“I cleared my throat and spoke into his kiss. “Sorry, it’s been a while.”“You should expect to hear the same thing from me in about five minutes,” he murmured.“Five minutes, huh?”“I’ll make it the best five minutes of your life.”I bit his lip, hard, then released him and looked into those intense blues. “Clock’s ticking.”

“Because even after all this, I still loved her. Love and hate were two sides of the same coin, and my coin was destined to land with love facing up. And the minute I made peace with those odds was the minute I'd start winning.”

“I still need you," I murmured. He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes, his breathing irregular. Then his lips found mine again. It made my heart ache, made my soul ache. I loved him far too much.”

“We weren’t going to be apart for a minute, not if I could help it. If that made me overprotective, so be it. I was going to protect this woman – my woman – until the day I died.”

“That is what I thought of you, Ellie. Heartless, reckless, selfish, and cruel."He was back to shooting me when my armor was down. I turned my face away from him, not wanting to let him see the hurt in my eyes. He reached up and put his fingers under my chin, bringing my face forward again, forcing me to look at him."Beautiful, sad, wounded, and lost," he continued. "A freak, a work of art, a liar, and a lover."His gaze was starting to eat away at my insides. Razor-blade butterflies whirled in my heart."I hate you, Ellie Watt," he whispered, lips coming closer to mine, "because I still love you after all these years.”

“I hope next time you feel – well, retarded – about yourself, you’ll remember that I think you’re…”I looked up into his eyes. They were drunk, yes, but still absolutely mesmerizing.He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he said, “Sorry I licked your face.”

“Why am I good to you?” he repeated, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. “Because I can see you are broken. And I want nothing more than to put you back together.”