“Yeah, they’re the worst, cuz that’s actually scary rather than just annoying. You’d think the baby bump would put them off, but I still had a guy pull over and try to get my number the other day.” Angel looked down at her belly and poked it. “You are not the man-deterrent I thought you would be.”

Michael was practically hyperventilating. He didn’t know what was worse - hearing his pregnant friend was being harassed on the street, or that she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary about men actually stopping their cars to try and talk to her. Honking was one thing - although now that he thought about it, he didn’t particularly like that idea either. Why should Angel and the others have to put up with being leered at by guys driving by? Fuck guys who honked at women on the street.

“Calm down, Michael, there’s nothing you can do about it. Heck, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Lexie said, popping a grape from her fruit salad into her mouth. Her expression was a little resigned but just as matter-of-fact as Angel’s. “I’ve had guys pull over when I was out for a run, wearing sweatpants, and looked and smelled like ass. Some guys just suck. But not all guys act like that and we all know it. Unfortunately, those who exist tend to spread the bad. We’re used to dealing with it.”

“Yes, but you shouldn’t have to,” Patrick said, his voice a deep growl as his eyes flashed. Obviously he had the same feelings on the subject Michael did - which probably their entire group of friends would.

“Agreed, we shouldn’t,” Lexie said, rolling her eyes, in a tone which indicated she’d already repeated this sentiment multiple times. “And yet, we all have a story. Granted, some stories are way worse than others, but that’s what it’s like to be a woman unfortunately. Why do you think Angel manages to stay employed?”

When she wasn’t making items to sell on her Etsy store, Angel taught self-defense classes, both part-time at a local community college and at Stronghold. Michael had always thought they were a good idea, but he’d seen them as a ‘just in case’ kind of thing, not something he thought all of his female friends would actually need to use at some point. The idea that every single one of them had a story made him want to stand up and rage, and then go hunt down every man who had ever hurt them and cut off his balls.