Broken

This month, my name is Mary.

Every month, Joe tells me a different story, and every month, I listen. He doesn’t know that I imagine myself the star of his every one-night stand, and how could I tell him? I’m a married woman, after all. All Joe and I will ever have is imagination. All we will ever be is fiction.

I know this is wrong. I know I should stop before it goes too far. What I have learned from love is that you can’t always fix what is broken, but sometimes, you can survive it.

I’m just not sure I can possibly survive knowing Joe.

INCLUDES THE BONUS COMPANION STORY SHATTERED

Joe Wilder has never had a long-term romantic relationship. He’s a cheater, a rogue, a flirt, a womanizer. He ruins everything.

Until he meets Sadie.

They fall into an unorthodox friendship, meeting once a month on a park bench to share a lunch and stories of Joe’s sexual conquests, but soon Joe discovers that once a month is not enough. Relentless bachelorhood is not enough. All those women…not enough.

Yet Sadie has troubles of her own, and no matter what Joe wants, he can’t make himself what she needs. It will take personal tragedy for both of them to find their way to each other, but can a love that grew from such rocky soil ever be expected to bloom?

Or will he once again ruin it all, and leave it not only broken, but shattered?