That got a twitch of a shy smile out of Sunny, but she still hesitated. Not as much as she would have in other circumstances, but this was still... "I know he likes me. He likes me a lot, as best I can read him. And I like him and... he panics when I touch him."

She had tried to assure Faizel that it couldn't be helped, that she knew not to take it personally... but it cut. It cut fairly deep, actually. She knew it wasn't disgust. She knew it. But her heart couldn't tell the difference, not when she had been pushed away as often as she had.