“So you would literally take a bullet for me.""No," Claire said, with zero emotion."No?" Ryan said, surprised at her answer.Claire rolled her eyes, annoyed that she had to answer. "If I have time to stand in the way of a bullet, you have time to move.”

“She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his neck. "I'll leave my number on the counter.""Eh...Don't worry about it," He said in a casual tone."What?" She asked, leaning back to look in his eyes."Every time!" America said. She looked at the woman. "How are you surprised by this? He's Travis Fucking Maddox! He is famous for this very thing, and every time they're surprised!”

“Ryan held out his hands. "What the hell is this? Beat The Shit Out Of Ryan Week?" "I didn't think you'd mind, since you're always insisting upon getting yourself hospitalized,"Claire said.Ryan's face screwed into disgust. "That was uncalled for.""The truth hurts, baby."He smiled. "If you're going to talk to me like that, you can insult me all day long."Claire pulled her car keys from her pocket, and then pulled on Ryan's hand. "I meant that you're a baby. It wasn't a term of endearment.""Yeah, right.”

“No, it’s not okay. You said you wanna be friends, but we can’t hang out?” I rolled my eyes, and Travis huffed. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. Are you coming or not?”

“Can I borrow your phone?" she asked.I frowned, unsure what she would do. "Sure." I pulled my phone from my pocket, handing it to her.She fingered the buttons for a moment, and then dialed, closing her eyes as she waited."I'm sorry for calling you so early," she stammered, "but this couldn't wait. I . . . can't go to dinner with you on Wednesday."She had called Parker. My hands trembled with apprehension, wondering if she was going to ask him to pick her up - to save her - or something else.She continue, "I can't see you at all, actually. I'm . . . pretty sure I'm in love with Travis."My whole world stopped. I tried to replay her words over. Had I heard them correctly? Did she really just say what I thought she had, or was it just wishful thinking? Abby handed the phone back to me, and then reluctantly peered up into my eyes."He hung up," she said with a frown."You love me?""It's the tattoos," she said, flippant and shrugging, as if she hadn't just said the one thing I'd ever wanted to hear.Pigeon loved me.”

“You should have asked her first, Trav," America said, shaking her head and covering her mouth with her fingers. "Asked her what? If I could get a tattoo?" he frowned, turning to me. "I love you. I want everyone to know I'm yours. I shifted nervously. "That's permanent, Travis." "So are we," he said, touching my cheek.”

“I like her," I said through my teeth.Shepley held his hand to his ear. "What? I couldn't quite hear you.""You're an asshole! Did you hear that?"Shepley crossed his arms. "Say it.""I like her, okay?""Not good enough.""I have feelings for her. I care about her. A lot. I can't stand it when she's not around. Happy?”