Oh, we’re going to play that way? Turn the tables?

“I do,” I agreed.

“What about you? I don’t even understand what it is you do, exactly. You somehow work for Maxwell Pollard as a consultant? You’re an employee, but not an employee? What even is that? Who even are you?”

“All fair questions,” I said, holding up a finger and meeting her eyes wisely. “Questions I will answer once you answer mine.”

Pearl folded her arms. She liked doing that. Defensive, I supposed, unless she was trying to subtly imply she wanted my arms around her. Probably not. “What do I want?” she asked. “Right now, I really just want to survive the next two weeks without things blowing up in our faces.”

“Okay,” I said. “That’s a start. But what about after that? Everybody wants something. The dream job. The dream boy. The dream cat, even.”

“I’m allergic,” she said.

“To boys, jobs, or cats?”

She wrinkled her nose. Adorable, again. “Cats. And honestly? I don’t really know. Maybe get a promotion so I can start deciding which projects I spend my time on. Maybe leave the city all together? I’ve been thinking about all of it since Eric left, and I’m still not really sure. Before him, I thought I wanted the perfect guy, I guess. But the more of them I meet, the more certain I am that there's no such thing. Actually, let’s see… What kind of guys are there?” There was a dangerous edge to her voice. Clearly, I was part of the opposing team in this rant she was about to unload.

“Charming ones with good intentions?” I tried.

“No. There are men who want something from you. That’s it.”

“I was expecting a longer list.”

“There are different flavors, sure. There are the guys who want you to fix their life. The ones who want you to be their mommy and fold their clothes, make their appointments, and cook for them. Then there are the ones who are trying to use you to fill some hole in their life. Or the ones who just want to take something from you, use you up, and then move on once they have what they want. But that’s what they all do. They just take. Eric made me finally realize it, and that’s why I’m done with all of them.”

“Hmm. Is it possible you haven’t met the right one yet?”

“No. I’m convinced they all end up the same.”

“So which one am I?” I asked.

“I haven’t figured it out yet. But you do want something from me.”

Yes, yes I did. She was right about that. I wanted several somethings, in fact, starting with a kiss that wasn’t running on a five-second timer. I wanted to kiss her as long as I fucking wanted, but that was just scratching the surface. But I also wanted more than that. I wanted to help her heal, because she was clearly hurting. I also wanted to hunt down all the assholes who hadn’t treated her right and push them off bridges. Pearl deserved better than those assholes. She definitely deserved better than me.