Page 37 of Fighting

Delia:

Douche Bag The Turd is here

Stef:

What’s happening? He’s where?

Lily:

Jim just told us. Can you get some dirt for us?

Delia:

Stef:

He’s at The Featherweight?

When the ladies return to the table, Nessa has steeled her face and applied deep red lipstick. She looks gorgeous. It also looks like that tiny bit of her midriff is completely hidden. I stand and pull out her chair, wanting to show her all the waysI can be a true gentleman. As I help move her seat back toward our table, I lean down and whisper in her ear.

“The lipstick is a bold power move, but you don’t have to cover up for him. He doesn’t have the right to tell you what to do anymore, Poison Ivy.” I’m about to leave a light kiss on her temple when she goes rigid again.

As I ease back into my seat, I can’t help but catch the smallest hint of a smirk.

“Thanks for your patience,” she says to the table. “Just needed to freshen up a bit. Of course, we want to keep things as streamlined as possible for you. However, given the evening was going to be partially social and partially business, let’s spend a few minutes catching up first.”

Prudence’s usual stoicism is back in place, but there’s a subtle flicker of approval in her eyes.

“Jim,” Lily says, seamlessly jumping into small talk. “When Pete stayed with your boarding team, he came home so well-behaved. Please tell me your secrets.”

Jim’s expression brightens, and he launches into a monologue about tailoring training styles for the disposition of individual breeds.

“That makes a lot of sense,” Nessa says. “It’s similar to the way we approach diagnoses for different types of patients.”

“I thought your job was to talk about masturbating on air.” Jim gives a slimy smile and laughs at his own joke.

Irritated on her behalf, I squeeze her hand and angle forward.

“Have you ever listened to her podcast? Dude, she’s incredible. And that’s only one facet of what she does. She’s an ivy league–educated doctor of psychology with a focus on human sexual development. Her specialty isn’t even pleasure; it’s trauma processing.” I huff a sharp laugh. “Outside of the podcast, she’s everywhere: an emergency room response unit,meeting private clients, and a monthly virtual meeting for her book research. Does she talk about the fun stuff too? Hell yeah, because that’s the best way to make conversation about the harder topics more approachable.”

I squeeze her hand again, preventing her from pulling away to pick her nails, the action meant to reassure her that I’m not letting this stand.

“She’s got to make jokes and puns. How could she not when her last name rhymes with bean and people call female masturbation flicking the bean? She’s marketing serious work in an approachable and stigma-free way because of men like you and me who benefit from the Madonna-whore complex.” I brush my thumb over her knuckles, hoping she hears my sincere admiration. She’s a powerhouse.

When I finally shut up, the room is silent, and every eye is wide and locked on me. Though Prudence looks to be doing her best to keep her lips from twitching.

And the woman beside me, the one whose opinion is the only one I care about, watches, jaw slack and a mixture of amusement, awe, and maybe confusion in her expression.

“Did I cover it well enough?” I ask with a wink at Nessa.

“While we’re all here,” I say, focusing on Jim again, “Nessa and I should use this moment to update you on the progress we’ve made for Sunflower Fest. We’ve got all the usual vendors secured, and contracts are coming in. There’s no shortage of options for new booths either. We’ve been hitting the pavement and meeting with the folks from Woodbury, Mount Sunhope, and Pikesville as well.”

I pick up my rocks glass and give it a swirl, building my command of the conversation.

“A few of the local colleges have asked about attending to raise money for fundraisers and charitable events. We plan to review the options later this week. Would love to share the topcandidates with you all before we make the final selection.” I break out into a grin, knowing that in a matter of minutes, I’ve both defended my lady and successfully shocked her.

“Good, good.” Jim nods thoughtfully. “If I can do anything else, let me know. Oh, wonderful. Looks like Caleb is headed up. Let’s review the rules of the pitch meeting.”

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