Page 109 of Playing Dirty

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“Rowan,” Caleb whispered. “You good?”

“Yes.”

Short.

Too short.

He hesitated. “You seem tense.”

“I’m fine.”

But I wasn’t.

Not because of him.

Because of the space behind me that wasn’t space anymore.

Mason

Her chair was still there.

Still touching.

Still not moving.

I could’ve shifted.

I didn’t.

That was the part I didn’t like.

Not the contact.

The fact I didn’t correct it.

Jace leaned slightly toward me again. “You realise you’re both doing this on purpose now, right?”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s the problem.”

Coach clapped once.

“Break,” he said again. “Last five before we wrap.”

Noise returned.

People shifted.

Chairs moved.

Except ours didn’t immediately.

Rowan stood first.

Her chair moved away from mine as she did.

That gap hit harder than the contact.

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