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Kindle Notes & Highlights
For those who think they’re better off alone, that they’re not worthy of the love they crave, because they’ve dealt with the pain of people leaving. The power to let them win or rise above it with your head held high is yours and yours alone. The only person who needs to think you’re worth it is you.
One thing about me? I’m gonna serenade my cat every chance I get so he knows how much I love him. “Silly kitty, chunky kitty, I kiss your tiny nose. Fluffy kitty, handsome kitty, I love your extra toes.”
Her tight curls are pulled back from her face with a silk scarf the color of cinnamon, and she’s so effortlessly pretty it pisses me the fuck off.
“She’s not funny. She’s annoying. I’m way funnier. I’m arguably hotter too,” I lie, shrugging. “Dependin’ on who you ask.”
A man and his cat who took my broken heart and healed it without consciously doing it.
“Why did your parents name you Lennon?” “Why else does anyone call their kid Lennon? My mom was obsessed with John Lennon, and my dad was obsessed with her.” Jaxon chuckles. “That’s it, eh? End of story?” “Man obsessed with woman is always the end of the story.”
“You’re my line.” “What?” “The line that marks my before and after. I met you during the worst time in my life, and everything that’s come since you has been so much better. This, Jaxon?” I gesture at a sky I’ve been dreaming of seeing in person for as long as I can remember.
“I didn’t want to be friends, but somewhere along the way, you’ve become one of my best ones.”
I’m looking at her like . . . I’m looking at her like she’s the sunset, and I’m seeing it in color for the very first time. That’s how I’m looking at her.
“You, um . . . You’re beautiful, Lennon.” I was hoping he’d say that; I’ve missed hearing it. It’s not the words themselves, but the way he speaks them, like it’s a revelation every time, as if his first thought every time he sees me is just . . . wow. Like he needs a minute to soak it in.
Sunshine in a hug. Four simple words that describe every single person important to me in this room. They shroud the darkest parts of me in light, take my broken, tainted memories in their hands, and turn them into gold, showing me what it feels like to be a part of something real and beautiful and special. With them, I feel like I’m radiating from the inside out.
“I don’t know if I liked being alone before you, but it was comfortable. I got used to the quiet. Felt like I belonged in it. But now, without you . . . I fucking hate the silence, Lennon.”
“Fuck, honey.” I press my forehead to hers as we fight to breathe. “Who made you so beautiful?” “I wonder the same thing about you. When you carry me to bed each night, tuck me in, and kiss my forehead because you think I’m asleep.”
“You’re the only person whose opinion of yourself matters, Jaxon. Stop worrying about being enough for other people. Be enough for yourself.”
Lennon is mine. My best friend, the hand in mine, the weight lifted off my chest. She’s the sunrise when I spent too many years in the dark, and breathing easier for the first time since I was a kid. And I am terrified to lose her.
“I’ll wait, Jaxon. I don’t care how long. Because this? This is a once-in-a-lifetime feeling. You’re a once-in-a-lifetime find. I’m not walking away.”
“Here it is, honey. I love you. I am so goddamn, mind-blowingly in love with you, and the thought of losing you is killing me. I don’t want you to go. This place only feels like a home when you’re here.”
“Jaxon.” I close my eyes, memorizing the way my whispered name sounds leaving her lips. It takes everything in me to turn around, to look at her again, that fucking box in her hands. “Yeah?” “I love you too.”
“There is no one alive who could love me better than you do, Jaxon. You love me the way I always dreamed of being loved. The way I deserve to be loved. And I’m going to love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
“Where did you come from? How did you walk into my world out of nowhere and knock it off its axis? I took one look at you and started falling, terrified every damn moment, from the top right down to the bottom. But you were there. You were always there, honey.” I press my lips to hers, tasting her tears. “Thank you for falling with me. I don’t think I could’ve survived falling alone.”
Kissing Lennon is like that first sip of coffee on a cold winter morning. She’s everything warm and rich, this cozy feeling that sinks into your bones, settles all your racing thoughts. She wakes me up, slow and steady, chases away the fog, makes me feel ready to take on the toughest parts of my day.
Jesus, what a wild thing it is to be loved.
“I love you, honey. And loving you, being loved by you . . . it’s worth every fucking heartache. I’d do it all over again if it meant I got you in the end.” All that pain dissipates, her eyes softening. “You’ve got me. In this lifetime and the next.” “In every lifetime, honey.”
