Page 50 of The Singles Club

“And I’m the worst date, but great with relationships.”

She laughed, but it had a wistful sadness to it. “Put us together, and we’d be the perfect person.”

“Do you want to talk about Lucas?” I asked.

There was a heaviness in her sigh. “I’m not mad at him… I’m just… I wish that someone would miss me.” Tears fell down her cheek, and I couldn’t resist anymore. My heart ached for her.

“Hey.” I cupped her cheek and swiped away her tears with my thumb. “Look at me.” Her eyes met mine, and I wanted to take away any pain she felt. “You are beautiful, smart, kind, and deserving of love.”

“I don’t believe in love.” Another tear fell, and I wiped it away.

That was bullshit, I could feel it in my gut. Vivian may think that, but she wanted to believe again. She just needed to find a reason.

I got up and held out my hand to her. “Come on, I know what will make you feel better.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the living room. We’re going to watch an old black-and-white.”

She smiled and slipped her hand in mine. “Which one?”

“Do you like Billy Wilder movies?”

She put a hand to her chest. “IloveBilly Wilder.Some Like It Hotis one of the best comedies ever made, andThe Apartmentwas so good.”

I squeezed her hand, wanting to say so much more to her in this moment.

Stay. Don’t move to Paris.

But, of course, I didn’t. Vivian had every right to live out her dream. I opened a cabinet next to my drawer filled with even more movies, including my Billy Wilder collection. “Which one do you want to watch?”

“Sabrina.” She pulled out the DVD.

Interesting choice.

“You do know it’s about a man who doesn’t believe in love until he falls in love himself?”

She pushed the DVD to my chest. “It’s about a girl who finds herself in Paris and lets go of her childhood fantasies over a playboy, thus becoming a woman.”

“… And then falls in love with a man who didn’t believe he was capable of love,” I added playfully.

“Fine, then we’ll watchDouble Indemnity.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Not tonight, my bad date was a huge Stanwyck fan.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I forgot to ask you. What happened?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Iverymuchwant to know.”

Turning away, I took out the DVD ofSabrinaand placed it into the player. “Let’s just say she was a bit forward… sexually.”

“How?”

“She grabbed me.”

“What do you mean, she grabbed you?”