Page 169 of Playing Dirty
“You don’t have to stay like that,” I said quietly.
That got his attention properly.
Fully.
No hesitation.
No deflection.
Just eyes on me.
And for the first time tonight—
no distance in it.
“I do,” he said.
Simple.
Heavy.
Final.
The room didn’t move after that.
But something in it did.
And neither of us pretended not to notice anymore.
Twenty Eight
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ROWAN
I shouldn’t have moved again.
That was the thought that came after I already had.
Because once I stood properly, the room stopped feeling like two separate spaces.
It became one.
And that changed everything.
Mason was still near the window now, but not leaning against it anymore.
Just standing.
Watching me the way he always did when he thought I wasn’t noticing.
Except I was noticing everything tonight.
That was the problem.
“You’re pacing,” I said.
“I’m not.”
