“I don't know what his problem is," I said as Michael and I left the school. "Why would he tell me to be careful if he hates my guts?" "Because he doesn't hate your guts. I think he likes you." Michael was walking so fast I had to jog to keep up with him. "Isn't it obvious?”

“Well...unfortunately there's a little problem," he said."What?"He pointed up. "That."I looked up to see the mistletoe dangling from the ceiling where I'd hung it three hours before."Okay, but what does that-?"Rhys kissed me. "I really, really, didn't want to like that," he said."Rhys-" But before I could say anything else, he kissed me again and pulled me closer.”

“But I'd done what I could to warm the place up. I'd started with a welcome mat. It had a happy face on it and was bright and colorful. It didn't say "Welcome." It said "!!!WELCOME!!!"I knew he wouldn't like it. I considered it more of an amusing test to see how open he was to change. He'd let me move in with him, but how flexible was he really willing to be?It disappeared the day after I placed it by the front door. It was just--poof!--gone. When I imagined the shocked look on his face when he would have first seen it, a spot of wacky and whimsical color in his otherwise monochromatic world, I started to laugh hysterically.”

“I think I know who you are," he finally said. "It took me a minute, since you're better looking than I thought you'd be, but I think I've got it.”

“Sorry," I said."Don't be sorry." She sent a sneer in the direction of Colin who'd rejoined his friends on the other side of the theatre. "The fact he's still breathing isn't your fault.”

“No. As a matter of fact, the dragon oracle tells me the girl I'm supposed to marry, the one destined to someday become the queen of the faery realm, isn't a faery at all.""She isn't?" I said. "Then who is she?""You," he said.”

“I took it back: he didn't just hate himself down deep. He'd made plenty of room in there for me, too.”