The Elite (The Selection #2)

by Kiera Cass

“It turns out I’m absolutely terrible at staying away from you. It’s a very serious problem.” I smiled. “Have you really tried?” He pretended to think about it. “Well, no. And don’t expect me to start.”

But tonight I thought about the possibility of someone else in my place. Just imagining it: someone else in Maxon’s arms, making him laugh, marrying him … It broke my heart. I couldn’t help it; I started to cry.

Darling? The word, so tender and personal, enveloped me. In that moment, any desire I had to fight my feelings for Maxon disappeared. I wanted to be his dear, his darling. I wanted to be Maxon’s alone.

“It’s you,” I said. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I just think that we’d be a good us.” He smiled slowly. “We’d be a wonderful us.”

“So he enjoys a girl who stands up to him,” Dad said once we all calmed down. “I like him more already.”

“It’s the most wonderful and terrible thing that can ever happen to you,” she said simply. “You know that you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever; and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it.”

“Soon, when it’s proper for me to end the Selection, when I propose to you, I want it to be as easy as breathing for you to say yes. I promise to do everything in my power between now and that moment to make it that way. Anything you need, anything you want, say the words. I will do everything I can for you.” I

I couldn’t imagine anything strong enough to take that happiness away.

It was like they carried the sun inside their souls and let it shine out on everything around them.

We need to be like that with the light of God

“If she’s going to win, we need a plan.” Her smile was diabolical, and I grinned with her. I’d never met anyone as organized as these girls. If I had them, there was no way I could lose.