Karina Halle

“Spite was the fuel to right all your wrongs. And like any fuel, it could consume you.”

“He was like a living, breathing painting on an all-male canvas.”

“Is the gun really necessary?""No," he admitted. "It's just fun to have one.""Like an extra penis," I mused.He smiled unkindly. "Something like that.”

“I've waited my whole life to sleep with you, Ellie Watt. I can't just pick you up from Safeway.”

“I know what I know of you," he whispered into my ear, his breath hot. "And I want to know more.”

“You know how I feel about your scars. They only make you more beautiful.”

“She's waking up. Get the bat." Not exactly the best words to wake up to.”

“Dex isn't a big guy by any means. He's on the short side and toned but still thin. But he has unpredictable pit-bull tactics and one hell of a lippy attitude with strangers. For heaven's sake, never give that man a shovel.”

“(“Yeah, work that mustache, you stud, chicks fucking dig the rapist look”)”

“I was head over heels in love with her. No, that didn’t describe it. I was tear my fucking heart out and throw it at her, beg her to take it into hers. I was falling from the greatest heights with no safety net below. I was giving everything of my own life for hers, giving up every inch of my soul so she could wear it proudly. I was a former king on my knees in front of the queen. A jester begging for a chance. I was powerless, helpless and at her mercy.”

“Not that it was a crazy complicated skill, but operating an espresso machine during high traffic could be added to my repertoire along with card tricks and how to fire a Colt .45.(Quote taken from ARC, subject to change)”

“Honestly kiddo? You’re beautiful. You use your weight as an excuse but you’re just all woman. Not every woman has to look like a stripper. Or a model. Or Megan Fox. You’re petite, have a tiny waist, a fantastic rack, a devastating ass…what the hell more do you want? You should know it. Everyone else knows it…that’s why you’re getting all these asinine comments. Can’t you just see that it’s just jealously that’s ripping these people apart?”

“Who can resist this handsome mug?” He stroked his broad jaw and I tried my hardest not to nod along. “Complete with rapist facial hair,” I added.”

“You’re the light in all this madness. You’re my light. I should have been with you...” The thought hit him as his face crumpled in amazement. “Oh God, why am I not with you?”“Because you’re an idiot,” I said.”

“I want you to stay with me,” he said. “And that’s the problem. Every time you leave me, I need you a little bit more.”

“He was wide-eyed as he spoke. “He says you are a nut and I am a nut.”

“I feel like I’m a disappointment to mankind,” he remarked woefully as he placed the shirt through my arms and began to pull it down over my breasts. “Someone this gorgeous should be on display in a museum.”

“You're a con artist. A liar. A thief. An unredeemable soul. You can't be reformed. You can't be saved. You'll die trying to make the world pay for what it did to you. And you'll die alone.”

“I cleared my throat and spoke into his kiss. “Sorry, it’s been a while.”“You should expect to hear the same thing from me in about five minutes,” he murmured.“Five minutes, huh?”“I’ll make it the best five minutes of your life.”I bit his lip, hard, then released him and looked into those intense blues. “Clock’s ticking.”

“I shot him an unimpressed look. “Do you really think you’ll win me over by having sex with me?”He scratched at the side of his chin. “Well, they say the way to a woman’s heart is through her vagina.”

“He backed away from me, clutching the phone to his chest. “What?”“Gimme the phone,” I commanded, holding out my hand.His head dropped solemnly. “I am on a very important call.”“Yes, about me,” I said, reaching for it. “Now give it.”He shrank away and eyed the room anxiously. “Damn, I knew I should have kept a spare roll of duct tape somewhere.”

“No matter what happened, he was Dex and I was Perry and that combination only led to trouble.”

“Who the hell is Old Roddy?” I said angrily. I was sick of feeling like I wasn’t being told the whole story. Dex was silent. I shined my light in his face, causing him to squint harshly.“If you don’t know then I don’t have time to explain,” he sneered in the brightness. He eyed my hand on his bicep. I didn’t let go. “Make time,” I said.”

“Sorry,” he said, not sounding very sorry at all. “I… well, nevermind.”“Nevermind?” I couldn’t help but sneer. “You just broke into my uncle’s lighthouse. Don’t you tell me to nevermind.”

“I used to dream big. It seemed like somewhere along the way I had forgotten about that. And gave up.”

“The more I thought about it, the more I worried I wouldn’t be good enough.”

“.......You have every right to hate me for this lifetime and many others. You have every right to never see me again. To spit on my grave. But tonight, now, I'm not going to give up on you or," his voice fell with weight, "die trying.”

“Perry," he said quietly, his fingers trailing down the side of my face, "you'll never have to save my life. You gave me life. I never lived a single day until the first day I met you.”

“You're a bad person, Ellie," he said without a trace of irony."I'm not bad. The world is bad and I'm just trying to survive in it.”

“Okay,” she drew out. “Let me rephrase that. Did you sleep with Sage yet?”I blushed furiously. She smacked my leg and exclaimed, “I knew it! I could smell it on you.”“You can smell it on me?”She grinned. “When I was hugging you, yeah. Your chest smelled like cologne and man tongue.”

“Those bands, you plan your life around them. You plan vacations around concert dates. You save babysitting money for records. You live for those days when Creem magazine arrives in your dusty mailbox and you frantically flip through it for any information on your favorites. The bands, the musicians that you love, they love you back. And when they quit, when they fall apart, when they die—they ruin that future you thought they’d always be a part of.”

“Sage shifted beneath me. I put one of my hands back into his thick hair and left it there, pretending I needed to hold him. It took all my willpower not to start playing with it.“I guess you don’t do this very often,” I told him, my voice cracking slightly.I couldn’t see his face but I could feel him smile. “No. Usually my head’s turned the other way around.”

“He glanced beside him then patted at his round shoulders. “Want to come up here?” “What, on your shoulders?” He grinned and shrugged. “Yeah, why not? Everyone else is doing it.” The idea of a 5’9” girl sitting on a 6’4” guy made me want to laugh. We’d be the brontosaurus of the festival. The acid trippers would see us and freak the hell out.”

“I wanted to be someone, someone important. I wanted to be revered, I wanted to be respected, I wanted to be loved. I wanted it all so much that I remember thinking I would do anything for it. I would give anything for it.”

“And then he laughed. It was short and brief, but genuine and made the dimples stand out on his scruffy cheeks. It was the best sound I’d heard all year.”

“Robbie Oliver could call me Pooey-Poo-Poo Smelly Face if he wanted to.”

“Sometimes it felt like looking at his face and just accepting the way things were between us was the hardest thing in the world.”

“Somehow, by dealing with the dead, I had never felt so alive.”

“He was still a douchecanoe. The douchecanoe who was going to paddle me to safety.”