"Guys like you wear jeans," she continues. "Dark jeans, black jeans, some of the weirder ones wear white jeans. You only wear the faded blue ones, always a little loose around the waist even though you have a nice ass and should show it off more. So is there a man in your life who only wears faded jeans loose around the waist?"
When I open my mouth to tell her no, she interrupts me.
"Sawyer said you used to have shorter hair. You grew it out since dumping her. Does any man in your life have longer hair like that? An enforcer you respect maybe?"
No way will I tell her about my real dad's pinup tattoo or my adopted dad's cross. I also refuse to share how Tad Todds only wears faded blue jeans loose around the hips. Never will I share how club enforcers Judd and Vaughn wear their hair longer. Even without me admitting the truths behind her questions, Bodie smiles in her snarky way.
"Everyone copies someone," she says, sipping the coffee the waitress brings her. "You do it because you don't know who you are. I don't know the details of your parents' deaths, but I'm betting you hid afterwards. Kept your head down and behaved in a way expected from you. At some point, you lost your personality and began to adopt traits from others. Your agreeable act is because you don't trust your real responses. You're a faker, Jethro Todds."
"What does that have to do with Sawyer?"
"Well, Colbie thinks you two belong together. She believes poems ought to be written about your love. Really obnoxious stuff, but she believes it. Zane thinks you two are over, and no amount of meddling will change things. Me, I'm not so sure because you're not so sure. You don't even know why you dumped Sawyer. How can you be sure why you want her back? If you can't know, I can't know."
"Sawyer and I don't work."
"Yeah, maybe you don't, but relationships don't always make sense."
"You're pissing me off. How's that for agreeable?"
"Scary stuff, Jebediah Todds," she says, laughing. "Now that I've finished peeing myself in terror, let me ask you a question. When you woke up on the day you dumped Sawyer, did you know things were over? Or did the need to end things happen sudden-like?"
"Why would I tell you?"
"Because you didn't sleep well last night, and she's all you can think about. You thought you were okay without her, but now you're suffering from Sawyer fever. You want to know why and I can help. I'm very good at dissecting people. I should work for the CIA, I'm so good."
Studying her hazel eyes, I see a chance to make things right with Sawyer.
"It was sudden," I admit.
"I have two thoughts on why you dumped Sawyer. You realized what you had wasn't real. You were with her because everyone expected you to be with her. They did, didn't they?"
Even nodding grudgingly, I find myself curious about where she's heading.
"So maybe you realized things weren't real, and you panicked. Or possibly what you had with Sawyer felt more real than anything else in your life, and that scared you."
"Even though everyone expected Sawyer and me to hook up, I wanted to be with her. She and I were friends. Real friends not forced family friends. We talked every day. What I felt for her was real."
"I don't think you're good with real. I get a lot of weird vibes about you. Mostly, I sense you're not your own man. You don't own your size or power. You don't enter a room ready to bust heads, even though I bet you could easily kick Mac's ass. You seem like a nice boy in the body of a big tough guy. I don't think you're a nice boy, Jeffery Todds. I think you're a big faker."
"So I do what?"
"Well, we need to figure out why you dumped Sawyer. If what you had with her was real, and there was no pressure from others to leave her, why did you choose that day to walk away? Until you figure that out, you're useless to Sawyer, and I refuse to meddle in your broken love affair."
"Good. No one needs your meddling."
Smiling Bodie leans back in the booth. "I know you think I've had an easy life, and that's why I'm so perfect."
I grin without thinking because her arrogance is funny. Bodie glances around then back at me.
"JJ McLaughlin is an amazing businessman, and a brilliant strategist when preparing for the zombie apocalypse we all know is bound to happen. As a dad, he sucked. I can't even pretend he tried. No, he was definitely a half ass father. Sometimes, I'd say a mere quarter of an ass was involved."
Sipping her coffee, Bodie glares at a passing man. When the frightened guy moves faster, she smiles at me.
"Weak men make me laugh, Jacque Todds. Anyway back to my childhood reminiscing. So my dad didn't raise us as much as pay to have others raise us. Our nannies let us run wild, so we grew up doing whatever we wanted. Good or bad, we made our own decisions. We often crashed and burned. It made us strong, and I'm comfortable in my skin. You aren't, but you have a chance here in Last Dollar."
"I'm not moving to your town."
"Don't challenge me, Jolisa Todds."