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Description
Awkward and stumbling through the words
I attempt to answer the question
        her question
unasked, unanswered
      hanging inches above the floor
            between two sitting figures

Smalltalk
         seventeen-eighteen minutes past
"Guys only flirt when they want something they can't have"
            she had said;
    a look in her eyes directed at me
Challenging me
But I remain silent,
    then rationalize,
         and generalize
and then quickly avert my eyes
in a strong sense of embarrassment.
I leave the true thoughts unsaid
Until they stumble out.

I lay my head down beside her
those seventeen-eighteen minutes later
Looking up at her face, frozen, questioning.
      "I know I can't have it, have you, and I've--"

...come to accept it, I would have said.
But, cutting off those words
         A canopy of scarlet hair descends to block out all light
And her lips meet mine in a generous kiss

And we part again
a toying look in her eyes
     saying
"I couldn't pass that up"

She'll continue to toy, to tease, and I'll continue to fold, to melt
A game we play that will get old as we do, as I do.
But for now
It's just what is needed.