“When I throw a punch they take it and try to reciprocate. That’s not gonna win a fight.”

“I was his exception, and as much as I had tried to fight my feelings, he was mine.”

“I thought about my mother, and the words she said to me almost a lifetime ago. That’s when it clicked: she had asked me not to settle, to fight for the person I loved, and for the first time, I did what she expected of me. I had finally lived up to who she wanted me to be.”

“For reasons unknown to me, I was his exception, and as much as I had tried to fight my feelings, he was mine.”

“When we met, something inside both of us had changed, and whatever that was, it made us need each other. For reasons unknown to me, I was his exception, and as much as I had tried to fight my feelings, he was mine.”

“I can’t figure you out. You’re the first girl that’s ever been disgusted with me before sex. You don’t get all flustered when you talk to me, and you don’t try to get my attention.”

“I perched my chin on his shoulder and smiled. "That was because you were trying to win our bet."He angled his neck to face me. "Damn right I was.”