Only a little bit racist.

Brad took a swig of his beer. “So,” he said, wiping his lip with the back of his hand, “Kelly here is Chinese. What’s your ethnicity?”

“Um, I’m Korean,” Traci answered.

“Oh nice,” Charlie said. “I always wanted a Korean girl. Um, to like, get to know, I mean. Not like, in a weird way.”

The other two guys chuckled.

Brad finished off his beer and gestured at the waitress before turning his attention back to the table. “Dated a Korean girl during my last year in high school. I don’t think her parents liked me very much though. But we had some good times.”

Keith shot him a sly look. “How good is ‘good?’”

Brad smiled and grabbed some peanuts from the bowl at the center of the table. “Let’s just say, she loved her some white meat. Like most Asian girls, really.”

What? Did Brad really just say that? Traci couldn’t believe the brazenness for him to say something like that in such a casual and open manner.

When the waitress arrived, Brad ordered another round of beer for the table.

“So, you girls single, or what?” Charlie asked.

Kelly answered very quickly, “I am so single!”

“Nice.” Charlie turned to look over at Traci. “How about you?”

“No, um, I have a boyfriend.”

“Too bad,” Keith said.

Brad grabbed some more peanuts from the bowl. “Lucky guy.”

“White or Asian guy?” Charlie asked.

Traci felt her cheeks flush slightly. She was not comfortable with this conversation at all—and how was Kelly OK with all of this? Traci felt like maybe she should just leave. But her head felt like it was full of cotton balls, and the room was swaying just a bit. She gripped the edge of the table to steady herself.

Things were thankfully, interrupted by the arrival of the waitress with the next round of drinks. Although not a beer drinker, Traci was grateful for the distraction and quickly grabbed one of the pints and began drinking so she wouldn’t have to answer.

“Well look at you,” Brad said in an approving tone. “Didn’t expect you to be so thirsty!”

“Go on, girl,” Kelly encouraged.

“What about you, Kelly?” Charlie was talking again. “You into white guys? Is Brad right about Asian girls?”

“You are such an ass,” Kelly said, but her tone was more playful than offended.

“Sounds like a ‘yes’ to me,” Keith said with a smile and got the middle finger from Kelly in response.

The next couple of hours seemed to crawl by. After the initial **** on her pint, Traci did her best to nurse the remainder of her beer, strategically taking small (and slow) sips whenever the topic drifted into uncomfortable territory. Finally, she looked over at Kelly, ready to suggest that they leave. Brad was standing behind her with his hands resting on her curvy hips, whispering in her ear. Kelly gasped softly, then smiled.

Traci reached out and took her roommate’s wrist. “Kelly!”

“Hm?”

“It’s getting late,” Traci said sternly. “We should go. I’m really tired.”

“OK, fine.” She turned around and gave Brad a hug. “I guess it’s time for us to go.”

She watched as Brad moved one hand move down to cup her butt and give it a firm squeeze. He leaned in to whisper in her ear again, causing Kelly to tense up, then relax and giggle.

Eventually, Kelly let herself be led away from the table. Traci found the walk difficult, with the room spinning even more than it had before, and Kelly ended up having to take the lead.

“Wow, you are real lightweight aren’t you?” Kelly said with a snort. “Come one then, let’s get you in bed.”