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I shake my head. “No, no, not exactly. She is the preacher’s wife. My dad is–”
“The preacher,” he says, his eyes widening a bit.
“Yes, that’s right,” I tell him.
Rex rubs his eyebrows with his thumbs. “Wow, this is such a bad idea.”
I frown. “What is?”
He looks back up at me. He finally takes his headphones out of his ears, but leaves his hoodie covering his head. I can’t really tell what his hair looks like under there, but there are a couple of thick black strands that poke out by his forehead.
He’s got these light brown eyes, too.
They’re kind of beautiful.
“You talking to me,” he tells me, bringing those eyes to mine.
“Why is that?” I ask him.
“Because you are the daughter ofthe preacher,” he tells me, saying it like it’s a bad word, “and I am… a really bad guy.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I tell him before I can even think about it.
He scoffs at me, then turns his body toward me. “Yeah? Well, I’m here because my mom had to pick me up from jail for drunk driving. It was kind of the last straw for her, so she sent me here.”
I’ll admit, drunk driving is bad, but I don’t think it makes him a bad person.
“You don’t believe me?” he says, reading my face. “Ask me how many women I’ve slept with and never called.”
I hold a hand up to his lips. “You don’t need to prove to me that you aren’t worthy. None of us are. It’s kind of why we are here.”
He shakes his head behind my hand.
I release my fingers.
“Your optimism is going to get you hurt,” he tells me.
I shrug. “It’s not optimism. It’s–”
“Faith, right?” he cuts me off.
“You’re catching on,” I tell him. Then I slouch into the seat. “And don’t worry about me getting hurt. I’m a big girl.”
Rex looks at me like he doesn’t believe me. I don’t blame him.
I look like a very vulnerable person.
I have one of those faces.
Just the other day, a woman who was probably in her sixties asked if I was lost. I was standing outside the grocery store with bags in my hands.
I thanked her politely and walked to my car.
I’m twenty years old and people act like I need to be carted around in a stroller.
Maybe that’s why Rex is so exciting.
No one thinks he’s vulnerable. No one thinks he is breakable.
