Colleen Hoover

“My sweet is that me and Kel are finally brothers. My suck is that I now know what Will and Layken did during their honeymoon.”

“I have the overwhelming urge to pull her up out of her chair and kiss her in front of everyone, then scream my resignation at the top of my lungs.”

“Sometimes it feels good to have your biggest fears discounted with a simple compliment.”

“But every smile on your faceseems to replaceA memory I'd rather not holdEach time you laugh, it fills avoidEach kiss heals another wound in my soul”

“It's not your bra. It's our bra and I want it off." I slip it off her, pulling her against me as I rub my hands down the length of her back, then around to the button on the front of her jeans. "And I want to take off our pants."She grins against my lips and slowly nods. "Okay, but hurry," she whispers."I can be quick," I assure her. "But I'll never hurry.”

“Goodnight, wife.""Goodnight, husband.”

“I hold still against her, taking one final look at this amazing, beautiful girl beneath me. "You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to my life," I whisper.”

“The line isn't so black and white anymore. I'm pretty sure gray just became my new favorite color.”

“I guess I'll see you third period, Mr. Cooper," she says as she exits the room.The way she refers to me as "Mr. Cooper" makes me scowl. I hate the fact that I'm her teacher. I'd so much rather be her Will.”

“I can't remember feeling this way... since well, ever. It's new. It's scary. It's exciting. It's nerve-racking. It's calming. It's every single emotion I've ever felt balled up into an intense urge to grab hold of her and never let go.”

“We stand there, neither one of us speaking or moving, for several minutes. There's not a single kiss passed between us, not a single graze of my hand across her skin, not a single word spoken... yet somehow, this is the most intimate moment I've ever shared with anyone.Ever.”

“What was it like the first time you saw me?" she asks. "What was it about me that made you want to ask me out? And tell me everything, even the bad thoughts."I laugh. "There weren't any bad thoughts. Naughty thoughts, maybe. But not bad."She grins. "Well then tell me those, too.”

“She doesn't speak, but she doesn't have to. I know in these moments, when it's just her and me and nothing else, that she truly, soul-deep loves me.”

“Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together."I take her hand and rest it between us, then stroke the back of it with my thumb. "Let's not fall apart again," I whisper.She looks me in the eyes. "Never.”

“If I took every romantic poem, every book, every song, and every movie I've ever read, heard or seen and extracted the breathtaking moments, somehow bottling them up, they would pale in comparison to this moment.This moment is incomparable.”

“Those are the hardest pieces of all to accept. The pieces of our puzzleThat just don't belong”

“I wish I could explain how I feel, but nothing can explain this moment. Not a vase of stars. Not a book. Not a song. Not even a poem. Nothing can explain the moment when the woman you would give your life for sees her daughter for the very first time.”

“You want to know my sweet?" I ask her.She nods.I kiss her on the forehead. "You. Always you.”

“Oh my God!" Julia yells. "Are you kidding me, Will? Don't help her put her clothes back on! I'm standing right here!"What the hell am I thinking?”

“Before I love you can come out of my mouth again, the front door swings open and Julia walks outside. "We're going to have to set some ground rules," she says. There's more amusement in her voice than anger or annoyance."Sorry, Julia," I yell over my shoulder. I turn back to Lake and kiss her one last time, then take a step away from her. "It's just that I'm madly in love with your daughter!""Yeah." Julia laughs. "I can see that.”

“This is it, Lake," I say pointing back and forth between us. "It's real now. I'm not walking away from you again. Ever." Her eyes fill with tears. "Promise?" she whispers."I swear. I love you so much." A tear rolls down her cheek. "Say it again," she whispers.”

“Just seeing the smile on her face is enough to keep me satisfied for the rest of my life. Seeing her happy again is better than any feeling in the world. I never want to see her sad again. "This will be worth it, Lake. Everything we had to go through. I promise. Even if you have to wait for me, I'll make it worth it."The smile fades from her eyes and she clutches her hand to her heart. "You already have, Will."That. Right there. I don't deserve her.I walk swiftly back to where she's standing and take her face in my hands. "I mean it," I say. "I love you so damn much, it hurts." I force my lips against hers, then pull away just as fast. "But it hurts in a really good way.”

“Two more seconds without touching her and I. Will. Die.”

“COMPLETELY. Utterly. Frozen. My eyes drop to the table in front of me when she finishes. Her words are sinking in. A boy that I'm seriously, deeply, madly, incredibly, and undeniably in love with. In love with?That's what she said.In love with. As in present tense.She loves me. Layken Cohen loves me.”

“I press my forehead against hers. "I'm so glad you showed up," I whisper. "You changed my life forever that night.”

“I love her. I know she loves me. And despite what Julia thinks is good for us, I want her to wait for me. We need to be together. We have to be together. If I don't stop her from walking away right now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“You're in love with her, aren't you?" I pause. Am I? I sign and clasp my hands behind my head, not sure what to say. "I'm trying so hard not to be," I say quietly, admitting it to myself for the first time.”

“She looked at me and smiled and said"Are you ready?"And I was.I finally was.I had never been more ready in my life.Yeah...This girl.My mother would have loved this girl.Too bad she was just a dream.”

“You, baby girl. You’re my final piece.”

“I want her to wait for me. I want her to wait for me so bad. I don’t want to think about her ever allowing anyone bedsides me to love her.”

“Wife,” I say, staring straight into her eyes. “Think what you want, but there isn’t a single woman in this whole damn universe that I could ever love like I love you.”

“Layken Cooper, I love you. I’ve loved you since the second I laid eyes on you and I haven’t stopped loving you for a second since.”

“I lie back on my pillow and think back to that day. The day that I fell for my wife.”

“I love you so damn much, it hurts.' I force my lips against hers, then pull away just as fast. 'But it hurts in a really good way.”

“I slip her shirt over her head and she tries to cover herself, but I move her arms out of the way and kiss up her neck while I talk about all the things that are no longer just mine.'Will, stop.' She laughs and attempts to pull my hands away from her bra. 'You can't take off my bra, we're in our driveway. What if they come outside?''It's dark,' I whisper. 'And it's not your bra. It's our bra and I want it off.' I slip it off her, pulling her against me as I rub my hands down the length of her back, then around to the button on the front of her jeans. 'And I want to take off our pants.”

“She rolls her eyes. 'Will, this date is going to be my suck for the day if you don't become a little more talkative.'I laugh. 'Yes, we're going to Club N9NE. Yes, we're going to dinner first. Yes, I wrote a slam for you. Yes, we're leaving the club early so we can go back to my house and hardcore make out in the dark.''You just became my sweet,' she says.”

“Then this girl completely shatters the window to my soul and crawls inside.”

“She deserves to be kissed by someone who loves her. Someone who spends every waking moment trying to do everything right by her. Someone who would rather die than see her hurt. She doesn't deserve to be kissed by anyone other than me.”

“Sometimes, things can happen in life that you didn't plan for. All you can do now is suck it up and start mapping out a new plan.”

“It was life. Life happens. Shit happens. And it happens a lot. To a lot of people.”

“I wonder… because that’s all I can do. Silently wonder about the hopeless boy who somehow burrowed himself into the forefront of my thoughts and won’t go the hell away.”

“You’re so cute when you’re jealous,” I say. She looks at me, her resolve melting with my words. I take her face in my hands and gently press my lips to hers. She sighs a quiet, defeated sigh into my mouth and relents, parting her lips for me. I run my hands down her arms and to her waist, then pull her out of the chair and on top of me as I lean back onto the bed.I place one hand on the small of her back, pressing her into me, and my other hand I run through her hair, grabbing the back of her head. I kiss her hard as I roll her onto her back, proving to her that she has absolutely nothing to be jealous of. As soon as I’m on top of her, she places her hands on my cheeks and forces my face apart from hers.“So your lips touched someone else’s lips? After our first kiss?”I fall back onto the bed beside her. “Lake, stop it. Stop thinking about it,” I say.“I can’t, Will.” She turns to me and makes that damn pouty face she knows I can’t refuse. “I need to know. In my head all I can picture is you taking some girl out on this perfect date and making her grilled cheese sandwiches and playing “would you rather” with her and sharing seriously intense moments with her, then kissing the hell out of her at the end of the night.”Her description of our first date causes me to laugh. I lean over and press my lips to her ear and whisper, “Is that what I did to you? I kissed the hell out of you?”She pulls her neck away and shoots me a glare, letting me know she isn’t backing down until she gets her way. “Fine,” I say, pulling back. “If I tell you all about it will you promise to let me kiss the hell out of you again?”“Promise,” she says.”

“I stand up and walk forward, grabbing the arm of the desk chair. I sit back down on the bed and pull her to me until she’s flush against my legs. I place my hands on her cheeks and force her to look at me. “Layken Cooper, I love you. I’ve loved you since the second I laid eyes on you and I haven’t stopped loving you for a second since.”

“All I ever feel like doing is sleeping. I guess because it doesn't hurt as bad when you're asleep.”

“Butterfly you.”

“It’s fine, Mom, really.” She’s tucking me into my bed, asking me how my back feels for the one hundredth time in the ten minutes that I’ve been home. She smiles and strokes my hair. That’s what I’m going to miss the most about her. The way she strokes my hair and looks at me with so much love in her eyes.”

“I reach over and stroke her hair. When I do, a few of the strands fall off in my fingers. I pull my hand back and slowly wrap them around my finger as I walk to my room and pick my purple hair clip up off the floor. I open the clip and place the strands of hair inside and snap it shut. I place the clip under my bedroom pillow and I go back to my mother’s room. I slide into the bed beside her and wrap my arms around her. She finds my hand and we interlock fingers as we talk without saying a single word.”

“I get it, Will,” I finally whisper. “I get it. In the first line, when you said that death was the only thing inevitable in life…you emphasized the word death. But when you said it again at the end of the poem, you didn’t emphasize the word death, you emphasized the word life. You put the emphasis on life at the end. I get it, Will. You’re right. She’s not trying to prepare us for her death. She’s trying to prepare us for her life. For what she has left of it.”

“Mom?” I say as I slip on my boots. “I know you were only eighteen when you met Dad. I mean, that’s really young to meet the person you spend the rest of your life with. Do you ever regret it?”She doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she lies back on my bed and clasps her hands behind her head, pondering my question.“I’ve never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted.""Is there a difference?” I ask.“Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It’s looking back on a past that you can’t change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. I questioned a lot about my relationship with your father. People make spontaneous decisions based on of their hearts all the time. There’s so much more to relationships than just love.”

“He removes his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders, holding onto my arm as he walks me across the street. I feel a little pathetic with him assisting me—I can walk on my own. I don’t object though, and I feel like a hypocrite to the entire feminist movement. I’ve regressed to the damsel in distress.”