“So, are his parents horrible or something?”
“Oh, God...no,” I rushed out, chuckling.“In fact, they’re kind of awesome.”
“Then why the panic?”
“I overheard some girls talking about us, and they mentioned feeling embarrassed for Koen,” I confessed.“That if I really cared about him, I’d do him a favor and bow out of his life.”
“Sounds like good old-fashioned jealousy to me,” she snorted.
“I know,” I sighed.“I just...they still made a good point.”
“Again, if Koen isn’t a jerk for letting people think that you’re a gold-digger, then you’re not a jerk for letting people think that he’s dating below his station.”
“I know, I just...I just really care about him.”
“Which is why you shouldn’t insult him by acting as if he doesn’t know his own mind, Rya,” she said, sounding a lot like Dalton.“Koen’s not stupid.He knows that people are going to talk shit and judge you as a couple, but it seems to me as if he’s ready and willing to tackle the problem for you.”
“It’s just hard not to get caught up in the too-good-to-be-true thing,” I muttered lamely.
“Girl, if Koen Wilder was interested in me, I’d still be pinching myself every morning,” she chuckled.“The man’s a...well, he does seem like the entire package.”
“So, you’re saying that my insecurities are justified?”I chuckled.
“Because you have nothing to be insecure about, no,” she answered seriously.“What I’m saying is that their jealousy is justified because Koen Wilder is going to love you for all the reasons that matter, Rya.”
“You’re the best, Leandra,” I told her, meaning it.
“I have my moments,” she quipped.“Now, get off the phone with me and go make your future in-laws proud.”
I let out a deep breath, knowing that she was right.“I’ll call you later.”
“Good,” she said, and I could hear the smile on her face.“I want to hear all about it.”
I hung up, then took another deep breath.I knew that it wasn’t fair to make Koen pay for the cruelty in my past, and that was something that I was going to have to work hard on.A lot of it was just knee-jerk reactions to what I was used to, and just because I’d come to accept certain things in life, that didn’t mean that I deserved them, and I needed to wrap my mind around that.
Sticking my phone back in my purse, I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants, then made my way back to the table.As soon as Koen noticed me, he immediately stood up, then waited for me, pulling my chair out when I finally approached the table, and I couldn’t lie and say that those kinds of manners weren’t a turn on.
“Thank you,” I said as he helped me push my chair back in.
“You’re welcome,” he replied politely, and what a contrast to when we were alone in my bed.
“Well, we were talking, and while I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I was thinking that we could have a small get-together in a couple of weeks, and instead of barbecuing, we could see if that taco truck that Koen’s been raving about is willing to cater,” Mrs.Wilder said, re-starting the conversation, and it really was so hard not to like her.
In fact, it was hard not to likeallthe Wilders.
