“You’re impinging on my private space,” I said, inching backward.Patch gave a barely-there smile. "Impinging? This isn’t the SAT, Nora.”

“What does ‘hmm’ have to do with anything? Could you ever use more than five words? All this grunting and minced words make you come across—primal.”His smile tipped higher. “Primal.”“You’re impossible.”“Me Jev, you Nora.”

“Don’t panic, I thought. But already my breathing was faster, shallower. “You mean you can feel happy or sad or—”“Desire.” A barely-there smile.”

“When I'm wasted, I can almost forget who I am," he said, his smile fading slightly. "I know I'm still there, but only barely. It's a good place to be." He tipped back the thermos, eyes on the dark sea straight ahead”

“You’re a guardian angel now.”...."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.”

“Hmm?' I looked away, flustered automatically using irritation to cover my discomfort up. 'What does 'hmm' have to do with anything? Could you ever use more that five words? All this grunting and minced words make you come across-- primal.' His smile tipped higher. 'Primal.' 'You're impossible.' 'Me Jev, you Nora.”

“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.”