“Jax gave him a look, and he nodded, silently agreeing he wouldn't do anything stupid. Like kiss her. Or go to her house to watch Star Trek outtakes.”

“He pressed her closer to his body for an instant, then slowly set her on her feet and stepped back, allowing her to get a look at him.”

“It made him crazy, looking down into her beautiful eyes, at her creamy soft skin, knowing he couldn't touch her.”

“She never strayed far from him though, and if she looked around and didn't see him right away, he saw a look of panic in her blue eyes.”

“Phoenix sank to the desk chair and stared at her computer screen. “I don’t know. I’ve lived like this for so long, it’s who I am. Everything seems so stupid. Like, look at this girl,writing to Sasha. She’s all”—he spoke in a falsetto voice—“‘OMG!’ and ‘LOL!’ and ‘WTF?’ and ‘Girl, you should totes go out with Tyler in Telluride!’” He looked up at her.“You’re seventeen years old, and this is how seventeenyear-olds talk to each other. I’m a thousand years old, and this stuff is like alien-speak to me. If I found another Anabo,she’d be writing OMG and I’d be thinking, You’re f’ingkidding me.”

“After that, he couldn't be sure how it happened, but she wasn't crying anymore and he wasn't thinking. At all. His hands were underneath her sweater, touching every inch of her warm, smooth skin; they were kissing like two condemned people suddenly given a reprieve; and his feeling of calm morphed into happiness so intense, he'd swear his blood was singing.”

“She wanted to tell him she'd never pick any of those other three billion guys, because he was all she wanted. He was her freak, and she'd love him forever.”