J. Sterling

“I'm losing my f**king mind. I've already lost my heart so I guess in a way that makes sense. I'm so f**king lost without you”

“I feel like someone ripped out my heart and smashed it with bricks. It hurts. I hurt. And I'd gladly take your hurt too if it meant that you'd be okay. I'd do anything for you.”

“You're my game changer, you know that?”

“Fifty cents a touch, right? This oughta cover me for a while”

“Watching the two of you interact, it was like watching fireworks light up the night sky. You two burn brighter when you're together.”

“Our scars don't point us in the direction were headed, Cass, they simply remind us of where we've been”

“Oh my God, you feel incredible." He breathed heavily against my ear. "Holy shit, I may never recover from this.”

“This doesn't change anything," I stammered, my defenses fading."It changes everything." He sounded so sure of himself as his soft lips silenced my weak protest.”

“I was one hundred percent not in control of this situation. This girl fucking owned me right now. I sat on that bed waiting for her to give me the time of day. I didn't necessarily like this feeling, but I suffered through it... for her. I convinced myself that I'd probably suffer through pretty much anything for this girl.”

“I know that. But here's the thing about baseball, Kitten. There's an expiration date for every single one of us who plays and we all know it. Eventually my baseball career will come to an end, and I can live with that. But I can't live without you.”

“Prove it.”

“We're all scarred. That's how we know we've lived a life worth fighting for. Love is a battlefield! Thank you, Pat Benatar!”

“This is a frat party, Meli. There are no good guys.”

“ANYONE SEEN MY KITTEN?”

“Have you ever noticed how pretty and beautiful words can be? How easy it is to say the things you think someone wants to hear. How you can affect a person’s entire day with just a few measly sentences?” My slight smile dropped. “But when you don’t follow them up with any action, they’re completely pointless. They’re just sounds and syllables. But they mean absolutely nothing.”

“Being on that pitcher’s mound, it’s the one thing I’m really good at. The one thing I haven’t fucked up. And when I’m on the field, everything else fades away. You know?” He turned to look at me, his eyes craving understanding. I smiled and he continued. “It’s like my mind is clear when I’m out there. It’s not about my mom or my dad or the stupid shit I’ve done. It’s about me, the ball, and the batter. It’s the one place in the world where I feel like I’m in control. Like I have a say in what happens around me.”I stopped my head from nodding in agreement once I realized that I was doing it. “I feel that way when I’m taking pictures. Anything that I’m not seeing through my lens fades away in the background. And I get to frame my picture any way I choose. I get to dictate how it looks. What’s in it. What isn’t. Behind that lens I have complete control in how things are seen.”He smiled, his dimples indenting his cheeks. “You get it.”

“I'm going to make myself a promise right here and now. In Johnny's honor. I promise to live each day to the fullest. I promise to listen to my heart and then work through my fears to follow it. I promise to realize what my dreams are then take the steps necessary to make them a reality. I promise to be trut to me. Not what someone else wants me to be, but what I want.”

“I recognized you instantly. All of our lives flashed through my mind in a split second. I felt a pull so strongly towards you that I almost couldn't stop it.”

“I love the smell of the ice... And the cold. The sound the puck makes when it's sliding across the ice or when hits the net for a goal... as long as it's our goal. I love the sound of sticks crashing against one another. The sound my skates make when I come to a hard stop. The roar of the crowd. The way I feel when i'm playing. I can do things on this ice that I can't do anywhere else.”

“What she really craved was a connection. That feeling you got when you knew you were supposed to be with someone.”