“I don’t need to tell her I love her, but I do it anyway.”

“I love her too much to let her leave and I need to tell her right this minute.”

“Over and over I had to reassure her. “You hate me,” she would say. “Lori, I don’t hate you. I love you.” Finally it began to dawn on me. When she challenged me like that, she wasn’t making a statement. She was asking a question. And she needed to hear the answer. She needed to hear that I still accepted her. She needed to hear that I still cared for her. Over and over again she needed to hear me tell her that I loved her.”

“I want to keep her, but I don’t want to tie her. I need her to be able to run, but not to want to. I need her to knowthat. I need her to feel safe with me. Fuck it, I just need her.”

“You don’t understand,’ I said. ‘I need to be with her. With every fibre of my being I ache for her. I’m in love.’‘I do understand,’ said Zoran. ‘It was same for me with Mrs Zoran when I first meet her. But the feeling goes away after few hours.”

“He … loves her. Well, he’s crushing on her anyway.”I didn’t know the term but I understood its meaning well enough. I sighed. “I thought she’d be smarter.”He raised his eyebrows. “She’s plenty smart.” He looked thoughtful. “You don’t believe in love then?”“No.” I wanted to look away, couldn’t. “I don’t know.”