Colleen Hoover

“Some fathers give you life. Some show you how to live it. Thank you for showing me how to live mine.”

“You're the best, most understanding boyfriend in the whole wide world." He sighs and returns my hung. "No I'm not," he says, pressing his lips to the side of my head. "I'm the most WHIPPED boyfriend in the whole wide world.”

“It's odd when your best friend has an even better best friend.”

“Love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest things in the world to hold on to, and one of the easiest things to throw away.”

“It's the clear headedness behind her voice and the calm reasonable expression in her eyes that rips my heart right out of my chest. She turns to leave and all I can do is let her go. I just let her go.”

“I just practically begged him to kiss me, and he’s critiquing my grammar?”

“Aren't you in my Science class?" Shayna/Shayla asks."English," I correct her.She shoots me a condescending look. "I did speak English," she says defensively. "I said, 'aren't you in my Science class?'"Oh, holy hell. Maybe I don't want to be that blonde. "No," I say. "I meant English as in 'I'm not in your Science class, I'm in your English class'.”

“There's nothing like the guilt you feel when there's room in your heart to love evil.”

“Well, you would realize…Like i eventually realized…That the good things about her?All the beautiful?It’s not real.It’s fake.So you keep your ocean,I’ll take the lake.”

“Write poorly.Suck.Write Awful.Terribly.Frightfully.Don’t care.Turn off the inner editor.Let yourself write.Let it flow.Let yourself fail.Do something crazy.Write 50,000 words in the month of November.I did it.It was fun.It was insane.It was 1,667 words per day.It was possible, but you have to turn off the inner critic off completely.Just write.Quickly.In bursts.With joy.If you can’t write, run away.Come back.Write again.Writing is like anything else.You won’t get good at it immediately.It’s a craft.You have to keep getting better.You don’t get to Juilliard unless you practice.You want to get to Carnegie Hall?Practice. Practice. Practice ..or give them a lot of money.Like anything else it takes 10,000 hours to get to mastery.Just like Malcolm Gladwell says.So write.Fail.Get your thoughts down.Let it rest.Let is marinate.Then edit, but don’t edit as you type.That just slows the brain down.Find a daily practice.For me it’s blogging.It’s fun.The more you write the easier it gets.The more it is a flow, the less a worry.It’s not for school, it’s not for a grade, it’s just to get your thoughts out there.You know they want to come out.So keep at it.Make it a practice.Write poorly.Write awfully.Write with abandon and it may end up being really really good.”

“I love you because of you. Because of every single thing about you.”

“Karen shuts the back door and turns to me. “You know I trust you, but please…”“Don’t get pregnant,” I interrupt. “I know, I know. You’ve been saying that every time you leave for the past two years. I’m not getting pregnant, Mom. Only terribly high and cracked out.”She laughs and hugs me. “Good girl. And wasted. Don’t forget to get really wasted.”

“My locker seems to have become the hub for sticky notes and nasty letters, none of which I ever see actually being placed on or in my locker. I really don’t get what people gain out of doing things like this if they don’t even own up to it.Like the note that was stuck to my locker this morning. All it said was, “Whore.”Really? Where’s the creativity in that? They couldn’t back it up with an interesting story? Maybe a few details of my indiscretion? If I have to read this shit every day, the least they could do is make it interesting. If I was going to stoop so low as to leave an unfounded note on someone’s locker,I’d at least have the courtesy of entertaining whoever reads it in the process. I’d write something interesting like, “I saw you in bed with my boyfriend last night. I really don’t appreciate you getting massage oil on my cucumbers. Whore.” I laugh and it feels odd, laughing out loud at my own thoughts. I look around and no one is left in the hallway but me. Rather than rip the sticky notes off of my locker like I probably should, I take out my pen and make them a little more creative. You’re welcome, passersby.”

“I have been entertaining the idea, Sky. Believe me. It’s just a huge step that can’t be undone once it’s taken.”“What if it’s a step you don’twant undone, though? What if it’s a step that just makes you want to take another step, and another step, until you’re full-on sprinting?”She laughs. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

“His dream is to one day be a famous Broadway star, but he says he lacks the ability to sing or act, so he’s scaling down his dream and applying to business school, instead.”

“Laugh a lot. Never go a day without laughing at least once.”

“The weight of lies will bring you down, follow you to every town 'cause nothing happens here that doesn't happen there.”

“Speaking of… does this mean you get your phone back?” I shrug. “I don’t really want that phone back. I’m hoping my whipped boyfriend will get me an iPhone for Christmas.”

“What in the hell happened to your eye?” I laugh and roll off the bed, out of harm’s way. “You happened.” I make my way toward the window. “I need to clear my head. I’m gonna go for a run. Wanna come?”   Six crinkles up her nose. “Yeah… no. You have fun with that.”

“There’s a gate?” I ask, confused. “Why do we always climb the fence?” He shoots me a sly grin. “You were in a dress the two times we’ve been here. Where’s the fun in walking through a gate?”

“Not your face, your dimple. And no. You’re the only guy I’ve ever had the urge to lick.” He smiles at me confidently. “Good. Because you’re the only girl I’ve ever had the urge to love.”

“I keep forgetting you’re technologically challenged.”

“Time to go,” he says. “I already see this heading somewhere I’m too drunk to go right now. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” I jump up and run and block the window before he can leave. He stops in front of me and folds his arms over his chest. “Stay,” I say. “Please. Just lay in bed with me. We can put pillows between us and I promise not to seduce you since you’re drunk. Just stay for an hour, I don’t want you to go yet.” He immediately turns and heads back to the bed. “Okay,” he says simply. He throws himself onto my bed and pulls the covers out from beneath him. That was easy.”

“I had fun today,” he says. “You’re kind of weird.”

“It turns out, Holder doesn’t have an issue with Mormons at all. He just has an issue with assholes.”

“Looks like we have quite the predicament here, boys.” I smile at both of them, then eye the coffee in Breckin’s hands. “I see the Mormon brought the queen her offering of coffee. Very impressive.” I look at Holder and cock my eyebrow. “Do you wish to reveal your offering, hopeless boy, so that I may decide who shall accompany me at the classroom throne today?” Breckin looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Holder laughs and picks his backpack up off the desk. “Looks like someone’s in need of an ego-shattering text today.”

“When I said you weren’t getting kissed tonight, I meant it. But dammit, Sky. I had no idea how fucking difficult you would make it.”

“Sky, if you’re asking me to stop, I will. But I’m hoping you’re not, because I really don’t want to stop, so please.” He pulls back and looks down into my eyes, still barely moving his body against mine. His eyes are full of ache and worry and he’s breathless when he speaks. “We won’t go any further than this, I promise. But please don’t ask me to stop where we already are. I need to watch you and I need to hear you because the fact that I know you’re actually feeling this right now is so fucking amazing. You feel incredible and this feels incredible and please. Just… please.”

“He’s quiet for a minute, then grins again. “I can’t believe you think I’m hot.” “Shut up.” “You probably faked passing out the other day, just so you could be carried in my hot, sweaty, manly arms.” “Shut up.” “I’ll bet you fantasize about me at night, right here in this bed.” “Shut up, Holder.” “You probably even…” I reach over and clamp my hand over his mouth. “You’re way hotter when you aren’t speaking.”

“You shouldn’t offer cookies without milk, you know. You’re a pretty pathetic hostess.”

“He flashes me his dimple-laden grin, and I faint.  No… literally. I fainted.”

“I wonder if Dean is his nice persona and Holder is his scary one. Holder is definitely the one I saw at the grocery store earlier. I think I like Dean a lot better.”

“Want me to run with you?” he asks, nudging his head toward the sidewalk behind me. Yes, please.“No, it’s fine.”

“ You fell asleep right when she was about to find out her mother’s secret. How dare you. I’ll be back tomorrow night so you can finish reading it to me. And by the way, you have really bad breath and you snore way too loud. ”

“I’m just a brother who loved his sister more than life itself.”

“You’re attracted to me?” “Oh, God,” I groan. “That’s the last thing you need for your ego.” “That’s probably true,” he laughs. “Better hurry up and insult me before my ego gets as big as yours.” “You need a hair cut,” I blurt out. “Really bad. It gets in your eyes and you squint and you’re constantly moving it out of the way like you’re Justin Bieber and it’s really distracting.”

“I take my seat and pick the e-reader back up. “You know, Breckin. You really are pretty damn great.” He smiles and winks at me. “It’s the Mormon in me. We’re a pretty awesome people.”

“Sure. But if the book sucks, we’re re-evaluating the friendship.”

“No matter what happens life just keeps going and moving forward and words keep flowing and truths keep spewing whether you like it or not and life never lets you pause and just catch your fucking breath.”

“Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.”

“We wrap our arms around each other and we cry. We cry mother to daughter. We cry aunt to niece. We cry victim to victim. We cry survivor to survivor.”

“I thought you weren’t allowed to have a phone,” he says. “Or was that a really pathetic excuse to avoid giving me your number?”“I’m not allowed. My best friend gave it to me the other day. It can’t do anything but text.” He turns the screen around to face me. “What the hell kindof texts are these?” He turns the phone around and reads one.“Sky, you are beautiful. You are possibly the most exquisite creature in the universe and if anyone tells you otherwise, I’ll cut a bitch.” He archesan eyebrow and looks up at me, then back down to the phone. “Oh, God. They’re all like this. Please tell me you don’t text these to yourself for dailymotivation.”

“whatever it is you're running from-it goes with you. it stays with you until you find out how to confront it.”

“He places his palm over my heart, then pulls my hand to his chest over his own heart. He lowers his eyes to my level, ensuring I’m here with him, giving him my complete attention. “Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matters to me with you are the forevers.”

“Does he treat you with respect ALL the time?Is he still is the same man in 20 years would you marry him?Does he make you strive to be a better person?”

“No matter how much I want to scream at him and make him leave, I find myself wishing he could squeeze me just a little bit tighter. I want him to lock his arms around me and throw away the key, because this is where he belongs and I'm scared he'll just let me go again.”

“He scoots me off his chest and onto my back, then slides down beside me and pulls me against him. Still, his expression hasn't changed and he's staring at me like he wants to eat me. I sort of wish he would.”

“One of the things I love about books is being able to define and condense certain portions of a character's life into chapters. It's intriguing, because you can't do this with real life. You can't just end a chapter, then skip the things you don't want to live through, only to open it up to a chapter that better suits your mood. Life can't be divided into chapters... only minutes. The events of your life are all crammed together one minute right after the other without any time lapses or blank pages or chapter breaks because no matter what happens life just keeps going and moving forward and words keep flowing and truths keep spewing whether you like it or not and life never lets you pause and just catch your fucking breath.I need one of those chapter breaks. I just want to catch my breath, but I have no idea how.”

“I'm the most whipped boyfriend in the whole wide world”

“I need to know for sure that you're feeling every single thing that I'm feeling the moment my lips touch yours. Because I want your first kiss to be the best first kiss in the history of first kisses.”