I shoot him a wide grin while I reach for the steak knife on his plate, pressing the tip of it into the top of the table, spinning it in place by the handle. “I knowyou. Here’s the problem, Lenny,” I say, pulling the knife upward and bringing it back down to slam the point of the blade down into the table. The wife-lady jumps, and I feel a little bad about that, but not bad enough to leave. “You’re making my girlfriend pretty uncomfortable, so we’re gonna need you to head out so we can have our supper in peace.”
“I’m enjoying a meal with my fiancée,” he tells me – I was close. “I’ve done nothing to your girlfriend. You’ve gotten me mistaken with someone else.”
“Take a good look at her.” I lean to the right, gesturing behind me toward Sophia. “You know her. She knows you pretty well, too. Should we talk about how?”
“Leonard—”
“We can chat real quick about all the things you made her do with you, if you want,” I continue. “Not real pleasant conversation for such a nice place though, is it? Let me guess, Lenny – three inches hard on agenerouslywarm day?”
His date turns in her chair, flagging down a server. “Excuse me, can you please get us a—”
“Sorry, ma’am, I’ll be done in a sec.” Turning back to Lenny, I smile while I tell him, “I really don’t wanna make a mess for these people to clean up, and it’s been a long time since I had a cut of Kobe as nice as the one waiting for me on my plate. So like I said, we’re gonna need y’all to haul off, otherwise your options are gonna be story time with my girlfriend, or turning this nice white table cloth into a Jackson Pollock.”
“Excuse me, did you just—”
“Yes I did.” I pull my wrist up to look at my watch. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to decide.”
I keep my eyes trained on my watch, making a ticking sound with my tongue right along with every second that passes; but I can see the two of them out of my peripheral. They’re panicking. The woman wants to get away from me, and I don’t blame her for that. I’m a big dude, and when I’m pissed off – like I am right now – I can probably be scary. Old Lenny boy keeps his eyes flicking between my watch and his date, so I add a little tap to the face of the watch in time with my ticking.
“Ten...nine...eight…” I count down. “Seven...six…”
“Leonard!”
Their chairs squeal in unison while the two shove themselves away from the table, the legs of them grating against the floor before Lenny and his would-be bride fly out of the restaurant fast as greased lightning. While I stand, I grab my wallet out of my back pocket and pull a check out of it as I approach their server.
“Got a pen?”
“Uh—” he stammers. “Y-yeah. Yes, sir.”
He digs through his apron until he lands on a pen and hands it to me. I scribble out a couple thousand bucks for him and fold the check, patting it and the pen against his chest with a smile. “For the trouble.”
Walking back to our table, I shoot Sophia my most innocent grin and pull my chair out, dropping into it. I reach for the bottle of wine on the table and refill her glass while she stares me down.
“I never told you what he made me do,” she says, keeping her voice low.
“Didn’t have to.” I pick up my napkin and drop it back into my lap, smoothing it out. “It was all over your face.”
“And so you just had to go over there and talk to him?”
“I told you, Sugar,” I shrug. “I’ll make a day of it.”
“Insufferable.”
I could almost swear I see a smile pull at her lips.
THIRTY-FOUR
Sophia
Goosebumps work their way to the surface of my skin under the impossibly delicate touch of Eric’s fingers while he ties a length of rope just below my breasts. He works slowly, methodically, as if tying his perfect knots is part of the excitement for him.
“How long have you been doing this?”
A smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Since I realized sex could actually be fun,” he tells me. “First time I did it, I didn’t get why everyone loved it so much. It was so fucking boring.”
“How old were you?”
He secures a beautiful knot between my breasts, looping the rope together as he trails it over my shoulders, making the beginnings of a bridge between the arms held behind my back. “Probably too young,” he laughs. “You?”
