“The guy behind the counter scratches his neck. “Are you being serious?” Her face is stoic. “Absolutely. I never kid about teddy bears.”

“Okay, I'll take the pink one with the torn ear.'The guy behind the counter scratches his neck. "Are you being serious?"Her face is stoic. 'Absolutely. I never kid about teddy bears.”

“I just let the pain take over, allowing it to numb the pain of being left behind.”

“You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble.""Why?""Because of her right there. Do you know what Daisy would do if you ever cheated on her.""Move on to the next guy that told her she has nice tits.""Okay, you're probably right on that one.”

“I brush her hair back from her forehead. "You need to stop worrying about everything that can't be controlled." She signs and leans away from my hand, "That's just it, though. It's all I can think about anymore. It's like this fixation I have no control over which makes no sense because Im fixated on controlling the uncontrollable." She's breathing wildly. Shit. I need to calm her down.”

“I pause, examining her eyes, and then move forward with caution. “So if I kissed you right now, I wouldn’t be taking advantage of you?” “No, but I might be taking advantage of you. Your breath smells about as bad as the bottle.” She fans her nose with a smile. “Trust me. You can take advantage of me and I won’t mind, even when I sober up.” I press my lips to hers, feeling my heart thump in my chest as her breath catches. It grows silent as we lie with our foreheads touching and our breaths mingling. I place my hand on her hip, shutting my eyes, feeling the intensity of the moment like an open wound.”

“At least tell me you won? And that the scratches and dings were totally worth it." "Of course. They're always worth it," he says with a hidden meaning that only the two of us could ever understand.”