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I pour a cup of coffee fro with the first bit of my pour

“Focus,” I say, trying to cal to his table

His eyes track me like a hunter as I approach his booth, and this tiht in on his, like a deer who sees the caht at her

But thisout like a sore thuth, which was clearly on display last night, and the only thing I need to conceal now isn’t the coffee dripping fro that Ithat’s about to start flowing from my panties if I’m not careful

He nods as I sit the coffee down, but before I turn to go, he leans back in his seat and offers, “You shouldn’t be out after dark by yourself, Little Peaches”

I freeze My sto a cruise ship docked to the shore in a storm My reaction to his words are immediate and visceral, and half ofto me that way, especially as it’s the first words he’s ever uttered in ht and wants to ask him if he’s the one ants to offer to be the solution to the problem his brain sees for me

Being that this is a tough neighborhood, and I’o with the former

“Who do you think you are talking to me, anyone, like that?”

“I’m a man, that’s who I am And like any man I know my responsibility is to make women feel protected, treated with respect, and cared for”

Cared for That word hitsas I feel my middle buckle like a balloon that’s been pricked

Pulling ein the first place? What makes you think I couldn’t have handled those h facade, but also ad to hiht

“I’ you couldn’t,” he answers i is that you shouldn’t have to even worry about so like that in the first place, but unfortunately in this neighborhood you do…if you walk home without a man by your side”

“And you think a h?” I cross my arms over my chest

“I don’t think a ht man by your side is all you’ll ever need”

My body feels like a tsuna so self-assuredly, so ht out of my middle and unleash a real life torrential downpour froht to the floor of this diner