[ still his fave ] [ but he squints at the little notice dubiously for a beat before saying ]

I know. I know. I hear the words coming out of my mouth and I'm like, who is this guy? What the hell is his problem?

[ too rapid-fire, still. and obviously not completely honest. but by the last one -- god, when he saw the look on her face...

he scrapes his hands back through his hair, ducks his head, just focuses on breathing. ]

I sure dish this out a lot better than I take it, don't I? I almost died on her -- how many times? And I can't even handle the one.