I let that one sit without answering.
"I feel like we keep missing each other," he tries again.
"It's been a busy week." I turn back to the truck bed, shifting bags to make room. He doesn't offer to help. Just watches. "The farmhouse doesn't renovate itself."
"Right, yeah." He leans against the tailgate, and I resist the urge to tell him to move. He's not doing anything wrong. He's just... close. "That little project of yours. You're still going at it, huh?"
Little project.
I keep my eyes neutral. "Yep. Still going."
"So listen." He shifts his weight, comfortable, certain. "I've been thinking about us. Where things stand. I feel like we're in this weird in-between place, and I think it would be good to just define it. Make it official."
I close the tailgate. "Kevin."
"I mean, we've been spending time together?—"
"We've run into each other at the diner twice and at the feed store once."
He laughs, like I'm being cute. "I'm just saying there's something here, Falon. There always has been. I think we should stop dancing around it."
The thing about Kevin is he's hard to pin down. That'swhat makes it complicated. He's not a bad guy, or someone I can point to and saylook at how he behaves.He's just... cocky and certain. Certain that what he wants is reasonable, certain that I'll come around. It's been like that since high school.
"I hear you," I say. "But I don't think we're on the same page about what's been happening."
He tips his head. Still smiling. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I think of you as a friend, Kevin. I always have. And I'm not—" I pause. "I'm not interested in more than that."
His smile holds, but he narrows his eyes.
"Is this because of Gates?" he asks.
My jaw tightens before I can stop it. "No."
"Because I've noticed him around. At your place." His tone doesn't sharpen exactly. It just getspointed."Seems like a lot of proximity for someone who's just a family friend."
"Bo is renting my guest house. That's a private arrangement that has nothing to do with this conversation."
"I'm not trying to start anything." He lifts his hands. Reasonable Kevin. "I just think you deserve honesty. And honestly? It looks like he's sniffing around."
It's like déjà vu.
That phrase. Mom's voice on the phone, she didn't know I could hear. Tyler's name is in the air. The idea of me as something to be monitored, something to be watched over.
I'm really tired of that phrase.
"Kevin." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "I'm not trying to be rude. But I'd rather be clear now than let this keep going in the wrong direction. I'm not interested in dating you. That's not going to change."
I see the familiar look of recalibration behind his eyes.The same one he wore years ago, before he and Bo or Tyler would get into it. He's calculating, as he always has been. He pushes off the tailgate and tucks his hands in his pockets.
"Alright." He says it's too light, too easy.
I wait.
"For now," he adds.
And there it is.
