“And here I thought they were called Peeping Toms." I didn't need to see him to know he wore a smile. "Stop laughing," I said, my cheeks hot with humiliation. "Get me down.""Jump.""What?""I'll catch you.""Are you crazy? Go inside and open the window. Or get a ladder.""I don't need a ladder. Jump. I'm not going to drop you.”

“She looked up, her face pink as a Christmas ham. “You ever try chasing down a car?” she gasped. “I’ll one-up you. I gave Scott my hot dog and asked if he’d go to Summer Solstice with me.” “What does the hot dog have to do with anything?”“I said he’d be a wiener if he didn’t go with me.” Vee wheezed laughter. “I’d have run harder had I known I’d get to see you call him a wiener.”

“Walk out,” he repeated. “We need to talk.”“About how you need to sacrifice me to get a human body?” I asked, my tone light, my insides feeling leaden.“That might be cute if you thought it was true.”

“One last thing," he said. "Stop looking for me.""I'm not looking for you." I scoffed.He touched his index finger to my forehead, my skin absurdly warming under his touch. It didn't escape me that he couldn't seem to stop finding reasons to touch me. Nor did I miss that I didn't want him to stop. "Under all the layers, a part of you remembers. It's the part that came looking for me tonight. It's that part that's going to get you killed, if you're not careful."We stood face-to-face, both of us breathing hard. The sirens were so close now."What am I supposed to tell the police?" I said."You're not going to talk to the police.""Oh, really? Funny, because I plan on telling them exactly how you rammed that tire iron into Gabe's back. Unless you answer my questions."He gave an ironic snort. "Blackmail? You've changed, Angel.”

“If he was my boyfriend, and I'd meant something to him, where was he now? "Anything else you can give me on Patch?" "I hardly knew the guy, and what I knew scared the crap out of me. I'll see if I can hunt him down, but I can't make any promises. In the meantime, let's focus on a sure thing. If we can get enough dirt on Hank, maybe we can figure out why he's taken an interest in you and your mom and what he's planning next, and come up with a way to bring him down. We've both got something to gain from this. You in, Grey?" "Oh, I'm in," I said fiercely.”

“You're a guardian angel now." I was still too much in awe to wrap my mind around it, but at the same time I felt amazement, curiosity...happiness."I'm your guardian angel," he said."I get my very own guardian angel? What, exactly, is your job description?""Guard your body." His smile tipped higher. "I take my job seriously, which means I'm going to need to get acquainted with the subject matter on a personal level.”

“Are you gloating inside? That's what this is about, isn't it? Getting me to trust you so you could blow it up in my face!" [...]"I get that you're angry—," said Patch."I am ripped apart!" I shouted.”