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Maybe Paul wasn’t the solution, but he seemed like the only life-raft within reach. “I just want tonight to go well.”
“He’s just a guy, Rayne. There will probably be many more we have to meet.”
That was a terrible dating attitude. Didn’t he understand women wanted accuracy when hunting for a mate.
Women rarely dated by chance or picked a man all willy-nilly. We observed our prey, stalked, collected data, mounted, and tagged. We had standards, and would never simply sample a random penis-toting male that passed by. There was skill involved. Goals! Very rarely did a woman spend time on a man for simple shits and giggles.
If Elle wanted this guy, she wanted him for a reason and I needed to understand her logic. Besides, this wasn’t about the stupid guy anyway.
I sipped my wine, lacking the bandwidth to explain all of that to Hale. “We’re going to be late.”
Hale sighed and went upstairs to change. A minute later he yelled, “I’m not wearing this.”
“Yes, you are!”
Of course, he didn’t wear the screen print T-shirt and jeans I put out. Instead he came down stairs in his usual button down dress shirt and designer slacks.
“At least roll up your sleeves.”
“I don’t know why what I’m wearing matters.”
“Because you have to put yourself on Paul’s level. We’re working on a love connection.”
“Between Elle and Paul?”
“No! Between you and Paul. As best friends it’s crucial that our men get along. Keep up!”
When we reached the restaurant, Hale searched for the hostess and paused, startled by the enormous shark head on the wall. There wasn’t an interior designer anywhere capable of explaining how the giant fish complemented the snow skis mounted to the left or the upside down cat clock hanging to its right.
Yup, this tacky place was Hale’s hell.
“I think we just seat ourselves.”
He frowned, as if the concept of not being formally seated somehow broke the laws of propriety.
“Oh, there they are.” I waved at Elle who was sitting next to a guy in what might as well have been a toddler’s T-shirt. “Holy muscles,” I mumbled under my breath. “Paul’s got bigger boobs than me.”
We reached the table but they didn’t rise to greet us on account of it being a booth. I wasn’t sure Hale ever dined in a booth before, so this would be an interesting experience for everyone.
“Hi!” I greeted, smiling at Paul. “I’m Rayne. This is Hale.”
The guys shook hands. No real sparks flying yet, but it was still early. I settled in across from Elle, forcing Hale into a conversational-corner with Paul.
“What are you guys drinking?” I asked, reaching for the cocktail menu.
“Water. We’re on a cleanse.”
I paused. “A what?”
I knew what a cleanse was, I just never understood the purpose. Denying the pleasures of food and alcohol went against my belief system in every way. There were only so many carnal pleasures in life. In my opinion, we needed all of them to balance out the stress and anxiety and general cases of The Mondays.
“It’s this thing Paul and the guys are trying. I thought it would be fun.”
Ahhh, the guys…
“Sooo, you’re not eating?”
“No, we can eat, just no meat, dairy, gluten, or sugar.”
