“Let’s shift gears and eat,” Chad said, leaning over his plate to inhale the aroma steaming off the spaghetti. He reached for his silverware. “Martin assures me the food’s delicious here.”
I lay my napkin in my lap and picked up my fork and knife. The knife was hovering over a piece of chicken when a couple stepping up to the bar caught my eye. Without meaning to, I said, “Oh, shit…”
Chad looked up with a mouth full of spaghetti and frowned. “What’s wrong? Did they screw up your food?”
“No, it’s just… shit…”
It was too late to look away. Mark had spotted me. He was standing at the bar with a busty brunette on his arm that was not his wife. He whispered something in her ear and she giggled, then he slid her on to a barstool and headed my way.
“Well, look who we have here,” Mark said, hands out, all smiles. “Didn’t expect to run into you out on the town.”
“Hello, Mark,” I said, trying to ignore his amused smirk. I held the knife and squeezed my fingers tightly around the handle. My eyes briefly met Chad’s, and I could see that he noticed how uncomfortable I was. His forehead wrinkled as he glanced up at Mark.
“And who’s your friend, Zoe?” Mark asked, folding his arms over his chest and turning to stare down at Chad.
“Chad Walters,” Chad said curtly.
“Chad Walters of Body by Chad ?” Mark asked, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you. Fitness guy. Out of Los Angeles or Las Vegas or someplace like that. You were on that show before Zoe’s interview this morning.”
“I was,” Chad replied, looking up at Mark like a lion about to pounce. There was a tiny vein pulsating along Chad’s right temple. I’d seen that vein before. The night Chad mopped up a dive bar with a drunk who had made the mistake of hitting on me in front of him.
“Well, good for you,” Mark said, giving Chad a condescending up and down look. I thought about warning Mark that he was inching close to the edge of Chad’s tolerance, then thought better of it. I assumed Chad would not make a scene, even though Mark seemed determined to. He turned to me and sneered. God, what did I ever see in this man?
“So, Zoe, I was trying to call you earlier,” Mark said. “Kept going
to voicemail.”
My mind briefly registered the phone call I had ignored before going into the shower. I never checked who it was.
“I was busy,” I said.
“I can see that,” Mark said, glancing at Chad again, his voice filled with innuendo. “Listen, I need to talk to you. The last time you called, I was in a bit of a bad place, and might have said a few things I didn’t mean.”
“Might have?” I asked, suddenly unable to disguise my anger. I shook the knife at him and he playfully held up his hands. “I think you called me a fucking skank, Mark. So yeah, you might have said a few things you shouldn’t have, but I seriously doubt you regret them.”
I could see the anger building in Chad’s face. “He called you a what?”
“Please, Chad, it’s fine,” I said. “I’ve got this.”
Mark chuckled, as if I had said something funny. From the corner of my eye, I could see Chad gently put down his cutlery and wipe his hands and mouth on a napkin.
“Yeah, well, you had that coming, I’m afraid,” Mark said with a sigh. “But hey, I’m a forgiving guy, so, why don’t we go somewhere private and talk –”
“I think you’re done talking,” Chad said, his thick fingers flexing on the table, the vein in his temple throbbing like a snake in a bag. “You need to step away before you get hurt.”
Mark turned to him, his fake lawyer smile plastered across his face. He had been drinking. I could see it in his eyes and smell it on his breath. When Mark drank, his balls grew a couple of sizes. Which, for someone like Chad, just made them a bigger target.
Mark snarled at him. “What did you say?”
“I said, we’re trying to have a nice, quiet dinner, and you’re kinda fucking it up,” Chad replied calmly. He cut his eyes at Mark. The threat was there. I knew what was going to happen and I should have stopped it, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wanted to see what Chad would do to Mark.
Mark turned to me with a look of utter disdain and jabbed a thumb toward Chad. “Who is this fucking guy to you?” he asked, scowling. “Really, Zoe, I thought you could do better than some muscled up asshole like this piece of shit.”
I barely had time to blink, Chad moved so quickly. He was out of his seat in a second, and before I knew what was happening, Mark’s face was slamming against the table so hard everything on the table jumped. Out of reflex, I supposed, Mark grabbed at the table cloth as he sunk to the floor, taking the wine and our dinner with him. He ended up in a heap on the floor, covered in wine and spaghetti sauce.
“What the hell, Chad?” I screamed, suddenly furious even though I knew what was going to happen. My mind was racing and everyone in the restaurant was looking at us. And I felt like a total hypocrite. I wanted Chad to put Mark in his place, but I wasn’t expecting… this. Still, I could not deny the tingle in my clit or the dampness in my panties. Fuck. I knew this was a bad idea.
Mark moaned on the floor, rolling onto one side as he clenched his nose. Blood ran through his fingers and dripped onto the restaurant floor.