“And you write the dating section?” He picks up his fork and begins to lightly drum it against the table, like he somehow knows it’s my biggest pet peeve.
I lace my fingers together tightly, keeping them locked in on my side of the table so I don’t yank the fork out of his hand. “Yup.”
“That’s cute.”
“Cute?” I gratefully accept the glass of wine the server delivers and take a sip, steeling myself for his response.
Chugging half of his beer in one go, he slams down his drink and wipes his sleeve across his mouth. “Yeah, a dating column. It’s cute. VerySex and the City.”
And suddenly his bad manners are the least offensive thing about this date so far. Because yeah, I may have similarthoughts about my job, but I’m the only one allowed to talk shit about it. Brian-who-I-just-met-five-seconds-ago certainly is not.
I grit my teeth. “And what do you do, Brian?”
“Oh, I’m a writer too. But I write important stuff. News, politics, you know.”
“Yes, I have heard of news and politics, seeing as I have a journalism degree.”
He grins at me. “I have a master’s.”
I flick my wrist, checking the time on my nonexistent watch. “Well, would you look at the time? I gotta go.” I grab my purse and prepare to slip from the booth.
He chuckles and mutters, “That was even easier than I thought.”
I stop my butt midslide. “Excuse me? Did you just call me easy?”
Brian freezes, clearly caught. “Um, no? I mean, yes. Yes I did. You’re so easy.”
I narrow my eyes, giving him my best Natasha impersonation. “How is me leaving ten minutes into the date easy, Brian?”
His skin pales, and instantly I know. “Um...”
“Did Seth put you up to this?” I demand.
“Maybe?” His voice rises absurdly high.
“That motherfucker.” I sit back in my seat, swallowing down the rest of my wine. “Of course he finds the worst guy possible and sets me up for failure,” I grumble, sort of under my breath but not really.
“Hey.” Brian sits up indignantly. “I am not the worstguy possible.” He waves his hands around. “That was all for show.”
“What was all for show?”
“The intrusive hug and the condescension.”
“And the beer chugging?”
“Yes, that too.” His cheeks flush and it’s a little endearing. “Look, I owed Seth a favor, and he asked me to come meet you and just be an asshole the whole time. He said to keep up the act for as long as it took to get you to bail and not finish the date.”
“You know, this is why everyone hates straight dudes.” I raise my hand, signaling to the server to bring me another glass of wine.
Brian sighs. “I’m sorry. Dinner is on me.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” I study him for a second, and he flashes me a sheepish grin.
“I can go, if you’d rather be alone.”
“That depends. Are you actually an asshole?”
He smiles wider and a dimple pops in his left cheek. “I try not to be.”
