She gestures vaguely.
“—content. For a video. And that’s not what it was. Not even close.”
I hold her gaze.
“Then why say it?”
That hits her.
She swallows.
“Because I got scared. And it just kind of came out on the phone with George, and I didn’t stop it.”
Silence.
She lets out a breath, shaking her head a little.
“Because I’ve been hurt before. Badly. And everything with you was moving so fast and feeling so…” she trails off, searching for the word.
“Real,” I interject.
Her eyes snap to mine.
“Yeah,” she whispers. “That’s a good word for it. Real. Not rebound-like.”
I nod once.
“Yeah. It was. It was real.”
Her eyes search mine, then avert.
“And that terrified me,” she says. “So I did what I always do. I…downplayed it. Made it smaller than it was so I wouldn’t have to risk anything.”
I let out a slow breath.
“Right.”
She frowns slightly.
“That’s it? ‘Right?’”
I shrug.
“What do you want me to say?”
Her voice tightens.
“I want you to say something, Logan.”
I take a step closer.
“You want honesty?”
She nods.
“Okay,” I say. “That sucked. I got the best news of my life. Something I’ve been working toward for as long as I can remember. And then you just shut me out. Closed the door. Then called me ‘content.’ Meanwhile, I don’t have a single picture of us on my phone. Because all I was doing was enjoying the moments with you. And I wasreally, reallyenjoying those moments.”
She flinches.
