I smiled, not at the offer, but at the double-edged maneuver. He immediately caught my smile. And having caught it, smiled back, almost in self-mockery, sensing that if he gave any sign of guessing I’d seen through his ruse he’d be confirming his guilt, but that refusing to own up to it, after I’d made clear I’d intercepted it, would indict him even more. So he smiled to confess he’d been caught but also to show he was a good enough sport to own up to it and still enjoy going to the movies together. The whole thing thrilled me.
I try not to highlight entire passages because good grief, but the mind games Elio allows himself to play are insane. Does this flat white man really have the capability to maneuver such brain elastics?? This becomes the scary part. The fact that Oliver senses how Elio waits with bated breath. It’s a preying on the inexperienced and youthful.
