Bring Me Back

by Kristen Granata

“You know, you’re lucky to have a family who worries about you, and actually fucking cares about your well-being.”

“We all carry around the weight of our traumas and try to survive. We do what we have to in order to cope.” I glance up at the night sky. “It’s not us who’s fucked up. Life is fucked up.”

He nods and then swipes the excess sauce from the corner of my mouth with his thumb. Instead of wiping it on a napkin, he licks it off his finger. And I feel that one gentle lick all the way between my legs. This shouldn’t be the single most erotic moment in my life, yet here I am, panting like a dog in heat.

“Everyone wants the small, cute dogs. Pit bulls are commonly used for fighting, and they have a stigma surrounding them. The dangerous ones get euthanized immediately.”

“When you have darkness inside you, it helps you recognize darkness in others.”

I truly hate that he said this because now he’s putting things into her mind

“You might not feel like a phoenix, but I’m starting to think you’re my phoenix.”

“Kandi Steiner’s writing is so beautiful. It’s such an emotional story. I cry every time I read it.”

“I yearn for you. My fingers itch to reach out and touch you. My tongue craves your taste. I want you on me, your hair surrounding me, your scent filling my lungs.” He pulls me close, and his lips speak against mine as he says, “I ache for you everywhere. It takes all of my willpower not to devour you whenever we’re together.”

“Your mother is missing out on you, James. You are a wonderful man. She’d be so proud of you if she were here.”

I can find people who accept me as I am, like Leo. I can find people who will change their perspective for me, like James. I can find friends who know what it’s like to be different, like Drew. And I can find it within myself to love my brokenness. It’s now that I realize I’m the one person I needed to have my back all along. I’ve got my own damn six.

“She could’ve moved the fuck over and shared that door with Jack. Titanic doesn’t count. Rose was an asshole.”

I don’t like this man I haven’t liked them since this beginning and now I know why he’s like directions to beginning and I get it truly but why didn’t you tell her before now I’m upset because he was trying to basically sabotage her relationship with James in the beginning talking about a booty call

“I just wanted to have the privilege of looking into your eyes when I tell you this: Your daughter is the most wonderful human I’ve ever met. She’s smart, caring, and loving. She’s so strong and courageous. I’m sorry that I couldn’t meet her father. I know he’s the one who had a hand in how Phoenix turned out, because it sure-as-shit isn’t you.”

“I convinced your daughter to reach out to you. I told her that a relationship with her mother was worth fighting for, but that was my mistake. I missed out on a relationship with my mother because she passed away too soon, and I was trying to prevent Phoenix from going through the same thing. But I didn’t realize that she wasn’t dealing with the same kind of mother I had.

“A mother is supposed to love her children unconditionally. She’s supposed to support them in the best of times and help them through the worst of times. You abandoned her when she needed you most, and I’ll never be able to fathom what kind of a mother does that. The only good thing you did was call for an ambulance when you found her on the bathroom floor. You are the reason she’s alive today, and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. “But you are missing out on her, on all that she is, because you’re too stubborn and set in your ignorance to see that. And it’s such a goddamn shame to watch you wreck the relationship with the only person who would stand beside your deathbed and hold your hand.” I push back my chair as I stand, scraping the legs along the floor. “You’re going to have a very lonely life, and you’re the only one to blame for that. My girl deserves so much better than you, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life giving her all the love you never did.”