Page 241 of Playing Dirty

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I hated it.

“Bad timing?” I asked carefully.

Mason laughed once under his breath.

No humor in it.

“He’s good at that.”

Oh.

There it was.

The thing underneath him.

The thing that always sat there even when he acted fine.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket hard enough to make it obvious he was pissed.

Then looked at me like he regretted letting me see that.

Too late.

I already had.

MASON

I shouldn’t have reacted.

Especially not in front of Rowan.

But my dad only texted for three reasons:

Basketball. Reputation. Control.

Usually all three.

“You okay?” Rowan asked quietly.

There she went again.

Asking like she actually cared.

Dangerous.

“I’m fine.”

She gave me a look immediately.

“Right. Because that’s usually true.”

I huffed a laugh despite myself.

Then rubbed a hand over the back of my neck.

Tired suddenly.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

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