Let's Talk About Love

by Claire Kann

He had given her a reason to reconnect with herself.

“That we’re friends and yes.” “Yes. Friends.” She placed the fixings on the counter. “Friends.” He stood beside her. “Are we something else?” “No. I mean, I don’t know.”

I was getting a vibe.

His amused expression made her feel soft and warm and squishy all over. Indecision quivered inside her chest.

terrified her how much she wanted his friendship and the connection they had created.

if he’d let her, she’d anchor herself to him until she found her way.

“Thank you for trusting me.

you’ve been keeping this a secret for a reason.”

“I’m sorry they did that to you.”

“Forgive and forget.”

If knowing you’re asexual makes someone see you differently, then they don’t deserve to be in your life.

My feelings for you are exactly the same as they were an hour ago. This doesn’t change anything between us.”

He just said nothing changed between us, which is the entire problem and why I’m in this mess. I don’t know how he feels!”

“The simplest answer is usually the best one. In this case, the best course of action seems to be asking him directly.”

Anytime I’m direct, everything falls apart, goes wrong, blows itself to smithereens.

“Any partner you choose would be lucky to have you. You’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,

I made a promise to myself that I’d tell them everything when I turned twenty-one.” “Everything?” Alice took a deep breath. “All of it.”

(She always had a thing for super-intelligent people.)

Get to the point. Remember: clear, concise, and with conviction.”

want a chance to do something for me. Please.”

“I wish I could tell you everything will be okay.”

Her chest felt heavier than normal. That was always so strange—how her emotions could seemingly change her body chemistry.

“I’m not going to sleep with people to make them happy anymore.

“He might not,” he said. “You don’t really know what someone will say until you tell them.”

It has to be my choice and a lot of people don’t respect that.”

Not even a glance. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him that. She always told him everything, but she should not have told him that. Not yet.

you’re smart enough to know what’s best for you right now.

“Stupidity is relative and that’s not how I see you. If that’s how you feel, I can’t make that better.

we’ve reached the point where it’s time for me to say that’s really all I can do for you in this situation. Be here and listen.”

She was his girl. The thought made the warm spot idling in her chest combust.

Heart fluttering, stomach flipping, toes tingling—the works.

“You talk in your sleep,” Takumi said. “I’ve been meaning to tell you that.”

“You like romance? In real life?” “Of course I do. How do you not know this about me?”

“I’m trying to figure something out and it’s not making sense to me.”

I have to like the way someone looks physically, but then that’s where it stops.

It’s pure aesthetic appreciation. Nothing sexual about it.”

that’s how it starts—I’ll think they’re cute. And sometimes I’ll keep thinking about them, about what it would be like to hold their hand or kiss them. And then I start hoping they’ll ask me out on a date.

That’s when I know it’s romantic. I get a serious crush on them, there’s all of these intense feelings, and stuff.”

If that wasn’t a sign, she didn’t know what was.

it’s possible to share something that feels that way with someone.”

think it’s possible to feel that way more than once. Sometimes even with more than one person at a time.

Feelings are messy and confusing.

I don’t always completely tr...

thoughtful gestures and spending time together and holding hands and slow dancing in the kitchen for no reason,”

She wanted to wear her dress, get a corsage, and slow dance.

“We’re family. You are my family.

There is nothing in this universe more important to me than you and Ryan.”

Someone always has to rescue me and I only know how to follow someone else’s lead or go back to you because it’s all I’ve ever done.

don’t know how to balance the relationships in my life. I don’t know how to show someone I love them.

how to make someone understand me. I don’t know how to ...