“She does know we're coming, right?' I ask.'Well...' He hems and haws a bit. 'Not exactly.'Laney immediately smacks the back of his head. 'Jake! You mean we're showing up unannounced? That is so rude!''What if she isn't there? What are we going to do?' I smack him once, too, for good measure. 'What is *wrong* with you?''Can we please stop with the abuse?”

“Seth turns to Laney and I. "Three months ago, I'm in Detroit protesting a free trade conference, right? Some pig shoves me, I go flying into another, next thing I know I'm on the ground with a Taser in my back. I get thrown in city jail, no money and one phone call. So I call Jake. You know what this fucker did? He dropped everything, drove up and bailed me out, no questions.""Like I could just leave you," Jake says. "You're too pretty. You're a delicate flower. They would've ripped you apart in there.”

“I already told you, I'm not gonna subscribe to your stupid magazine!' she yells.'We're not selling anything,' Jake calls back. 'We just came to see my favorite chula this side of the Mississippi.'The girl pauses and shields her eyes to get a better look. 'Jacob? That you?''In the flesh,' he confirms with a broad grin.”

“Maybe Laney's right. Maybe June did love me. But I'm far less certain that she knew I loved her. Did she realise how much I needed her around? It's not like I ever told her. I was too wrapped up in my own world to notice what was going on in hers. Even if she did know, it wasn't enough to count. It wasn't enough to make her stay. So really, what did it matter, in the end?The bottom line is, it's my fault. I didn't love her enough. I didn't do enough. I wasn't enough. There's no excuse. There is nothing that will ever make that okay.”

“He leans close and says, "It matters to me," right against my mouth, and then kisses me like he means it.I've thought about what it'd be like to kiss Jake over the past few days, way more than I'd care to admit. But I don't even have time to register the firm press of his lips against mine, without breath, before he pulls back. His face freezes, eyes wide with oh shit written across them. Maybe I'd be offended if I wasn't so sure that my own expression matches his perfectly. "I shouldn't have done that," he blurts out. "I'm an idiot.""Yeah," I agree, "you really are."I grab the collar of his shirt and tug him back to me. He makes a muffled sound of surprise in the back of his throat, hesitating for a heartbeat before his mouth opens against mine. Suddenly, we're kissing for real - clumsy at first as we feel each other out, but then I shirt forward into his lap, fall against his chest and tip my head down, and it's like two puzzle pieces snapping into place.He tastes exactly the way I thought he would, of cigarettes and citrus and salt. The ocean. And he kisses like I thought he would, too, hard and hot and urgent, and way better than anyone I've made out with before.”

“Jake shuts the van's back doors and lies down next to me. He's really close, so close I can feel him breathing on the nape of my neck. I could put more space between us, but instead I scoot backward, leaning into him, my back pressed into the pleasant warmth of his front. Jake holds his breath for a moment, but he doesn't say anything. And he doesn't move away.... He moves so his mouth is right under my ear, brushing the skin there, and one of his hands slides up, resting on my rib cage. My whole body tingles as he starts to sing softly into my ear.”

“We left behind this small townBut we couldn't leave behind the ghostsAs we headed for the coast, yeah, and you knowThere was something in the way she told meHow my hair looked stupid, andHow she couldn't hold her tequila, andHow she was broken and beautiful andStill standing, and how was I supposed to knowAll along we were saving JuneSaving June, yeahShe had flowers in her hair and one powerful glareMy modern day Rubik's Cube, she made me feelLike maybe we could have it allBut you can never have it allAnd now I've gone and lostAll these things that they always sang aboutAll the things that I still dream aboutNow I'm counting up the days, counting all the waysI never said what it means, but it's too late 'causeJune is over and so are weAnd I'm the one left, with nothing to save”