“Jimmy rolled his eyes. 'What problems do you have? You have the perfect family. Your dad is perfect. Your brother and sister aren’t pestering you all the time. And your mom never screams at you for anything.''That’s only because she doesn’t know anything. 'He lifted an eyebrow and tilted his head toward his friend. 'It’s all in how you play your cards, young Padawan.”

“What do you feel?” Curiosity hung in the air.Matt was thankful Darian didn’t walk out except now he had to explain himself. “I feel jittery.” “Oh, then it’s gotta be love.” Darian shook his head and turned away. Matt knew sarcasm when he heard it. He grabbed Darian’s elbow and pulled him into his arms. Darian’s hands were smashed to his chest and his face was very close to Matt’s. “I’m not letting you walk out.” He asserted. “You make me feel sick.”“Oh, that’s so much better.”

“Open your eyes, baby. Look at me.” He pressed his forehead down to meet mine, my eyelids fluttering open at his command. “Look at me and tell me you don’t want it.”I peered up at him with unsteady breaths, hearing his throat work when I tilted my lips to graze his. The contact was feather light, my heart hammering through my chest at the feel of it. “I’m looking,” I breathed against him.“Good. Because right now, all I want to do is rip your clothes off and make you come until you can’t stand, and I want your eyes on me the whole time, are we clear?”-Jackson and Emma”

“You think when someone you love passes away, everything becomes clearer, that your priorities and perspectives align in a way they’ve never aligned before because of the sobriety of it all. But it doesn’t. Those revelations just become skewed and distorted until you’re forced to rewrite them entirely. You can’t walk straight on a new path when you have too much luggage on your back. You just keep swerving, trying to find a way to accommodate the weight, but it’s all dead and you know it’s going to take you down. The only answer is to reroute.-Emma”

“What do you see when you look at me?”My eyes narrowed and I pressed my lips together, weighing my thoughts. All of his bimbo admirers aside, what did I see? What did my gut tell me about this man? What did it say that allowed me to wind up here with him, under such impulsive circumstances?“You’re a sad man,” I swallowed. “You’re arrogant and set in your ways, but that creates a fortress for you. It’s your safe haven. Behind the moat is someone who has lost something he loved, only I’m not sure what, or who. You’re afraid of something and your loyalty is hidden away in a cell, wounded by betrayal.” I rested my head on the pillow. “That’s what I see.”“On second thought,” he exhaled, letting his head drop next to mine. “You’re psychic.”

“He couldn’t remember talking to himself like an idiot before he moved in with Cole. Ellis snapped his hands away from his face. Epiphany strikes! “That’s it! Living with Cole has made me batty!”

“Know that I loved you more than the stars have power to kiss the night sky.”