“Most people saw her as supremely confident and self assured but beneath that were the doubts.”

“You know, El, you're so much more than the time you were with Bill and the attack. You took something shitty and you made a new future. Most people don't do that. They hang on forever. It's easy to stay in that pit of despair. Or let it be your excuse for not moving on.”

“I think the question is, can you live without her? Watch her fall in love with someone else?.....If the fear of some random thing happening in the future is bigger than the reality of her being with another guy, walk away now when it'll merely sort of kill you to do it. But you can't have this doubt between you. Man up. Love her the way she deserves it, or let another man do it.”

“Facing the fear helped. Most days. But the thing about fear was that it ate away at your reason, made you smaller.It was her mini dare each day to come home to this place. To embrace normal and live her own life on her own terms, even if she was afraid. Her life was her own. She made it, and no one would take it from her again.”

“He wore the evidence of thinking all over his face, open and easy to read. Leah envied him that confidence to show what he was feeling.”

“He found himself surprised by how much he enjoyed that they were taking it slow. Liked watching her gentle to him. Each time she did something that showed him how much she trusted him, pride flushed through him. She deserved all his attention on her as he got to know her on this entirely new level. It was achingly sexy, this dance they moved through. Delicious with anticipation. He let himself luxuriate in the slow woo, the seduction of it rather than a quick f*ck with someone he didn't plan to see in a week. He'd never used his sexuality like this, hadn't turned it up full blast to enchant a woman this way. But by God, he wanted her, and why not show her just exactly what she did to him?”

“In any case, in general, I prefer to avoid conflict when I can. Not because I'm afraid or because I'm too weak to fight back. But because conflict eats up your time. It is exhaustive in terms of energy you have to expend to be involved in it. More if you mean to win, and I'd never do it if I didn't mean to win. I'd rather spend my time on other things and in general, most people aren't worth that much of my time and energy.”