“The truth was, he now belonged only to my past, and it was time I begin to accept it, as much as it hurt to do so.”

“I had to stop linking every single thing that happened to me with Kennedy. Realization dawned then, that he was still my default. Over the past three years, we’d become each other’s habit. And though he’d broken his habit of me when he walked away, I’d not broken my habit of him. I was still tethering him to my present, to my future. The truth was, he now belonged only to my past, and it was time I began to accept it, as much as it hurt to do so.”

“The night we met—I'm not like that guy." His jaw was rigid."I know tha—" He placed a finger over my lips, his expression softening."So I don't want you to feel pressured. Or overpowered. But I do, absolutely, want to kiss you right now. Badly.”

“Did that hurt? On your lip?" "Not too much. I said a few choice four-letter words, though.”

“Time would not change what I was feeling--or not feeling. I'd had time, and though the ache from his desertion hadn't disappeared, it was decreasing. My future was blurry, yes, but I was beginning to imagine a future when I would no longer miss him at all.”

“So I don't want you to feel pressured. Or overpowered. But I do, absolutely, want to kiss you right now. Badly.”

“I fight the urge to enjoy anything too much in front of him, actually, and now that I’m aware of that fact, my brain gets hung up on why that is.”