Page 157 of Playing Dirty

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Not uncomfortable silence.

Just thinking silence.

Then:

“You don’t talk like you want people to ask follow-ups.”

I exhaled slightly through my nose.

“I don’t.”

“That’s obvious.”

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Didn’t.

Rowan

I turned my head slightly toward him now.

Not fully.

Just enough to see his outline in the dim light.

He wasn’t looking at me.

That mattered more than if he was.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why what.”

“Why do you shut everything down like that?”

That got a pause.

Longer than the others.

He shifted slightly on the bed.

Not facing me yet.

Then:

“Because most things don’t need to be expanded.”

“That’s not true,” I said.

“It is for me.”

I sat up slightly now.

Not fully.

Just enough that the room felt tighter again.

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