“and your thighs. I can't wait to feel them wrapped around me.”

“I know.” He leaned in and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “And you can try and pretend it’s okay. That you’re strong and tough and you don’t need anyone. That you didn’t need her. But that’s all bullshit. I know it, and you know it.”Savannah stared at Cole.“You’re so pushy. I told you my story. Why can’t you leave it alone?”“Have you ever dealt with it?”She’d spent so many years holding it all inside.“I’m here right now, aren’t I? I obviously dealt with my past.”“I’m not talking about surviving it. Yeah, you survived it. But you haven’t let go of it.” He rubbed her arm. “What she did to you mattered. It wasn’t fair.”He was wrong. She was fine. It didn’t matter. She had always shown everyone how strong she was.“Show me how you feel, Peaches.”Her bottom lip trembled. She got up, walked to the window to look outside, staring at the darkness, not really seeing anything but the years falling away, stripping away the cool, confident woman she was now, revealing the scared little girl she once was. She’d vowed to never go back to that place, to never revisit those feelings again, yet here she stood.Cole wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened.“It’s okay to be vulnerable, Savannah, to let someone see you scared.”“I’m not scared. Not anymore.”

“Sometimes your world falls apart. And it’s okay for you to let people in and let them see you crumble”

“Bastard.""You love me.""Yes, I do. Now let me come.”

“Ella: "Why can't I stay mad at you?"Clay: "Because I'm irresistible."Ella: "You probably use that line on the ladies. And it probably works."Clay: "It does."Ella: "God. You're unbelievable."Clay: "They all say that, too.”

“I love you. I hope you can get used to me saying that. A lot.”

“Your hands are cold. You're pale. I never thought a declaration of love would make a woman sick.”