Page 158 of Power Play

She looked away, and that answered me.

I stepped closer slowly enough that she had time to move if she wanted. She didn’t.

“You think I don’t notice? Your whole face changes. You start pulling at your clothes, stop looking at me, and ask whether I’m sure about shit I’ve already answered.”

Charm’s eyes closed. “It feels like rejection.”

The confession was barely audible, and my anger softened around the edges.

“I know.”

Her eyes opened.

I wanted to kiss her. Instead, I touched one finger beneath her chin.

“But I’m not fucking you to fix a fear I didn’t create.”

She inhaled sharply. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Figure out what you actually want from me.”

“I know what I want.”

“You know what you want tonight.”

“That’s insulting.”

“It’s honest.”

She stepped away from my hand. “Then go.”

My chest tightened. “Charm.”

“No. Go to Flint. Play hockey. Do whatever you need to do.”

“I am.”

Her face changed because she hadn’t expected me to agree.

“You’re just going to leave?”

“I have a job.”

“So hockey comes first.”

“Right now? Yeah.”

The answer hurt her, and I let it because I worked too fucking hard to lie about what hockey required from me.

“Hockey has to come first right now. I leave in the morning. I have practice, games, and people depending on me to show up ready to do the thing I have spent my whole life building.”

Charm nodded too quickly. “Fine.”

“Stop saying fine when nothing is fine.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to take six days and decide whether you actually believe the shit you just said about me.”