I gave them very specific instructions over the phone before I got here. Jade leaned over, and her cleavage peeked from that red velvet dress. Her scarlet smile was on full display as she politely told the waitress, “Oh, thank you, but we didn’t order this.”
“Your companion did.” The waitress returned a polite grin and poured us both a glass. Jade quirked an eyebrow my way and pursed her lips.
“What?” I shrugged, holding my glass of disgusting girly drink. “I can do romantic when I need to.”
“Why do you need to? Are you cheating on me?” She giggled, but it came out panicky.
“Never.” I shook my head. “I own the best pussy in the city. Why the hell
would I look elsewhere?”
“Wow. You really are a romantic tonight.” She rolled her eyes. I laughed.
I ordered a steak, and she ordered lasagna. I wolfed down both dishes as Jade twirled a lock of hair around her finger and looked occupied. I didn’t know what was going on, but I sure as hell was going to find out.
“What’s eating you, other than me?” I slanted my chin down, inspecting her.
“It’s Carter.” She sighed. “I’m worried about him.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she let out a sigh, looking sideways before leaning forward and sharing his secret with me, “I caught him peeping on—”
“Quinn,” I finished. “I know. We’ve got this under control.”
“What exactly is ‘under control’?” she inquired. “The only reason I didn’t tell Quinn is because I know Carter well enough to trust he wouldn’t murder her, and Quinn seems like she has enough to worry about as it is, but it’s creeping me the hell out. If he likes Quinn, why doesn’t he just ask her out?”
“It’s complicated.” I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. I wanted to ask her to marry me, and she wanted to talk about Carter’s non-existent love life. Fuck. My. Life.
“Tell me,” she whispered hotly. “I want to help him. I do. I care about him a lot. Even though he is mega-OCD and living with him is such a hassle sometimes.”
I slumped into my chair with a sigh. It wasn’t my business to share Carter’s other secret with Jade. But I guess, if she was going to be my wife, this was what our lives were going to be like from now on. Talking about other people and blatantly sharing their secrets against their wishes because we trusted each other enough to know it’d never leave each other’s mouths.
“Promise me you’ll never tell a soul.”
“I promise.” Jade clapped her hands excitedly together.
“Well.” I licked my lips, moving toward her and holding both her hands. The waitress just took away our empty plates and was about to bring us dessert. Every single dessert on the menu, to be exact. “He thinks he sucks in bed. He thinks he won’t be able to please her. You need to understand; Carter doesn’t operate like a normal person. Someone must’ve told him something insensitive, and he blew this shit out of proportion. Now he’s afraid to pound Quinn because he doesn’t think he’s good enough in the sack.”
Jade blew out some air, giving it some thought. Her eyes were glossy, and her expression peculiar. Almost intrigued.
“Can I be honest?” she said.
“Always.”
“I always kind of thought he was going to be a badass in bed. I don’t know why. But I always assumed he would be. Even the first time I saw him at Hot N’ Bothered.”
Just as she said that, the desserts arrived. Not a moment too soon either. I was done talking about my best friend’s skills in the sack. I already knew way more about Carter’s sexual habits than I wanted to.
“Oh my God! You ordered all of the desserts!” Jade squeaked in an adorable way and giggled, grabbing her spoon like it was a wand and poking it into three desserts in a row. But she didn’t touch the lemon meringue. That was the one she should’ve tackled first.
Because that was the one with the ring in it.
I deliberately chose a light dessert for the ring because I didn’t want her to miss the shiny, huge-ass diamond and swallow it by accident. I had a feeling the whole ordeal would be significantly less romantic if I had to spend the remainder of the night feeding her prunes, laxatives, and lemon juice so we could retrieve the 10k piece.
“Try the lemon thingy.” I slanted my eyes to the meringue. She shuddered, stabbing her spoon into another chocolate dessert.
“Hell no. I hate lemons. Ugh, not touching it. Thanks, though.”