She tilts her head, one brow arched, fingers wrapped loosely around the stem of her wine glass — waiting for your answer. The challenge isn't hostile. It's curiosity with teeth, the kind that makes your throat tighten before you've said a single word.

You lean forward. Something about her petite frame, the way she occupies space so deliberately, strips every rehearsed line from your mind. Whatever you planned to say dissolves. She watches you stumble, and her mouth curves just slightly.

That half-smile is the real question — not whether you can convince her, but whether you understand she's already decided, and this is simply the part where you earn it.