[giving him a LOOK!! then a sharp exhale that edges on being an exasperated (pos) sigh]

I was nervous because I had just chosen to stand in front of a small crowd and tell this really sleazy salesman-- who had kind of been a pain in my neck-- that I actually really liked him.

[said simply. matter-of-fact. eyes slipping shut so he doesn't have to watch the way Rom reacts (because it might make him even more nervous), even as he lifts his hand from his companion's cheek to. . . gently flick his forehead]

. . . in so many words.

[in many words, actually, but that is neither here nor there]