“Instantly, I step forward. “Why are you mad?” I cry out. “Why wouldn’t I be, Emilia? I open up my fucking soul to you, and you blew it to pieces.”

“You can’t heal a heart that’s been fragmented. But my wounds were closing. Stitch by stitch, I was starting to feel again. I can’t undo the past and stop everything that has happened. However, I can try to take a tiny step forward.”

“I need Emilia to challenge me with that quiet voice of hers, to keep me interested with all those little quirks she has. I need her because she gets me.”

“Severine pulls the ugly out of me. Emilia pulls everything out of me, and finds it all good— even the ugly side.”

“I took a gamble on her, thinking that my gut was right, that I had finally met someone that would always hold my attention. But she knocked me off my fucking feet.”

“I swear," he whispered, "my fingertips could sink right into you.”

“My body is between his spread legs. Even though he’s silent, his chest rises and falls like he has just stopped running. I know he wants me. I shut my brain down, ignore what a mistake this is, and lean forward and kiss the side of his neck. He jumps slightly and I lick his skin. I hear him groan and move my lips upward. A kiss cannot replace the past. But with every kiss to his skin, my hurt becomes a distant memory.”