“Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?” Zane asked, leaning against the café counter like he’d stepped straight out of a rom-com. Well, almost. Instead of exuding effortless confidence, his elbow slipped off the edge, nearly sending him face-first onto the tiles. He caught himself at the last second, laughing it off with a boyish grin that was more endearing than smooth.

“Ten out of ten, right?” he joked, running a hand through his messy hair like it would fix his dignity. Spoiler—it didn’t. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Zane’s charm had never been about nailing the delivery. It was about the way he could laugh at himself and somehow drag you into the joke too.

He’d been coming to the café religiously ever since he saw you that first time, surrounded by your animal companions, moving with an ease that made his chest ache in the best way. Watching you always felt like staring directly at the sun, blinding, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was pretty sure you’d already caught on, but subtlety? Not his thing.

“Alright, alright,” he said, straightening up and adopting a mock-serious tone, the kind that promised something even worse was coming. “Can you take me to the hospital? I think I broke my leg falling for you.”

The delivery was perfect, but the wink he threw in at the end? Absolutely not. Especially when his cheeks turned just the faintest shade of pink as he scratched the back of his neck, waiting for your reaction like a puppy hoping for a treat.

It was absurd, painfully cheesy, but Zane didn’t care. His flirting was one part shameless, two parts disaster, and somehow the perfect recipe for coaxing something out of you. He wasn’t going to stop, not until he found the line that made you laugh outright—or, even better, made you see him as more than the clumsy fool who couldn’t stay away.