[ her teeth grind together. perhaps his words cut her deep -- or perhaps she's merely annoyed with his childishness. it's hard to tell but the secret truth between you and i is that she hears a lot of her own misgivings echoed in the way max talks about risk and return.

worse, still, for having just lost again. ] It's a trap, isn't it? The very moment something [ someone ] becomes worth the price of losing, it's already become far too valuable to ever be lost without immense grief.

[ grim, maybe. but she likes being her honest self with him. ]