“Who cared whether you could change motor oil when you could snap a rottweiler’s neck in 2.8 seconds? Now there was a practical skill.”

“Could you please put this--could you all put these--could you get dressed, please?"The woman only bestowed a serene smile on me. "We are as the Goddess requires.""The Goddess requires you to be naked on my lawn?”

“I won't make excuses for what I did. The truth is that your whole life can change with one split-second decision, and it doesn't matter if you told yourself you'd never do it or if you stepped into the moment with no intention of doing it. All it takes is for that one second of absolute panic when the solution shines right there in front of you, and you grab it... only to have it turn into ash in your hand. There is no excuse for what I did.”

“I envied it; not the idea of having so much money that you could throw it away, but the thought of growing up in a world where someone cared so much about your happiness and so little about what you accomplished in life.”

“I-I didn't..." Derek began.He scrambled from under Liam. The werewolf's body fell, limp, to the side, his head twisted, neck broken.Derek swallowed. The sound echoed in the silence. "I didn't-- I just-- I was trying to stop him.""You didn't mean it," I said softly. "But he did."He looked at me, eyes refusing to focus."He would have killed you," I said."Killed both of us, if it came down to it. You might not have meant to do it, but..."I didn't finish. I could have said the world was better off without Liam, but we both knew the point wasn't whether Liam deserved to die, but whether Derek deserved the guilt of killing someone. He didn't.”

“He smiled. Hesitant at first, then a blazing grin broke through that made my heart stop. I recovered and grinned back and went to throw my arms around his neck, then stopped, blushing. Before I could pull back, he caught my elbows and put my arms around his neck and pulled me into a hug.”

“Perfect night, wasn't it?""It could have been." I smiled up at him. "But you were there.”