“But when a cut is deep, it’s still just flesh beneath.”

“She’d fallen into a deep silence once, when the sun appeared, and it was then he’d wondered most what she was thinking.”

“I agree with you,” Marron said quietly. “For what it’s worth.”Perry nodded in thanks. It was worth a lot just then.”

“Snake eyes again. Damn dice,” Straggler said. He lifted the cup to reveal two ones on the table.Hyde smirked. “Strag, I didn’t think it was possible to be as unlucky as you are.”“He’s so unlucky it’s almost lucky,” Gren said. “It’s like he has reverse luck.”“He’s reverse good-looking, too,” said Hyde.“I’m going to reverse punch you,” Strag said to his brother.“That was reverse smart, man. It means you’re going to punch yourself.”

“Her hand holding his for a dozen paces. His, resting on the small of her back for a moment. Touches that had no real purpose but to say I’m here and We are together still.”

“We lose and lose, but we're still here. Shaking in place, afraid of doing something. I'm tired of settling for this because I don't know if something better exists. It has to. What point is there otherwise? I can do something about it now. And I will.”

“She could look at him forever. She could spend her life watching him just blink and breathe that near to her.”