“Cole - I just thought of a new game.Jaz - What's that?Cole - Splat the Specter.Jaz - Rules?Cole - You can help me make them up. Right now all I know for sure is that it involves water guns filled with grape Kool-Aid and two ferrets named Biff and Chlamydia.Vayl - Why Ferrets?Jaz - Really? You want to know about his choice of pets when he's named one of them after an STD?”

“He started to dance. And all at once, because Cole was dancing, I was dancing. And this Cole was even more persuasive than the last one. This was everything about Cole's smile made into a real thing, a physical object made out of his hands looped around me, and his long body pushed up against mine. I loved to dance, but I'd always been aware that I was dancing, aware of what my body was doing. Now, with this music thumping and Cole dancing with me, everything became invisible but the music. I was invisible. My hips were the booming bass. My hands on Cole were the wails of the synthesizer. My body was nothing but the hard, pulsing beat of the track. My thoughts were flashes in between the downbeats. beat:my hand pressed on Cole's stomachbeat: our hips crushed togetherbeat: Cole's laughbeat: we were one personEven knowing that Cole was good at this because it was what he did didn't make it any less of an amazing thing. Plus, he wasn't trying to be amazing without me--every move of his body was to make us move together. There was no ego, just the music and our bodies.When the track ended, Cole stepped back, out of breath, half a smile on his face. I couldn't see how he could stop. I wanted to dance until I couldn't stand up. I wanted to crush our bodies against each other until there was no pulling them apart. "You're an addiction," I told him."You should know.”

“Afternoon,Caputo," Cole said.Jack's face remained a cool mask. "Hello, Cole.Becks."Cole froze at Jack's casual use of his real name. His arm dropped from my shoulders. I couldn't help but smile. Jack looked at me. "I'll see you in Mrs. Stone's room, Becks. You're coming, right? Mythology paper?"I nodded.Just before he sauntered away, Jack winked at me and slapped Cole hard on the shoulder. "See you around, Neal.”

“That was pretty much all you needed to know about Cole, right there. He saw something he didn't quite understand, liked it, and took it to be his.”

“You’ve no idea what you’re getting involved with.” Cole closed his eyes. He seemed to be reaching inside to calm himself.Livia took a step out of the pew. “Cole, I can’t turn back now. My life leads to his. It’s as simple as that.”“Two months.” Cole looked doubtful.“Four hundred forty-six smiles, plus two months of talking twice a day, five times a week,” Livia corrected.”

“Sometime later, Cole entered the situation. Beckett wasn’t sure if Blake had confided in Cole or if Cole just stumbled upon the ritual, but one night he joined Blake and Beckett. And then there were three.”