His words were like a knife in me. I felt like I’d stepped into an emotional blender. He was manipulating me by preying on my insecurities in an effort to diminish his own bad behavior. I recognized what was happening, while still being susceptible to it. Perhaps I should have stepped away, shut down the conversation, and hit pause until we could meet in person. But I feared that leaving things unresolved might result in us never meeting. I was too invested. I couldn’t risk that.
