Page 47 of Ruin Me Gently

“I—what?”

“Yeah, dude. You went on a full rant about how women in the service industry should be treated with respect, and how, if they unionised, the entire financial structure of high-end clubs would collapse. I’m pretty sure you used the phrase‘late-stage capitalism’at least four times.”

I closed my eyes. “Cristo santo.”

He nodded. “I think you really got through to them.”

“And how does my split lip fit into this?”

“Well. So. Security got involved and you, uh… may have made some comments about their outdated point-of-sale system.”

“Finn.”

“Listen, man. You were just trying to be helpful. You told him their payment processing system was, and I quote,‘a security nightmare that was practically begging to be hacked.’”

“Please tell me I didn’t actively threaten them with a data breach,” I groaned.

“Not actively—more like you strongly implied that if you were feeling petty, you could tank their entire infrastructure in five minutes.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “So that got us thrown out?”

He winced. “Almost. But things got… complicated.”

“Go on,” I sighed.

“Right when he was politely escorting us out, I said‘You’re really committed to this ‘angry thumb’ aesthetichuh?’”

“Finn.”

“And then he swung at me. And then I may have swung back.”

I rubbed my temples. “That explains your face. But again. My lip?”

He shot me a sheepish grin. “Ah. So, when he went in for round two, you stepped in.”

“I what?”

“Yeah, man. Took the hit like a champ.”

I dragged both hands down my face. “Leave me alone, Finn.”

“Your wish is my command, buddy. Gotta get going anyway.”

I lifted a brow. “Where?”

“Tinder date,” he said, making his way to the door.

Of course.

“Gesù Cristo,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Jealous?”

“Devastated.”

He grinned, then froze mid-motion. “Oh, wait—” his brows furrowed. “Shit. Dude.”

I straightened a little. “What?”

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