“Oh well, it’s over for you. Call the code at 2:03 p.m.”My eyes widened in shock. “That’s what they say when someone dies.”“Exactly.” He nodded. “Woman have fallen in love with me after staring like that for only thirty seconds andI think you just took a full minute. You’re doomed.”

“Are you wearing space pants?" Miranda asked him."What?"How did it end? oh, right. "Because your butt is fine."He gazed at her in that way he had like he was measuring her for straitjacket. "I think-" he started, then stopped and seemed to be having trouble talking. Cleared his throat three times before saying, "I think the line is 'because your butt is out of this world.""Oh. That makes a lot more sense. I can see that. See, I read this book about how to get guys to like you and they said it was a line that never failed but i got interrupted in the middle and the line before it was about china-not the country, the kind you eat off of-and that is where the fine part was but i must have gotten them confused. He just kept staring at her.”

“No, this is serious, Ollie. So I'm watching this spider building its web in the corner of the window. First it does the main parts, then the little connector rods. It's like so careful and precise, right? And then just when it's done, Mrs. Halverson comes over and says, 'It's so stuffy in here I can hardly breathe. Let's have some air,' and opens the window. And boom, all the spider's work was gone." He paused. "Made me think, man, that was just like life."I touched his cheek. "What do you mean, silly boy?""You work and work, and all it takes is one bitch to ruin everything."Ollie stared ahead steadily and said, "I think it shows that sometimes for one person to keep breathing, something else has to stop.”

“And we'd look at each other the way you do when you see someone on the street you think you recognize, but not quite. Someone you wish with all your heart were there but who is actually just a stranger. And you feel a kind of deep longing that hurts like a huge gash and your inability to fix it leaves you frustrated and angry and bone-deep lonely.”

“Because after the haze of not being kissed cleared I was forced to face the facts that:1. Jack was a very bad guy.2. Jack had threatened Fred.3. Just thinking that he was going to kiss me made me tingly everywhere4. In a way no other guy had5. And that was without our mouths even touching6. Which meant that7. If they did8. Wooohoo baby!9. Except that it did not matter10. At all11. Because he was plotting against fred12. And I was complicit in whatever he planned if I didn't tell Mr. Curtis13. And I was trapped in a boat with a woman singing showtunes.”

“So let me see-you've got a boyfriend, a not boyfriend, and a secret admirer." He shook his head at me. "Girl, no wonder someone tried to run you down.”

“that was the plan?part of it, you don't wan tot know the rest. i believe the word 'these dog colllars would make excellent restraints' were involved.it was a brilliant idea. and we only got really cute well-made collars. this is my favorite. we had the tag engraved to say BUBBA.”