“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.”

“They stood together, arms wrapped tight, listening to the wind through the pines while snow fell softly all around. This was one of those moments in life she knew she’d never forget.He moved his head so that his lips were close to her ear. “Run, Sasha. If you can do it, run like hell and don’t look back.”Her breath came in short little gasps. “I don’t want to run.”

“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'd waited a thousand years for her, and she would know him for less than two weeks.”

“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.”

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

“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.”