“Would you like a drink?” Politeness wins out over everything else I’d like to say.“No, thank you, Anastasia.” He smiles a dazzling, crooked smile, his head cocked slightly to one side.Well, I might need one.”

“I do have one slightly crooked wheel upstairs, but everything else is ticking along just four-o, thank you very much.”

“Would you like to make a wager on that, Abby Abernathy?” he smiled, his eyes animated. I smiled. “I’ll take that bet. I think he’ll get one in on you.”

“Someday I'd like to sail far away again. Think of how much of the world we've left to see!" But then he cocked his head. "Would you mind?""Not as long as you took me with you." There was that beautiful smile."Always.”

“I liked that he was a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles with a dual appointments in the Department of Having a Voice that Made My Skin Feel More Like Skin.”

“And his kiss wasn't at all like his smile. It wasn't crooked or one-sided. It was quite simply... perfect.”