She looks around, deep in thought. Her bottom lip is trapped between her teeth and she’s swinging her legs back and forth as they hover above the ground.
“A lot is riding on this for me.”
“I already know that. I’d rather hear the part you’re not telling me.”
She sniffs and pretends she has nothing else to say but I know better.
“I’m on your side here. Just talk to me,” I say.
“Fine,” she crosses her arms and finally locks eyes with me. “I don’t like social situations because I’m self-conscious about what I say and how people perceive me. It never goes well,” she blurts out in one quick breath. “Things are bad enough for me at work. Now I have to go in there and—” she waves her hand toward the house, “get them to like me outside of the office. And I’m not likable, Warren. I know I’m not.”
She’s speaking fast but I get the message. I don’t know who fed her that bullshit or why she believes it. But I’m scratching my head trying to figure out where in the world this is coming from because I don’t see her that way at all.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a breath so that I don’t sound angry when I tell her that she’s full of shit.
“That’s not true,” I don’t know how to explain this to her so that she believes me, so I keep it simple. “You’re in your head about it. Did someone tell you that you’re unlikable? Because if they did, they’re a dumbass.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I don’tjust sayanything. I like you. Doesn’t that count for something?”
Her legs still and her hands gripping the edge of the tailgate tighten, turning her knuckles white. She narrows her eyes in a skeptical glare. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you like me?”
Fair question. One that puts me on the spot, but I don’t have a problem answering because I know that this is something that she needs to hear out loud to believe.
With one stride, I invade her space and place my hands on either side of her. The truck is hot from the summer sun underneath my skin, but I get a good grip and lean toward her.
Rambling on about how pretty or intelligent she is doesn’t seem like the right way to go, even if there’s truth to it. Instead, I say the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Savannah.
“You’re tenacious.”
She purses her lips and tilts her head. Before I even had a chance to get the sentence out completely, the predetermined dissatisfied reaction was all over her face.
I arch a brow and lower my chin, hell-bent on convincing her that what I’m saying is true. “None of the shit that you’ve had to put up with lately has knocked you down so hard that you’ve given up. And hell, you never let me get away with a damn thing either. You’re a force. Even when you don’t feel like you are, I see it.”
Ifeelit.
There are already enough people in my life who never question or deride me. But Savannah and I are different together. When I push her patience, she shoves right back. I don’t justlikethat about her, I’m entranced by it.
“Oh, please. That’s just a nice way of saying that I’m stubborn.”
Case in point.
I shake my head and smirk. “No, that’s different. But I like that about you too.”
By her look of surprise, I’m guessing she expected me to argue with her.
I want her to believe me when I tell her things like this but there’s a disconnect. She can’t fathom that I’m being honest with her. It kills me and makes me wonder what might have happened to make her so reluctant to accept compliments.
Aside from practically begging her to see herself the way I see her, I don’t know what to do. With a deep sigh, she hops off the tailgate and I back up a few steps.
The look on her face is a war of contradicting emotions. Per usual, I can’t pin down exactly what she’s thinking, but I get the idea that she’s uncomfortable after hearing all that from me. Good. Because her comfort zone is shutting me out, and I want her to step out of it.
Now that I’m not leaning over her and caging her in, she seems to have gathered her thoughts. “Thank you. For saying those things and for being here so that I can patch things up with my boss.”
