“She stares at me for a moment, and then she bursts out laughing. “You haven’t seen his perfect little wife and his perfect little girls. Believe me, Oliver, I’m not the great love of his life, the one he’ll never forget.”“You are to me,” I say.”

“Now come,” he said. “Does your Alex love you back, or is he a hopeless idiot?”“He loves me,” she said quietly. “But I’m afraid he’ll stop after we marry. He’ll change his mind. He’ll—”“He’ll love you more. Trust me.”“Really?” She was far too somber.“Really.” He had no words to make her smile, and so Gareth tweaked her nose.And she giggled.It had been a long time since he’d laughed. But despite all those years, he still remembered how. What he’dforgotten was the lightness of his soul when he did so. The moment was perfect.”

“One stood behind me and ran her hands down my chest, her breasts rubbing against my back. The next stood in front of me holding onto my shirt and pulling me close to her as she ground into me seductively. The third danced slowly and seductively with the second girl, giving the girl-on-girl effect. I knew I was going to burst at any moment, so I had to close my eyes and take repeated deep breaths to calm down."What’s the matter Aid-man, you feeling a little frustrated?" Dixon boasted from under his lap dancer."Shut up Dixon." Though I didn’t really want him to shut up, his teasing was distracting me pretty well. "I’m going to kill you for this.""Oh no little man!" He laughed loudly. "Thank your future wife! That one is on her!" he howled.”

“Who am I, that you should love me?""You are My Queen," said Eugenides. She sat perfectly still, looking at him without moving as his words dropped like water into dry earth."Do you believe me?" he asked. "Yes," she answered. "Do you love me?""Yes.""I love you."And she believed him.”

“She would- never mind. She was his servant. Slave mentality. This was not the girl I asked to marry me. She was his slave and believed she knew only joy...where was my wife? What was this creature she stroked and sucked at...”

“He dropped his forehead to hers. “I know I’m a little fucked up. Don’t give up on me baby. I’m not saying that things will suddenly be perfect. I’m a guy, and guys can be stupid. I admit I need the room to mess up a little. I can’t promise I won’t piss you off again, but I can promise you that I’ll never deliberately hurt you. Nothing is more important to me than you. Nothing.”