Chapter Twenty-One

Alfie

I wasn’t kidding when I said I knew her well. Her comment that the severance amount being too high didn’t surprise me in the least. Not that I plan on ever paying it out.

I texted her from my living room couch, a glass of Glenfiddich on the table nearby. It’s as I’m climbing the stairs to my bedroom that I realize what I’ve just committed to. With my feet on two different steps, I pause, paralyzed, as I consider the repercussions.

Did I really just imagine I would never have to pay Steph’s severance? That means neither she nor I will ever leave the relationship. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but by my reckoning, I think I was just having thoughts of forever.

The sheer act of thinking that word makes my eyes bug out and causes a whole-body tremor.

To ensure I fully absorb the reality, I say the word out loud.

“Forever?”

It’s like in the game show, Jeopardy! where I couldn’t manage to say it as a statement. It came out as a question.

My thoughts about a long-term relationship consume me as I mechanically brush my teeth and wash my face.

Have I changed so much? I’ve come a long way from the secluded playboy desperate for touch and attention, who built a little cottage in the back of my property so I could have trysts with women so sketchy I was afraid to have them in my house.

Seeing Zoey in a loving relationship with my brother was a revelation. I never imagined a human woman could love someone like us. Okay, our mother and grandmother loved us, but that’s different. Then to see three human mates deeply in love with orc firefighters in the Zone? It’s given me hope.

Now I’m signing a contract with the intent of keeping this woman at my side… forever.

“I’ve lost my mind,” I whisper to the mirror between swishing and spitting.

Then I ease into the idea a little deeper. Would it be so bad to have Stephanie around? Maybe not for forever, I mean, it’s far too early in our relationship to even consider that. But she’s been here five days a week for months, and instead of grating on my nerves, I must admit, I miss her when she’s not here on the weekends.

She’s invaluable, and not for the way she’s organized my business and taken the burdens of managing the day-to-day duties off my plate. What I appreciate most are the emotional strains she’s removed.

Steph is so supportive. Just look at the way she ran interference on our trip, calming my nerves, knowing when I was overwhelmed and smoothing problems before they occurred. She understands me better than anyone in my life except for Theo.

I climb into bed as I calm my thoughts. I’m comfortable with the amount I filled in for Clause Three in the contract. If things don’t work out, I’ll be glad to give her enough money to make an easy transition elsewhere.

What’s the worst that could happen?

I shouldn’t have asked myself that question because I know the answer.

The worst that could happen is that she breaks your heart, Alfie.