Page 190 of Playing Dirty

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I stopped a few steps away.

Not in it yet.

But close enough that the air changed.

Rowan felt it first.

Of course she did.

Her head turned slightly before her body did.

Then she saw me.

That pause between recognition and reaction lasted longer than it should’ve.

Luca noticed immediately.

“Friend of yours?” he asked her.

Before she could answer—

I spoke.

“Yeah.”

One word.

Not loud.

Not soft.

Just final enough to take space.

That was mistake number one.

ROWAN

The moment he said it, the air shifted.

Not dramatically.

Just enough that I stopped pretending I wasn’t aware of everything at once.

Mason was standing there like he didn’t just cross half a rooftop to get here.

Like it was normal.

Like I was the one out of place.

Luca looked between us.

Slowly.

Like he was reading something without subtitles.

“Oh,” he said lightly. “Didn’t realise there was context here.”

“There isn’t,” I said automatically.

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