More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Here comes my brilliance. If your family doesn’t know what you do for a living, they are unaware of your professional badassery. And if your colleagues don’t know about your history, they have no idea how impressive you really are because they don’t know what you had to overcome to get here.”
“Being vulnerable doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you trust yourself to be strong enough to handle the hurt. It’s actually the purest form of strength.”
I’d spent my entire adult life proving I was invincible, capable, independent. I lived alone, worked alone, took vacations alone. The only way I could get more independent was if I entered into a monogamous relationship with my vibrator. To be told I was taking the coward’s way out didn’t sit well with me.
“Nobody is good at it at first. No one has a natural talent for being in a relationship. Everyone has to learn how to be good at it.
just because you want the freedom to make your own choices doesn’t mean you have to be alone.”
“I’ll text you the address and a pic. Thank you. You’re the best. I’m hanging up now before you change your mind. Bye!” he said quickly before disconnecting the call.
Anger was a living thing under my skin. It ate at me and took every ounce of control not to unleash.
Having her this close wasn’t just frying my circuits. It was destroying them.
Her voice was a beautiful poison in my veins.
She was my business and I wasn’t done with her. I was just getting started. I accepted the truth, pretending that I had a choice.
In his place was a fire-breathing dragon that wanted to lay waste to everything.
A wave of possessiveness washed away all rational thought. I didn’t care. I just needed her safe and close.
I still wouldn’t be able to leave her alone. Because I wasn’t done with her.
But for some electrifyingly stupid reason, my body thought this woman who lived her life in the gray area was the right choice.
I needed to make her mine. To prove to her she belonged to only me.
“If I’m not going to be your emotional support fuck, I sure as hell won’t be your hate fuck.”
Something that wanted to keep her close so no one else could get near her.
I’d created a world where Lina went to someone else when she needed help.
“Like it or not, there’s something volcanic between you two. And I can’t wait to see which one of you explodes first.”
“Bite me, heart eyes.”
A drink with a friend who was a guy sounded like the only kind of social interaction I was up for. That meant no talking about feelings. No dealing with sexual tension. And no drunken gal pals to babysit.
“You’re such an ass,” I said with affection.
I couldn’t afford the fantasies.
There were weapons in here, five-pound dumbbells and large exercise balls. Both could be bounced off thick skulls.
It was like my lactose-intolerant roommate in college who had a toxic relationship with cheesecake.
I wanted to punch him. To kiss him. To bite his lip until he lost control.
There was a flaw in my DNA that made his touch feel like home.
Y’all stand next to each other in a room and suddenly it feels like something’s about to explode. In a sexy way.”
“Yeah, well. We’re not the kind of people who should even dabble at being together,” I said. We couldn’t even stand next to each other without it spiraling out of control.
My pal Gladys drops her purse every time she sees him just so he’ll bend down to pick it up.”
I love me a good consensual manhandling,”
Like the man’s got storm clouds in his head and he’s just lookin’ for a little sunshine.”
“Yeah, well, he can go find his vitamin D someplace else.” And so would I. Ha. Solid inner monologue dick joke.
Hey, here’s a hot guy. Get naked with him and everything will work out.
I’m damn proud of the man you’ve grown up to be.”
I wasn’t one to get choked up about a few compliments, but growing up without the mom who’d sprinkled them so liberally through my childhood left a void. A deep one that I was only just beginning to recognize.
It was more in an effort to avoid Nash when he and Piper came home from work than any actual enthusiasm.
it was pretty entertaining to watch tatted bikers and buff farmer types line up for their turn to try to walk with level 10 period cramps.
He was wearing a Knockemout PD shirt and that pissed me off even more than the insult.
Maybe let him know that if he ain’t careful, we might just have to take him down a peg or two.”
before one of you does something stupider than usual?”
Then Knox woulda been pissed at all the property damage. And Studly Do-Right woulda been mad about the blood and paperwork.” “The Morgan brothers owe us one,” I agreed.
“If it makes you feel better, I think our little librarian is just looking for a good time. Not wedding bells.”
There was nothing to say. We’d hurt each other, but he’d come to me when he needed help.
“Need I remind you that with great female power comes great female responsibility?”
He was drunk and stupid but not drunk and stupid enough to forget that a physical altercation with a woman in a public place would be the end of him.”
“What’s that psychology minor say about a girl who doesn’t like to be touched except by the guy who just keeps pissing her off?”
It was like a dance number we were locked in. Two steps forward, two steps back. Get drawn together. Get pissed off. Rinse. Repeat. Sooner or later, one of us had to end the dance.
Every time I looked at her, her beauty struck me like a hammer. Every time my eyes found her, something inside me lit up. I wanted to touch her, to back her into the wall, cage her in, and run my hands over every inch of her body. But if I did that, I didn’t know if I would have the strength to stop. So I kept my hands at my sides.
“Look at the bright side, hotshot. Remember how you hated the numbness? Look at the colorful range of emotions you’re experiencing right now.”
