy, rough voice tell the other man exactly what was going to happen if he looked at her pussy again.

And I froze. Because fuck me. I love it when a woman talks like that.

Fuck. My groin feels tight. I glance down at myself, and sure enough, my dick is pressing against my pants.

The sweet butter smell takes on a charred scent, and I snap out of it, ripping my pan off the stove.

Jesus. Since when have I ever been this distracted by a pussy?

I flip my sandwich onto a paper towel and immediately take a bite, the burn ripping through my mouth as I chew anyway. The pain amplifies my headache. It was bright out today. I stepped out on my lunch to return Raven’s wallet, and the sun hurt my eyes the whole time.

But I don’t care. Because I noticed that Raven’s first name is Celeste, and she’s not from here. The address on her license was an old one. I only found her through a slip of paper tucked in the billfold that showed she had turned on the trash service to her little studio.

She’s not from here, which is kinda perfect. I love playing with women who don’t know a thing about me.

Another throb runs through my head.

Will Raven be at the bar tonight?

A thrill rushes under my skin, and I lick the butter from my fingers. Raven, Raven,Raven. There’s something captivating about this girl. The way her body lined with a mixture ofattraction and tension when she leaned across the bar to chat up that old guy. The tiny flinch her hand made when he set his drink down too hard. The way her lip curled down just slightly the whole time they were talking.

Stupid fucker didn’t even notice.

But I did. It doesn’t take a fully-sighted person to see that Raven is angry at the world. And broken. So very broken.

She’s someone I could fuck with my glasses on. I usually take them off. Every hookup is a 10/10 when you can make up how they look in your head.

I tell people I’m legally blind for the shock value. But I actually can’t see. Not well, anyway. On my best days with my glasses, I can see the gist of things across the room without any details. I can even read with a magnifying glass. Without my glasses, I’m fucked. I’ve been told it’s similar to looking through a foggy shower door with little to no detail and vague shapes. I’d be able to tell you if that was true if I hadn’t been born like this.

I’m glad I chose to see last night because Raven is fascinating, and I want to know more about her. Because I’m fuckingbored.

I’ve fucked most of the women in this town and the surrounding ones, too. It’s probably partially that I’m a charmer and partially that people like the novelty. Everyone wants to fuck the blind guy with the white hair. The novelty wears off, though. The amount of times I’ve been called a ghost in this haunted town makes me want to vomit. It’s not even hard anymore. Women crawl over themselves trying to get to me.

But you know who wouldn’t come crawling?

Raven. Or should I say,Celeste? The woman with hate in her eyes.

In fact, she’d run. As far as those broken wings will allow.

A slow smile breaks across my face.