Becca Fitzpatrick

“Don't blame me. Tell your mom to move closer. Tell her there's this new club called civilization and you guys should join.”

“Tacos.""Tacos?" I echoed.This seemed to amuse him. "Tomatoes, lettuce, cheese.""I know what a taco is!”

“I want to do a lot of things to your body, but that's not one of them.”

“When it comes to reflexes, I'm like a cat. I'm Catwoman. I'm invulnerable. The only reason he got a piece of me is because of the rain. Cats don't like water. It impairs us. It's our kryptonite.”

“Do you sleep naked?”

“Right then, I wanted to go back in time and relive every moment with him. One more secret smile, one more shared laugh. One more electric kiss. Finding him was like finding someone I didn't know I was searching for. He’d come into my life too late, and now was leaving too soon. I remembered him telling me he’d give up everything for me. He already had.”

“I can't imagine why you're so interested."He shook his head. "Interested? We're talking about you. I'm fascinated.”

“You're a psychopath.""I prefer creative.”

“I called Vee."How are you doing?" I asked."Good. How are you?""Good."Silence."Okay," Vee said in a rush, "I am still totally freaked out. You?""Totally.”

“Scared, Angel?”

“I think I'm more of a guardian angel girl.”

“The higher up, the harder the fall.”

“I am going to a conference tomorrow," she said. "In Portland. Dr. Melissa Sanchez will speak. She says you think your way to a sexier you. Hormones are powerful drugs. Unless we tell them what we want, they backfire. They work against us." Dorothea turned, pointing the Ajax can at me for emphasis. "Now I wake in the morning and take red lipstick to my mirror. 'I am sexy,' I write. 'Men want me. Sixty-five is the new twenty-five.”

“Boys like girls who look like...girls.”

“They said the moment I fell in love with you was the moment you'd leave.”

“Go ahead. You're not going to walk in on anyone. I'm home alone.""The whole night?"Immediately, I realized it might not have been the smartest thing to say. "Dorothea will be coming soon." That was a lie. Dorothea was long gone. It was close to midnight."Dorothea?""Our housekeeper. She's old- but strong. Very strong." I tried to squeeze past him. Unsuccessfully."Sounds frightening," he said, retrieving the key from the lock. He held it out for me. "She can clean a toilet inside and out in under a minute. More like terrifying.”

“- Нарочно ли се държиш провокативно? (Нора)-Кажи пак "Провокативно", устата ти изглежда провокиращо, когато го казваш. (Пач)”

“But if I hadn't fallen, I wouldn't have met you.”

“What was up with class today? It was watered-down porn. He practically had you and Patch on top of your lab table, horizontal, minus your clothes, doing the Big Deed.”

“Whoa, who peed in your Cheerios?”

“How does this whole guardian angel business work? Am I the only person who can see you? I mean, are you invisible to everyone else?" Patch stared at me like he hoped I wasn't serious.  "You're not invisible?" I squeaked. "You have to get out of here!" I made a movement to push Patch off the bed but was cut short by a searing jab in my ribs. "She'll kill me if she finds you in here. Can you climb trees? Tell me you can climb a tree!"  Patch grinned. "I can fly."  Oh. Right. Well, okay.”

“The problem with human attraction is not knowing if it will be returned.”

“I looked to the window. Patch was gone, but a single black feather was pressed to the outer pane, held in place by last night's rain. Or angel magic.”

“I'm touched, Rixon. A bomb. How elaborate. Why didn't you keep things simple and just march inside my bedroom one night and put a bullet between my eyes?”

“He was the worst kind of wrong. He was so wrong it felt right, and that made me feel completely out of control.”

“Is everything a joke to you?” I asked.He dabbed his tongue to his lip again. “Not everything.”“Like what?”“You.”

“He grinned when I didn't protest, and lowered his mouth toward mine. The first touch was just that - a touch. A teasing, tempting softness. I licked my lips and Patch's grin deepened."More?" he asked.I curled my hands into his hair, pulling him closer. "More.”

“She shrieked. "Nora! What happened to the banister!"Good thing she hadn't seen her bedroom yet.”

“Maggots squirming in your eyeholes...and your other orifices, might be carrying things a bit too far.""This is why I keep you around, Rixon. Always seeing things from the bright side.”

“For the first time all day I felt safe.Except that Patch had cornered me in a dark tunnel and was possibly stalking me. Maybe not so safe.”

“We don't have an address," I said, "but we do know where he works.""Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Vee asked, eyes brightening briefly through the haze of chemical sedation."Based on past experience, I hope not.”

“Before I forget, here's your homework. Where do you want me to put it?"She pointed at the trash can. "Right there would be fine.”

“Why did everyone think I needed a new boyfriend? I didn't need a new boyfriend. I'd had enough of boyfriends to last a lifetime. The only thing a boyfriend was good for was a shattered heart.”

“Tell me what's going on here. Why can I hear your voice inside my head and why did you say you came to school for me?""I was tired of admiring your legs from a distance.”

“Think they have any bras in here that can get my babies to lie flat?""They're called sports bras and they have a nasty side effect called the uni-boob.”

“One more secret smile. One more shared laugh. One more electric kiss. Finding him was like finding someone I didn't know I was searching for.”

“Any happiness, no matter how brief, seemed better than the long, simmering torture of waking up day after day, knowing I could never have him.”

“Just because I've gone and snagged myself a hot boyfriend doesn't mean I'm going to leave my bestfriend high and dry.”

“I couldn't stand here, hanging on, when the very thing I held disappeared more with each passing day.”

“Did I really want to stay on this road longer, knowing it was only going to end in devastation?”

“I love you more than I think I should.”

“I needed him like I'd never needed anyone.”

“I tended to be more a romantic than a realist, and chose blind faith over cold logic.”

“I’m really starting to like all this spy work,” Vee said. “When my normal life gets boring, all I have to do is sidle up next to you.”

“She already has a car.”“A Ford. That’s like Toyota’s worst enemy.”

“I wondered why life had to suck so hard sometimes.”

“He trapped my hand against his chest and yanked my sleeve down past my wrist, covering my hand with it. Just as quickly, he did the same thing with the other sleeve. He held my shirt by the cuffs, my hands captured. My mouth opened in protest.Reeling me closer, he didn’t stop until I was directly in front of him. Suddenly he lifted me onto the counter. My face was level with his. He fixed me with a dark, inviting smile. And that’s when I realized this moment had been dancing around the edge of my fantasies for several days now."Take off your hat," I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them.He slid it around, the brim facing backward.I scooted to the edge of the counter, my legs dangling one on either side of him. Something inside of me was telling me to stop—but I swept that voice to the far back of my mind.He spread his hands on the counter, just outside my hips. Tilting his head to one side, he moved closer. His scent, which was all damp dark earth, overwhelmed me.I inhaled two sharp breaths. No. This wasn’t right. Not this, not with Patch. He was frightening. In a good way, yes. But also in a bad way. A very bad way."You should go," I breathed. "You should definitely go.""Go here?" His mouth was on my shoulder. "Or here?" It moved up my neck.My brain couldn’t process one logical thought. Patch’s mouth was roaming north, up over my jaw, gently sucking at my skin..."My legs are falling asleep," I blurted. It wasn’t a total lie. I was experiencing tingling sensations allthrough my body, legs included."I could solve that." Patch’s hands closed on my hips.”

“The Archangel." I murmured. looking back over my shoulder at the ride, which had started its next ascent."It means high-ranking angel." There was a definite smugness to his voice. "The higher up, the harder the fall.”

“Don’t start. I saw Marcie climb inside your Jeep.”“She needed a ride.”I adopted a hands-on-hips pose. “What kind of ride?”“Not that kind of ride,” he said slowly.”

“Are you defending Marcie?”He shook his head. “I don’t need to. She handled herself. You, on the other hand…”I pointed at the door. “Out.”