Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters, #2)

by Talia Hibbert

The thing about mental health was, you couldn’t take a course of antibiotics and be magically healed. Some people’s brains just thought too much or felt too much or hurt too much, and you had to stay on top of that.

Because Kiran had been through the absolute worst—the fucking worst. But here she was, trying again.

because it was all about hope, about finding sparks of light in a world that could be so fucking dark.

A little bit of me is always scared.

I was also terrified that this might never happen. That I’d never . . . move past the loss. The thing is,” she told him, “feeling is always worth it.”

Feeling is always ...

Go with the flow.

Can’t get you off my mind.

Did he have to make her feel so safe and so golden and so out of control?

just—I suppose I’m used to you being yourself around me.

“Do I need a reason to make my friend smile?”

there was no danger in friendship, no pressure, no expectation. She’d been silly to worry.

honestly, I don’t see how anyone could know you and not give a shit about you, Danika. The

I get these barriers in my head. And I get anxious about what might happen if I cross them.

maybe you should try crossing some boundaries, too. If you want.”

She’d fuck it up, whatever it was.

His feelings for Dani were like sunlight: they’d always find a crack to slip through, a way to light things

“Anytime.” Seriously, anytime. All the time. Forever. Just say the word.

“I don’t let anyone else do the things you do for me,”

Taking care of myself matters just as much as my work.”

love my job because it never demands more than I can give. But lately I think I’ve been offering too much. Like maybe I’ve forgotten . . . balance.

“It’s good that you realize you’re more valuable as a person than an idea-machine.”

To mention that I went through loss, that I struggled with my own mental health.

Putting gold frames around my scars. That’s who I am.”

anything you want to do, you can. Hurdles were made to be jumped, glass ceilings were made to be smashed.”

all that can be exhausting, so make sure you take care of yourself, too. There’s great value in the things that bring you joy.”

if something keeps you human when pressure makes you feel like a volcano, hold on to that thing by whatever means necessary.” “I

not when he looked at her as if she were the world.

the way you make me feel.

I like trying to make you—smile.”

Whenever they were together, whenever he touched her, all she could feel was happy. Ick.

She was fearless. She was chasing joy. She shoved her apprehension into

things doesn’t mean never struggling or slipping up. Life isn’t that black-and-white, not even close.

never want you to tell me you’re sorry for feeling things. Not ever again.”

“At the time, it was romance novels that reminded me.

it’s all about emotion, Dan—the whole thing, the whole story, the whole point.

people facing their issues head on, and handling it, and nev...

someone who’d been through the worst and found happiness anyway

my story didn’t need to be over if I didn’t want it to.

To make good choices, even when feeling better seemed impossible.”

one of those people, one of many, whose lives had been forever changed by someone else’s words.

“Thank you,” she managed eventually, “for telling me.”

“Thanks,” he said softly, “for being someone I can tell.

“New subject, before your head explodes.”

She laughed. How could he always make her laugh?

“Do you want to tell me now?”

I was a late bloomer. And a giant nerd.”

Finding time to balance my giant nerdery with actual human interaction has never come naturally to me.”

I realized I wasn’t as naturally emotive as other people.

I could be hyperfocused on my work,