“What?” I asked. She carried the third stool and we headed to the truck.
“A lot of people knew that William had a thing for you. I’m just wondering if Doug wasn’t trying to get back at William by asking you out.”
I raised my brows. “So what am I, chopped liver? He couldn’t like me for me?”
Ann rolled her eyes. “No, that’s not what I meant. Sorry. Of course he’s attracted to you, but…you know how men get.”
I sighed. “Men suffer from testosterone poisoning and it makes them do stupid shit all the time.” Like challenging their arch nemesis to fight a duel when they have a phobia of crowds. Like going into beast protector mode whenever any type of threat to the meeker sex existed in the nearby vicinity. Like turning down perfectly sensible propositions to go to bed with a woman. Okay, maybe not that last one…
Chapter 14
William
During the ride back to her house, Jenna doesn’t say a word. Perhaps she’s still upset about the confrontation with Doug. He said some really mean things, and I wish there was a way she could unhear them.
But it could also be the things I said to her before the market. I wasn’t mean, just truthful. It’s unfortunate, because I have no idea how to read the subtleties in her mood.
“So…we need to talk about Doug’s tendency to provoke you,” she says, finally breaking the silence.
“What do we need to say?”
“Just that you shouldn’t let him push your buttons like that.” Suddenly, pictures are running through my mind—a control panel with glowing buttons, an elevator with lit numbers to denote the floors— “Oh sorry, that probably wasn’t the best way to state that. What I mean is…it’s obvious Doug is deliberately trying to get to you. You need to shake it off.”
I blink. “I don’t want to shake it off. If he offends someone I care about, I’m going to make him pay for it. Once someone is on my bad side, they are there forever.”
“Forever? Really? You don’t forgive?”
I think about that for a moment. “I see no reason to give a bad person a second chance to hurt me—or someone else I care about.”
“Hmm. That makes you sound kind of stubborn.”
“I am stubborn. And I’m proud of that fact.”
She blows out a breath, muttering as she shakes her head. “Men.”
I frown. “Women say that a lot.”
“It’s because men tend to annoy us quite often.”
I signal and exit the off-ramp on the freeway. “Mia says that same thing.”
“She’s an ally, even though she’s defected to the other side.” She folds her arms across her chest.
“What other side? The man side?” I ask.
Jenna is looking out the window, but I steal a glance at her face. I can see she’s smiling. “The relationship side. When people get into a relationship, they change.”
I think about this for a moment. “Do you think it’s because of the other person? That being with that person changes them?”
She frowns for a minute and her head turns toward me. My eyes are on the road, but I can tell she’s watching my profile. My hands tighten on the wheel, and I’m so distracted that I almost take too long to hit the brakes at the red light.
“I think it changes attitudes and perceptions. I don’t think it can change the people themselves. I guess it’s different when you’re with your soulmate, though. And no one can say that Adam and Mia aren’t fated for each other.”
“Souls can’t mate. Only bodies…” I’m hit with the image of Jenna and I together on her bed, her body against mine. I wonder what her skin feels like. Is it as soft as it looks? I want to know.
“People can be fated for each other. They have their one true love,” she replies.
I shake my head. “That sounds ridiculous. What if your soulmate was born on another continent? Or fifty years after you?”
She shrugs and then relaxes her shoulders. “That’s just what I believe.”
“And you? Do you think you would know if you met your soulmate?” I’m suddenly hoping—even though I don’t believe in this—that she thinks I’m her soulmate. That would make things so much easier. That would give her the reason to stay.
“I already did…a long time ago.”
A weight drops in my stomach. She loves someone else? Then why isn’t she with him? Maybe he doesn’t want her. No, that can’t be right. I can’t think of any idiot who wouldn’t want Jenna.
But my throat’s closed up. I can’t ask. I want to change the subject, so I do.