The Right Swipe (Modern Love, #1)

by Alisha Rai

Crush’s headquarters were also wallpapered with engagement and wedding and birth announcements from the last three years. She treasured all of them. Not because she was a sentimental person, but because they represented dollar bills. Hope, man. Hell of a drug.

It was so much easier to write people off. Much harder to navigate the gray areas of interpersonal relationships.

Aw, shit. The truth hit her like a tidal wave. She was going to sleep with him again. Yeah, yeah, she didn’t sleep with the same dude twice, she didn’t fuck with zombies. Her dating rules were going to go out the window with this guy. She could feel it. Gawd, maybe soon he’d send her a dick pic and she’d find it charming, thus cancelling every rule she’d ever made for herself. She shuddered. Let’s not go that far.

Every time you hurt someone, you break off a little piece of them. Not only do they have to live with that broken piece, then the next person who comes along has to figure out a way to spackle that spot. Your behavior has ripple effects.

“Being vulnerable is a risk. Love—romantic, platonic, familial, it doesn’t matter what kind of love—is a risk.” She closed her eyes tight, tears leaking out. “Because you’re right. They can leave. They can die or be hurt or simply walk away.” Her eyes opened. “But a moment of that love, child, is worth it. If you have a second, a minute, a month, a year, a decade with that person? You count yourself lucky. You can use that love and the lessons it taught you to plant more seeds for love. You can live off that love for a lifetime.