Rhett lives a life of constant second-guessing. Almost nothing he does comes without the question of whether he should have done it differently. He's fearful of how he looks in others' eyes, and to cope he's rude, brash and abrupt. He finds it impossible to imagine they might think well of him, so he skips the intervening steps and acts the way he thinks they think he will.

When he meets Arden, the other man's kind demeanor is instantly off putting, and since then he's been finding ways to needle him. He would never admit that actually engaging another person in almost daily interactions soothes the aching loneliness he suffers.