Playing Dirty
The word stays there, almost, heavy, irritating, digging in more than it should, and I swallow it down like I do with so many other things, because it’s not worth it, because I can’t, because there are things I simply can’t do without everything falling apart, because hating him isn’t that simple when Sofi is in the middle of it and saying what I really think would cross a line I can’t come back from.
So I just nod, controlled, short, and walk past him like none of it gets to me, like he didn’t just say exactly what he needed to get under my skin, even off the ice, like I don’t feel that pressure building in my chest every time I have to keep quiet.
Behind me, he laughs, low, confident, almo