Page 402 of Playing Dirty

---

My phone buzzed one last time before takeoff.

Rowan.

Rowan:

Don’t overthink it.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Typed:

Mason:

Too late.

Plane lights dimmed.

Engines shifted.

And for the first time—

NYC wasn’t the goal anymore.

It was the impact.

Sixty

CHAPTER SIXTY

NEW YORK CITY

The city didn’t feel like a destination.

It felt like noise that had been waiting for us.

Coach called it “orientation day,” but nobody moved like it was routine.

Everything was too structured.

Too watched.

Too intentional.

Mason stood near the edge of the training facility hallway, rolling his wrist like he could shake the pressure off physically.

It didn’t work.

Luca leaned beside him.

“You good?” he asked.

Mason didn’t answer immediately.

Then:

“No.”

---