My feet have other ideas. They refuse to move, though I keep insisting they take us as far away from her as we can get.
They’re not my only body part she’s mesmerized.
My dick, my heart, and every nerve under my skin all ache for her.
Into the awkward silence, the waiter clears his throat. “Another whiskey, sir?”
“Make it two.”
I say it in a tone he understands correctly as a dismissal. He withdraws, leaving Shay and me alone in our tense little bubble.
I say, “Don’t romanticize me.”
“I’m not. It was simply an observation. The bad guys never think they’re the bad guys. They’re too busy pointing fingers and blaming everyone else for making them do what they did. Besides, I don’t have any romance left in me. Chet cured me of that.”
I curl my lip in disgust. “Chet? Even his name sounds clownish.”
“Really? I think it’s a nice name. Masculine.”
“Not masculine. Boyish. I’m picturing a sporty blond with perfect teeth and too much product in his hair.”
She smiles.
I wish I could take a picture of that smile. It could end wars.
“That description is so accurate, it’s disturbing. Tell me more.”
“He works out every day. Gets spray tans. Calls everyone ‘bro.’ Never shuts up about his Rolex. Watches himself in a mirror when he fucks. Has one of those smug, entitled faces you want to punch as soon as you see it.”
Shay blinks rapidly, shaking her head. “This is uncanny. Do you know him?”
“I know the type. Prep school frat boy fuckwit.”
Her laugh is so attractive and disarming, I have to clench my molars together to stop from kissing her.
I can’t remember the last time I had this kind of physical response to someone. Maybe never. There must be magnets under our skin, drawing us closer together.
“You and Chelsea would really get along.”
“Why’s that?”
“She calls him the twatwaffle.”
I pause to think. “Interesting visual. But how the fuck—and I mean this in the most respectful way possible—did a woman like you fall for a cunt like that?”
Her laughter dies. She sits there looking stunned, which makes me feel like an asshole.
“I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
“No, not at all. It just struck me that I’ve never heard a man call another man a cunt before. It’s strangely satisfying.”
“It’s a very versatile word.”
We’re staring at each other again. It’s becoming a habit. I never want to stop.
What the fuck is she doing to me?
Because I’m so unsteady, my words come out more angrily than I intended. “So he cheated on you.”
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“How do you know that?”
She’s visibly upset. The pulse in the side of her neck is throbbing. I want to press my lips against it. I want to bury my face in her hair. Instead, I stare into her eyes and fight the desire heating my entire body.
“Just a hunch.”
Her laugh is small and nervous. She smooths a trembling hand over her hair and looks down at her lap. “It was a good one.”
We sit silently for a moment as I watch her struggle to regain her composure. She’s fighting bad memories, something I know all about.
Then, because I find her fascinating and want to know all her secrets, I say, “How did you find out?”
“His phone. He left it out on the counter by accident one day, open to this dating app. He was messaging all these different women. Asking for nudes. Arranging times to hook up. I stupidly believed him when he said he was always on his cell because of work.”
“What kind of work did he do?”
“He’s a personal trainer.”
“Of course he is.”
“Don’t sound so disgusted.”
“It’s not disgust. It’s contempt. I’d like to find this shitty little loser and see how loud he can scream.”
After a thoughtful silence, she says, “I can’t decide if that’s a red flag or just a genuinely nice thing to say.”
“It’s a red flag.”
“I’d like to think it’s partly both.”
“It’s not. I just threatened violence on a stranger and meant it.”
“I know, but you did it from a protective instinct. It’s almost chivalrous.”
I realize I’m glaring at her, but I can’t help it. She’s being willfully na?ve. Confusing antiheroes with good guys. She probably reads too many romance novels. “You need to get better at discerning which men you should stay away from.”