“How can you love me if you don’t even know me?” He lifted my arms around his neck and placed his hands on the small of my back.“I know you, Jade. You’re witty and stubborn, like when you wanted to get rid of me at the bar in San Diego. And you’re sweet and caring, like when you talked to my mother at the hospital. And you can drink like a sailor. ” He chuckled. “And you hardly ever blush, but when you do it’s like the sunshine.” Then, he whispered in my ear with a husky voice, “And you make love with your soul.”Peter gave my earlobe a quick nibble. “I couldn’t care less about energy. It might have brought us together, but I only care about you. I want to spend the rest of my days with you; no matter if it’ll be ten or ten thousand.”Despite myself, I felt my eyes burn from tears I wasn’t ready to shed.Still, I couldn’t say it.“Peter...” I kissed him with all the tenderness I found in my heart and said, “the tub is about tospill.”“Oh, shit.” He jerked away from me, turned the water off and unplugged the tub, then huggedme again with wet hands. “All we need is time, Jade. You’ll see this love is real.”

“I clutch to William’s hand. “I can do this.” He nods and pulls me tight into his arms. “I know you can. I believe in you.” I hug him tightly. I don’t want to lose this … I don’t want this to change anything; I still want to love this man when this is over. “Take care of the others.” He whispers in my ear. “I will.” He picks me up and kisses me, deeply and desperately, for a long time. When we finally release our lip lock, we’re both in tears. His voice is barely a whisper. “I love you, Alanna.” I stroke his cheek. “I love you.” It’s the first time we’ve both said it out loud at the same time. Something about that makes me feel very hopeful, despite the circumstances.”

“Pamela, I’m in love with you. Yeah, it’s that bad. You’re so beautiful to me. Shut up! Lemme tell you. Let me. Every time I look at your face or even remember it, it wrecks me - and the way you are with me - and you’re just fun and you shit all over me and you make fun of me and you’re real. I don’t have enough time in any day to think about you enough. I feel like I’m going to live a thousand years cause that’s how long it’s gonna take me to have one thought about you which is that I’m crazy about you, Pamela. I don’t wanna be with anybody else. I don’t. I really don’t. I don’t think about women anymore. I think about you. I had a dream the other night that you and I were on a train. We were on this train and you were holding my hand. That’s the whole dream. You were holding my hand and I felt you holding my hand. I woke up and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. I’m sick in love with you, Pamela. It’s like a condition. It’s like polio. I feel like I’m gonna die if I can’t be with you. And I can’t be with you. So I’m gonna die - and I don’t care cause I was brought into existence to know you and that’s enough. The idea that you would want me back it’s like greedy.”

“I will say this one last time Jared and then I never want to talk about this ever again. I loveyou. I don’t care if every man in this room is in love with me because I love you. I don’t want anyone else. Ever. You’re my future now and there is noforce on earth that could change how I feel about us or keep me from you. I will only ever want you for the rest of my life.”

“I love you, Allison. My love for you continues to grow every day. I love you so much more than I can even explain. And when I thought I might lose you, when you called to me and felt such fear, I decided I would never again try to distance myself from you. I will be here when you need me for whatever you need me for. You are my world.”Normally, a woman waits for the man to kiss her, especially after the kiss we just shared. But at his declaration, I just couldn’t help myself. I lifted myself onto my tip toes and threw my arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to mine. I kissed him with everything I had, letting my love for him flow through me and into him.Before I could even react his lips were on mine. The heat that I had felt when he kissed my cheek, was like a lit match compared to the forest fire I felt now. Every inch of my body was deliciously ignited.”

“If you want me to get closer, there are other ways to do it,” I said, leaving my statement open-ended. I gave him a pointed look, dropped my hand and turned away, leaving him staring after me. I started to walk toward the ice cream parlor, smiling to myself.Zack caught up with me, his arms catching me around the waist as he pulled me back against his chest. His lips met the hollow of my neck, just above my collarbone. “I’d be careful about saying things like, princess,” he said, his voice rough and urgent. “I don’t think you know what you’re insinuating.”