I had to play. It didn’t matter whether this irreverent, fast-talking, half-pint of a girl had crashed into my life and all I wanted was to stay close enough to her that she might touch me again and make me feel a million confusing things at once. She made it seem like we were the only ones in the world, and that world wasn’t nearly as terrible as the one I went home to every night. I had to play and she didn’t go out with players.
