“I've barely been able to think about anything else.''Other than...' He waited for me to finish.'Kissing you, dummy,' I said.'Really?''You shouldn't be that surprised,' I said.He grinned. 'I'm just glad to know we're on the same page.”

“I love you, Roza." He kissed me again. "I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." The words were wonderful and dangerous. He shouldn't have said anything like that to me. He shouldn't have been promising he'd protect me, not when he was supposed to dedicate his life to protecting Moroi like Lissa. I couldn't be first in his heart, just like he couldn't be first in mine. That was why I shouldn't have said what I said next-but I did anyway. "And I won't let anything happen to you," I promised. "I love you." He kissed me again, swallowing off any other words I might have added.”

“I’m just glad you took me back,” he said, grinning widely. Stupid grin. It made me want to kiss him, and I shouldn’t have wanted to kiss him.”

“I have a confession," he said softly."Oh no," I sighed. "It's not about the gloves is it?""No," he grinned, and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "I've seriously been crushing on you for about three years.""Really?" I was genuinely surprised. His asking me out a few times never equated to a crush to me. I knew he probably liked me a little, but I didn't think he had a crush on me."Okay, maybe more than crushing. I'm pretty sure I've had some pretty strong feelings for you for a long time.”

“Are you sure that being like everybody else will make you happy?""I don't know any other way.""Let me show you."And then we're kissing. Or at least, I think we're kissing—I've only seen it done a couple of times, quick closed-mouth pecks at weddings or on formal occasions. But this isn't like anything I've ever seen, or imagined, or even dreamed: this is like music or dancing but better than both.”

“But Rachel, every time you hurt, I hurt. Particularly, when I'm the cause of it. I've been aninsensitive jerk. But I need you to know that you are all I can think about. That you give me freakingbutterflies in my stomach. That when we're together I feel like...”“Cloud walking.” Rachel grinned.”