Page 15 of Her Defiant Heart (Damaged Hearts 1)

What I really need is for him to take me to Daddy and Stepmama’s house so I can meet them. Look that woman straight in the eyes and silently defy her to not recognize me.

That’s my ultimate goal.

My phone dings, letting me know Rhett said something, and I check it.

I want to see you again.

I stare at the words he just typed, unsure as how to answer. He’s bold. He just asks for what he wants and isn’t afraid of the consequences. I’m not used to that. My father was weak. He didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted. If he did, I wonder if he’d still have my mother in his life.

Chewing on my lower lip, I wonder how I should answer him. My fingers hover over the cracked screen, fingernails tapping. I’m sitting on the saggy couch in my living room, textbooks scattered around me, the sun slowly going down, making my shack of a house grow darker and darker. Reminding me just how alone I really am.

I’m pretty busy this week. This isn’t a lie. I have class, I have to work Wednesday and Thursday nights. Friday night I’m off, but Saturdays are always busy, so I never get time off then.

Too busy to go out to dinner with me?

Maybe.

I add a winking emoji to let him know I’m flirting. Hopefully he takes the bait.

Come on. You need to go out and have fun sometime, right?

He adds a winking emoji right back.

Okay, good. He’s flirting. This I can work with. It’s a lot easier to do this over Snapchat versus in person.

But I do need to play hard to get.

You’re so right. But I’m just really focused right now.

There. That answer should work.

Focused on having no fun? I smile despite my annoyance. He’s persistent, I will give him that. You doing anything Friday night? Or is your schedule too full?

It’s like he reached into my brain and saw my schedule for the week.

Actually, I’m free.

Not anymore. You’re going out. With. Me. :)

There’s been this ball of nerves resting in the pit of my stomach since my text conversation with Rhett on Monday night. Anticipation and dread about my dinner date with him on Friday. He’s been consistently snapping and texting me since I agreed to go with him, and I respond dutifully. I’ve started to wait for his snaps, my heart racing every time the notification sounds.

Since I don’t really talk to anyone else, those notifications are all from him. I’ve discovered a few things about Rhett Montgomery. Intimate, personal things I didn’t pick up on when I did my online stalking.

One, he’s very chatty. He will send me these long-winded texts and I respond to him with a yeah, or sure. I bet that drives him crazy. But it’s like the guy has a lot to say, and it’s not total bullshit either. He’s…God, I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but he’s interesting.

He’s also smart. I like talking to him. He makes good conversation, and he’s never boring.

Protective. Always asking me if I’m okay, if I’m safe, like he actually cares. He doesn’t even know me, but that doesn’t matter.

Kind. Rhett’s also kind, it complements his protectiveness. He’s nice to the rude server at the restaurant, he talks about his friends and family in a way that I can feel his love for them. That sounds corny, but it’s true.

Flirtatious. Very flirtatious. He says things that allude to his attraction toward me. He likes me. He’s into me. I know this because that’s exactly what he says. Plus, the last couple of nights, he’s sent me photos of him just out of the shower, hair wet and no shirt on, his dark gaze smoldering as he stares into the camera. From what I can tell he has a broad set of shoulders and a nice body.

He’s hot. There’s no denying it.

It’s hard for me to trust if all this flirtatious protectiveness is real, though. It feels too good to be true. Phony.

That’s what I keep telling myself. He’s fake. No one can be that sweet, that sexy, that interested in a girl he barely knows. It’s got to be an act.

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