“Come on, babe. Let’s get outta here.”
The guy holds out a hand, and the pair of them leave, shooting us dirty looks as they step out the door.
I cock an eyebrow at Carrie. “?‘Go pick apples’? You tell it like it is, huh?”
“I hate it when people air their dirty laundry in public like that. It makes me—”
“Lose your shit?”
“You wanted an example, you got it—that right there was a textbook bad boyfriend.”
“How’d you even know he was checking someone out?”
She snorts. “Please. A woman always knows. Honestly, I should’ve stirred the pot more…”
“You’re terrifying, you know that?”
She waves me off. “Go flex that big muscly arm and flag down your fangirl. I need another coffee.”
I roll my eyes and get up to grab it myself.
When I get back with the goods, Carrie is pumped for round two.
“You handled yourself pretty well, back there.”
“It’s just a coffee.” I shrug.
She takes a sip of her sludge. “I mean with the asshole.”
“Oh.” I smirk. “See how I put my life on the line to defend your honor?”
She shuts her eyes while I fist-pump the air.
“Don’t celebrate too fast, Wolinski. I saw you wink at the girlfriend as they were leaving.”
“Who, me?!”
“Mm-hm.”
“Damn. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”
She reaches for her pen. “Let’s add ‘poor self-awareness’ to the list.”
After that whole scene, we actually manage to talk like normal people, and when my phone starts to ring, I realize we’ve spent a full two hours at the coffee shop.
“What?!” Her mouth falls open. “How is it after five, already?”
“We put in a good day’s work.”
“I guess we did.”
“So, when’s the next class? I’m pretty free at the moment,” I add. “Training hasn’t started up yet.”
She flips open her diary.
“Wednesday?” she offers. “I finish class at four.”
“Ugh, that’s ages away,” I pout. “I was thinking more tomorrow.”
