She puts on the blinker to change lanes. “First off, he never should have called you an awkward giraffe that he felt sorry for. That was totally uncalled for, and I would ream him a new one if you’d let me.”
“Thanks for reminding me of the exact words.” As if I’d ever be able to unhear them and forget. “And for wanting to stick up for me.”
“But, Kenz, you’ve put that man so far up on a pedestal that he had nowhere to go but crashing down. You forgot one very important thing.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s human. Which means he makes mistakes just like the rest of us.”
I don’t like that she makes sense. It takes the oxygen out of my fire.
“Okay. Fine. Sure.” My feelings are still hurt, but I can see that hasn’t been his intention. He still shouldn’t have said what he did, but like Keri mentioned, everyone makes mistakes. I mean, how many times have I stuck my foot in my mouth without meaning to? Enough to know the appendage leaves a horrible aftertaste.
“It’s just, before, I thought I had him figured out, and now...” Now I’m not sure if anything I thought I knew about him is real or not.
“Now you’re starting to see him as a person with dimensions and layers instead of as an unrealistic ideal.”
“Maybe,” I admit. “But because of the competition, I’m alsosecond-guessing everything he does or says. What are his motives? Is he a friend or a foe?”
Keri flashes me a wicked grin. “Why can’t he be both?”
I scowl at her.
She laughs. “You know what they say. There’s a fine line between love and hate.”
My hands tense, so I flex my fingers. “But I don’t want him to hate me.”
She must hear something in my voice, because she reaches over and squeezes my hand. “No one in their right mind could hate you, Kenzie.”
We stop at a red light. The car next to us has their bass turned up to an obnoxious level. Even Keri’s rearview mirror rattles. The light changes to green, and the car zooms away.
“Did he seem different to you today?” I ask.
Enough time has lapsed that our conversation could’ve been considered closed. But I’m still thinking of him. Still trying to puzzle out all the pieces.
“Jeremy?” she asks to clarify.
“Yeah.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. First, he came over while I was decorating the tree to see if I needed any help.”
“That was nice of him.”
I snort because if that was nice, then it was also only a ruse.
“Uh-oh. What happened?”
“I told him I didn’t need help, but he proceeded to ‘help’”—I air-quote—“me anyway. The man clumped all the trimmings together in one spot like a three-year-old.”
“No.” She fake gasps.
I know she’s teasing, but the whole thing was super annoying. “When he left, I moved all the ornaments to their rightful places, but when I went back to working on my original area, he came back and moved them all into one spot again.”
Keri snickers. “How long did that go on for?”
My fingers drum on my thigh. “He did it at least three times.”
