“It was in that moment that I realized why he’d gotten the tattoo, why he had chosen me, and why I was different. It wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just him, it was what we were together that was the exception.”

“It wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just him, it was what we were together that was the exception.”

“You slept just fine in the recliner. Why couldn't you sleep with me?""You mean next to a guy who still smelled like the pair of bar flies he had just sent home? I don't know! How selfish of me!”

“I loved him, and no matter what my reasons were to live without him, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted.”

“This is it,” he said with a sigh.“What?”“The moment. When I watch you sleeping…that peace on your face? This is it. I haven’t had it since before my mom died, but I can feel it again.” He took another deep breath and pulled me closer. “I knew the second I met you that there was something about you I needed. Turns out it wasn’t something about you at all. It was just you.”

“I wasn’t mad at you. I just have a bad habit of lashing out at those I care about. It’s a piss poor excuse, I know, but I am sorry,” he said, enveloping me in his arms.”

“I couldn’t imagine love was like this for everyone, or men would be walking around like lunatics the second they were old enough to notice girls.Maybe it was just me. Maybe it was just me and her. Maybe together we were this volatile entity that would either implode or meld together. Either way, it seemed the moment I met her, my life hadbeen turned upside down. And I didn’t want it any other way.”