"It's different for guys," she said again, shrugging. "And you didn't want to date. That's all you kept saying, at the beginning. 'I like you, this is nice, but ... I don't date.' It's ..."

A long exhale while she sorted things out. "You were honest. That's all I asked from you, you know? I knew what the deal was. I shouldn't have said that, a second ago. That was ... a cheap shot, I guess."