"I don't think I could have handled rough," he admits with a look away and a short laugh. "Not the way I was. I can take you rough at my best, and that was...not my best."

Wait. What. That is not an expected tangent. "...Did you really. Did you actually track her down at the party just to get her number?" He's a little bit mortified and a little bit impressed. "Of course she'd talk to you, you're not the one who..." Panicked. "Reacted poorly." That's the phrase.