“The crust is the best part,” he explained around his mouthful of food. “If they made an all-crust pizza, I’d be a pig in shit.”Lauren took a delicate bite of her own slice. “I’m pretty sure they do. It’s called bread.”He stopped chewing as he looked at her, and a smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. She’s a wiseass.”

“Hey, Lauren?” he called, and she stopped so abruptly her bag slid off her shoulder. She caught it at the last second and turned, her expression taken aback.Del smirked. “Don’t be so surprised that I know your name. You’re not as invisible as you think you are.”She closed her mouth, looking at him. “I’m not gonna stop calling you Red, though” he added casually.”

“You look new right now,” he finally said.“New?” He nodded. “Like you just discovered yourself.” Andie felt something jolt through her veins as he added, “It’s hard to explain, but I wish you could see it. It looks good on you.”

“His heart was racing, and he wanted her to hear it. And he wanted her to know that from here on out, it beat solely for her.”

“His face, like everything she knew about him, was purely contradictory. That cherubic mouth with those penetrating eyes: he was too lovely to be menacing, but too intense to be innocent.”

“Everyone deserved the chance to be redeemed, and Michael had gone his whole life never having it. He never got to redeem himself with his father. He never got to redeem himself with his brother. And if he was trying to redeem himself now for what he'd done ro her, then she was going to let him, even if it left her vulnerable.”

“Don’t ever apologize for being you, Andie.” She opened her eyes and turned to him. He was looking at her, and there was such conviction and sincerity in his expression that Andie felt like she was going to break under the weight of it.”