Nina's question remained between us while the bus approached another stop two blocks away. My first reaction arrived before research, fairness, or any careful answer could protect my expression. Jealousy tightened my stomach hard enough that her fingers noticed the change inside mine.
"That hurts you," she said, describing the visible reaction without making it hypocrisy yet.
"Yes," I replied, keeping our hands connected because withdrawing would hide rather than regulate it.
Nina asked whether my honest answer changed depending on another potential partner's gender. I imagined a man first, felt competition enter immediately, then recognized attraction plus fear when the imagined person became Yuna.
"Both versions make me jealous," I said, refusing to use her attraction toward women as entertainment, "the shape changes, but neither feels easy."
"Which one feels more threatening?" she asked, making the asymmetry visible before policy formed around it.
