“It may have taken nine years, and a whole lot of wrong turns along the way, but their story felt complete at last.Because, finally, she was his.”

“Are you sure you’re not too tired?” Taylor taunted, lacing her fingers through his hair and pulling him between her legs. “Although you do seem to have a lot of energy for a thirty-nine-year-old.”Jason grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling her mouth to his. “Thirty-eight, smart-ass. I have a December birthday.”

“I will never, ever regret stopping you from walking out of my life a second time, Kyle," she said in an emotional voice. "And I can prove it."She reached for the buttons on her trench coat and undid them, one at a time. Then she opened the coat and let it drop to the floor.And even if she didn't say a single word more, Kyle knew he would never again doubt the way Rylann felt about him.She was wearing his flannel shirt."You kept it," he said softly. "All this time."She nodded. "For nine years, I've held on to this darn shirt, literally dragging it across the country and back."Kyle touched her cheek, gently brushing away a tear with his thumb. "Why?"She paused hesitantly, and then with a tender smile, finally put it all on the line, too. "I guess I always hoped you'd come back for it someday.”

“You are just as annoyingly cocky as you were nine years ago.”“Yes,” Kyle’s gaze fell to her lips. “And we both know how that turned out.”

“Because nine years ago, I walked up to the most beautiful girl in the bar, and tonight she's still the only person I want to talk to.”

“She asked him the question she had been asking herself for the past few days. "Why are you being so nice to me now?" J.D. leaned forward in his chair. He gazed directly into her eyes, and Payton suddenly found herself wondering why it had taken him eight years to look at her that way."Because you're letting me," he said softly.”

“Despite the fact that she was essentially comatose, she somehow made his whole house feel different just by being there. Before it had been just a house—a very impressive house no doubt, but a house nonetheless. But for some reason, with Taylor there it felt more like a home.”