Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

Don’t like that.
Ignoring it like he’s ignoring me, I open the menu and busy myself with deciding what I’ll order
for dinner.
Finally, he finishes his other conversation and takes a seat across from me at the table.
I look up from my menu. “Is everything okay with your friend?”
He looks up as if startled to see me sitting here. “Oh. Yeah, yeah, all good. My buddy Chuck was
just freaking out and I had to talk him down.”
My forehead creases with concern. “Oh no. Well, is everything good now? Do you have to go? If
you need to go see your friend, I totally understand.”
He waves me off, then grabs his cloth napkin and unfolds it on his lap. “Nah, you’re sweet, but
nothing I can do for him, unfortunately. He’s been dating this trashy girl we’ve all been warning him
to lose, she’s clearly only after his money, but she must have a mouth like a Hoover because he can’t
see it.”
Ew.
“We’re always joking with him to make sure it’s double-wrapped with her and he calls us
assholes. Well, she’s pregnant, so who’s the asshole now?”
Maybe still you.
I don’t say that, obviously.
“What makes her so… trashy?” I ask.
“It’s hard to put into words, but you know it when you see it, you know? She’s not a lady like
you.” His gaze warms as he looks me over again. “You obviously take care of yourself. You’d be
surprised how many women don’t these days.”
Ew!
“I don’t like when guys say things like that,” I announce, grabbing my own napkin and unfolding
it on my lap. “It’s always a slight to other girls, and I think it’s kind of assholey. I don’t need to be
better than other girls to feel good about myself, and I dress in messy, slouchy clothes when I’m at
home relaxing plenty, so I don’t want you to think I’m always well-polished and lovely. I’m not.”
He seems startled that I didn’t lap up his compliment like a good little kitten. “Sorry. Wasn’t
trying to offend. And I didn’t mean it like that, like god forbid you wear sweatpants, it’s just with
her…” He stops, realizing this isn’t going the way he wants it to. “Never mind. I think we’ve had a
small miscommunication,” he says with a conciliatory smile.
“Maybe,” I say with a smile of my own.
“He wasn’t even planning to have kids, and now she’s trapped him, so I just feel bad for the guy,
you know?”