She smiled at Daniel before he moved, catching his eyes. “I trust you,” she said, and then turned her back on him. She felt his arm slowly close around her neck, her eyes closing in concentration as he squeezed, and then pulled her back and up. There was a few seconds when she froze, the feeling was a little too real, and a memory flashed behind her eyes, of a time when she thought she’d gotten away, but he’d found her anyway. Snuck up on her at her friend’s house, dragged her home.
But then it was gone, and she was back in the gym, and it was Daniel, not Stephen, holding her. She reached up with her hands like she was supposed to, pulling his arm down with a bit of a struggle, enough so she could breathe again, and forcing her chin into his elbow. Once she’d taken a few breaths, she twisted as much as she could, elbowing him in the side and maybe accidentally on purpose making contact for real.