Page 158 of Playing Dirty

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“Everything you say sounds like you’re trying to make it final,” I said.

He turned his head slightly.

Not fully.

Just enough that now I could see him looking at me.

“Maybe I am,” he said.

That landed differently than expected.

Because it didn’t feel defensive.

It felt like truth.

Mason

She sat up.

That changed the room again.

Not dramatically.

Just enough.

Now I was aware of her sitting instead of lying down.

Which meant she was more present in the space.

More aware.

More engaged.

That should’ve been fine.

It wasn’t.

“You always do that?” I asked.

“Do what.”

“Push conversations until they mean something.”

That got a small reaction.

Not irritation.

Recognition.

“I don’t try to,” she said. “It just happens.”

I looked at her properly now.

Longer than before.

“You don’t like silence,” I said.

“I don’t like empty silence.”

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