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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Lyra Parish
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September 8 - September 11, 2025
Five years ago, I had fire in my eyes and ice in my veins. Now I’m just another hollow-eyed billionaire who forgot what winning feels like.
I’ve never kissed a friend and felt so right. I’m tempted to ask her if the world stopped spinning for her, like it did for me, but I don’t. That kiss will forever be burned on my lips.
We stare at each other across the booth, and I want to kiss her again. Not for show, not for the woman who I can see walking past the window, staring at us. Just because.
Am I happy? Such a simple word for such a complicated feeling.
I realize waiting to have all of him will be the longest, sweetest torture of my life. No way he’ll give me everything I want right now. This is a game for both of us.
Nick You’re becoming the best part of my day. Julie I feel the same.
“We’re unavoidable,” I say, tucking hair behind her ear and sliding a kiss across her lips.
“You live like you’re happy,” Nick says. “It inspires me.”
“You know what they say when a man doth protest too much …” “What’s that?” “He wants insideth her panties.”
“When we’re alone. All real.” I move closer to her. “The way I look at you. Real. How I feel when I wake up next to you. Real. The panic I experienced when I saw those photographers getting near you. So damn real.”
If you choose me, you choose everything that comes with it, and I need you to think long and hard about that.”
“Mmm. You’re my favorite flavor.”
“Thank you,” she whispers against my mouth, eyes still closed. “For?” “For being here. For having my back. For helping me be brave.”
I feel the magic between us. This shift. This change. This wonderful, terrifying thing that’s been percolating between us over the past year.
This isn’t just about checking things off a list anymore. This isn’t just a hookup situation. This is something more. Something that scares and excites me at the same time. Something that might be worth risking everything for.
what’s meant to be always has a way of working itself out.”
“If you asked me to watch grass grow with you, I would.”
Julie’s breath hitches. “God, you look at me like—” “Tell me,” I mutter into her ear. “Like I’m everything.” “Because you are.”
“Feel that, sweetheart? That pussy’s mine too. So is every sound you make. Every gasp. Every fucking shiver. All mine.”
Her lips meet mine with a force that’s soft but also desperate. It’s a kiss that two people exchange when words aren’t enough. It’s as if I’m her air, and she’s been waiting for this moment just as long.
“That man is gone for you. Everyone sees it. He looks at you like you’re his past, present, and future.”
When I kiss her, it’s less about want and more about need. It leaves me wrecked, wanting more of her.
You’re not just my October, Nick. I want a chance at forever. You’re the calm in my chaos, the warmth in my winters, the reason spring feels possible, and the fire I’ll never stop chasing in the summer. You’re it. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.
“It’s you, Jules. You make every space I’m in feel like sunshine.”
For so long, I thought love meant compromise, sacrifice, and losing pieces of myself to make someone else happy. But with Nick, it doesn’t feel like losing anything, but finding everything.
“You turned my October upside down. You made me believe in forever again. You are my home, my peace, my true love, and I don’t want to waste another second without you.
