This Could Be Us (Skyland, #2)

by Kennedy Ryan

“You don’t think what I do is work? Cleaning, cooking, organizing, driving, taking care of our children. All tasks people pay to have done for them. Is it not a job because I do it for my family? Did you think all these years you were the only one working just because you left the house every morning?”

All loves aren’t created equal. Some spring from the earth and wrap around and twine through our souls like vines. Some are plants that start with tiny seeds in your heart and blossom over time, nurtured by years and commitment.

There aren’t enough sonnets for friendship. Not enough songs for the kind of love not born of blood or body but of time and care. They are the ones we choose to laugh and cry and live with. When lovers come and go, friends are the ones who remain.

He’s the kind of man you can count on, but I’m done counting on men.

“Well, I’m searching for myself. That’s not to say I won’t ever date again or have a relationship, but when I do, it will be in addition to the love I have for myself, not replacing it.”

And after all the shit Edward put me through, safe is the new sexy.

But at a point, Tremaine started wanting something for herself that I wasn’t the one to give. I think it was this. This yearning. This burning hunger. This all-consuming feeling that you could eat every bit of someone and never be satisfied. That you would lick their crumbs.

How can I be my ancestors’ wildest dreams settling for some mid dick? I can’t let them down like that.”

“I’ve come to realize that a woman who wants more and realizes she deserves it is a dangerous thing.”

She loves an undeserving man. It’s a sorrow most women experience at some point in their lives, whether it’s a father who neglects or a son who forgets or a husband who betrays. These men let us down and we pull ourselves back up, hopefully with the help of other women who love us in ways that heal.

“I have to be careful around you,” I say faintly. “You pay attention to everything I say.” “Damn right I do.”

“You are my prince.” But there’s nothing for him to save me from, because I’ve saved myself. He doesn’t have to awaken me with a kiss. I’m wide awake, reborn, rebirthed through my own fire and pain and work and wisdom.