“Dante said, “I tried talking Nora into a ride, but she keeps blowing me off.”“That’s because she has a hard-A boyfriend. He must have beenhomeschooled, because he missed all those valuable lessons we learned in kindergarten, like sharing. He finds out you took Nora for a ride, he’ll wrap this shiny new Porsche around the nearest tree.”

“Don’t start. I saw Marcie climb inside your Jeep.”“She needed a ride.”I adopted a hands-on-hips pose. “What kind of ride?”“Not that kind of ride,” he said slowly.”

“You’ve never been to school, ever? If that’s true— and you’re right, I don’t think it is—what made you decide to come this year?”“You....Your eyes, Nora. Those cold, pale gray eyes are surprisingly irresistible.” He tipped his head sideways, as if to study me from a new angle. “And that killer curvy mouth.”

“Me Jev, you Nora.”

“I might have been tempted to hit him square in the jaw had he not taken me by the shoulders and pinned me against the wall. There was hardly any space left between us, just a thin boundary of air, but Patch managed to eliminate it."Let's be honest, Nora. You've got it bad for me." His eyes held a lot of depth. "And I've got it bad for you." He leaned into me and put his mouth on mine. A lot of him was on me, actually. We touched base at several strategetic locations down our bodies, and it took all my willpower to break away.”

“She shrieked. "Nora! What happened to the banister!"Good thing she hadn't seen her bedroom yet.”

“We need a ride. We're stranded.""We still have two legs, leftie and rightie. Mine are in the mood for exercise. They feel like a nice long walk--ARE YOU CRAZY?" she shrieked. I was standing with the tip of the beach umbrella aimed at the driver's-side window. "What?" I said. "We have to get in.”