“He made me happy. He made me crazy. He made me thank the heavens for the day I'd met him. He made me curse the same heavens for the day I'd met him.”

“That man made me feel things I never imagined could be felt. He made me want things I wasn't sure I could have. He made me need things I didn't know existed.”

“The thing was, if staying away from him made me unsmart, I never wanted to be smart again.”

“How about," he said, rendering me witless with the look in his eyes, "I'll be here, each day and every day on, as long as you want me to be?”

“The first day of kindergarten when the little boy in a blue polo shirt had sat next to me and told me he’d be my friend when I couldn’t stop crying after my dad had dropped me off. The boy who’d brought me a tray of brownies, a stack of movies, and sat with me on the couch all week after I broke my leg in fifth grade. The boy who’d blushed whenever I talked to him or looked his way when we became teenagers. The same boy who made it his business to make sure all the other boys treated me right.”

“I wanted you to feel the rage boil in my blood when I found out you were going on a date...with him tonight," he cursed the word, "after being with me last night. I wanted you to feel the same pain I did. The goddamn same debilitating pain.”

“Don't worry about me babe. I've seen so many backs walking away from me that this is old hat," he said, shrugging like this wasn't killing him like it was me. "Say it," he said, his voice shaking.”