More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
He’s insulted my favorite book. And books are my friends, so I must defend my friend.
Eric Steinmann isn’t anything I’ll be able to quit without therapy.
Things we can’t resist are usually not good for us. Who lacks the willpower to avoid rainbow chard, five-mile jogs, and pap smears?
“Eric, are you asking me to go steady? I think my parents did that in college.” He sits up, forcing me to stand straight. “I’m asking your vagina to go steady with my dick.”
I had sex again with Eric, but not just any sex. We had book sex. Jasmine and Andrew's sex. He read more of the book. And he liked it. And he wants us to be exclusive.” I fold my hands at my chest to keep my limbs from flailing excitedly. “What does that mean?” She wrinkles her nose. “Exclusive?” “No. Book sex?” “He pulled me into his apartment last night, and he did to me what Andrew did to Jasmine. It was so hot.”
“Wear a dress.” He opens the door for me. “Why?” I dig my key out of my bag while shuffling my feet toward my apartment. “Easy access,” he says, unlocking his door. “Perv.” I laugh. “Only for you, Anna. Only for you.”
“I don’t want to be the guy who gives you red roses every day.”
“I’m not the guy who lets you walk away. So I’ll do whatever. I’ll write a five-star review for your favorite book. I’ll recite your favorite lines, but I won’t let fiction come between us.”
“Yeah, we did.” I hold up my hands and slowly bring them together, interlacing my fingers. “We literally got back together.”
guess I’m a romantic for books. When someone shares my love of a story, it reaches deeper than a kiss, and it’s a bond that can’t be broken.
Either books are ruining me for men, or men are ruining me for books. Well, just one man … and one book.
He eases into his chair and folds his hands over his red T-shirt-clad chest. “Successful people have one thing in common—they’re self-motivated. If I have to tell you not to give up, to write another book, and fight for your dreams … you’ll never be a published author. Period.”
My hands press to his cheeks, and he leans into my touch. It makes things so much harder, but I do it anyway. I love him. I will never say those words, but I love him. Despite everything … I love him. But I’m broken. I’m lost. I’m hurt.
felt like it held a piece of my soul. And I knew I would always feel like he didn’t love that part of my soul. When I left him, I felt like a failure in every way imaginable.”
“You showing up unannounced is the best thing that’s happened to me since the last time you showed up unannounced.”
I blink, letting the emotions spill over my cheeks. “I’m s-still so a-ashamed for how I t-treated you.” “No,” he whispers, keeping his hand pressed to my cheek while his lips press to my other cheek. I freeze, and so does he. My breaths leap over each other until I reach a solid pant.
“Um …” I nod toward the floor. “You can get my shirt for me.” He glances over his shoulder at my shirt and then turns back to me. “I like your shirt on the floor.” I shake and shiver with a nervous laugh. “Eric,” I murmur.
have no direction in my life because this woman is the sunrise for which I wait in the dark to chase after every long night.
“You know what I’m talking about. Lots of nipples, clits, and cocks. Moaning. Multiple orgasms. That shit’s ruining marriages. Setting the bar impossibly high for men.”
The wrong guy is saying the right thing. My heart sinks. “I’m … flattered.”
“What’s that saying about hiding treasures in plain sight and no one will find them? That’s those damn books. Men have been trying to figure out women since the beginning of time, and women decided to hide their secrets in the very books that make us roll our eyes at them when they read them.”
I’ve thought about sending her daily bouquets without petals, but that’s nothing new. My reading has led me to believe she thinks I should have made a trip to Nashville to beat the shit out of Shaun before carrying her off to the bedroom, ordering her to get on her knees and “take every inch” while gathering her hair in my hand and calling her my “good little girl.” Or … I tie her to the bed (which I’ve suggested) and declare my intention to own “every hole.” I can’t read that without laughing, so I’m not confident in my ability to “alpha male” her in that way. I do know that I can’t do the
...more
Like the essence of humanity itself, we are flawed. All of our flaws are forgivable. I feel it with every chapter, through the laughter and tears, the makeups and breakups.
Sometimes you must step back and look at your life like a narrator to see that proverbial forest through the trees.
Eric wears a look of pride better than anyone. “Oh, Anna Banana…” he carries me to the bed, “…and here I came all this way just to show you my mating dance. We nearly missed each other in passing.” He lays me on the bed next to the suitcase.
Anna nods. “It’s almost perfect … just like you.”
It’s okay to love something and not be the best at it. It’s not failure.
