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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
J.L. Seegars
Read between
October 24 - October 27, 2022
“Chris?” My name on her lips.
“I’m sorry.” The words pop out of my mouth again, and I marvel at the way they make her shoulders relax a little. Suddenly, I want to say more words,
Did she think giving birth in a hospital with the name she married into emblazoned on the walls would stop her from meeting the same premature end as so many Black mothers that came before, and after, her?
She runs her hands over her hair, which is in a loose ponytail made up of box braids that I know for a fact cascade down her back and brush the top of her tailbone.
I love this so much omg
She doesn’t give her power to anyone.
“Then does it really matter where the desire came from? I mean, if it’s still in alignment with the vision you have for your life?”
“I think desires can be born out of any circumstance, good, bad, or ugly, and still be valid representations of the things we want for ourselves. The source of the desire doesn’t matter so much as what we do with the dream it sparks in us.”
Love love. Also love how her teaching moments for the reader consist of dialogue from her characters, rather than explicit parables.
My secrets are mine and mine alone. Sharing them with anyone will only give Trent the power to hurt them, and that will hurt me.
No, baby. No.
her eyes pleading with me, asking me for things I won’t hesitate to give her, things I think I might have been born to give her.
“I don’t owe you anything, and just so we’re clear, you being a decent person doesn’t put you in a position to demand anything—but
“I don’t have an issue with giving you my truths, Mallory. I’ll start right now with the most obvious one. Do you want to hear it?”
I almost forget it’s just an act. A role.
Dont be annoying, JL
he got it in his head that I was weak.
Someone trying to protect you doesnt mean they think youre weak. It means they care for you. It's Okay to have people in your corner. It's Okay to feel safer because someone is looking out for you. You dont always have to be this strong being. -Love, a Black woman
I can’t have him, not in any real sense of the word, because he wants my truths and I know that if I ever give them to him, he won’t want me. Guys like him, who do hookups and fun situationships, don’t know what to do with girls like me who have baggage for days and trust issues for miles.
DON'T make me mad hoe. DON'T
Something inside of me, that was being fed by his concern and nourished by the possessive thread weaving its way through his voice, deflates when he says that last part.
WHAT DO YOU WANT? DO YOU WANT HIS CONCERN OR NOT? You dont even know and its upsetting me.
“No one gets as much of my attention as you do.”
It was also because I wanted to be prepared when I inevitably have it taken away from me.
Oh…I see.
But I don’t feel stupid, I just feel excited and open. Capable of taking care of myself but also comfortable in the knowledge that I don’t have to do it alone.
Yay. That was a fast change.
sexy coils
And just like that, I’m sucked back into the whirlwind that is her. Not even caring she won’t give me an answer because being around her is one of my favorite pastimes. Doesn’t matter where we’re going or what we’re doing, if Mallory is involved, I’m there.
I don’t even pretend like I don’t know what he means. I’m done hiding from him, acting like he doesn’t see me when these days he’s the only one who really does.
Never wait for someone to open the floor up to you, son. If you have something to say, storm onto the stage and take the mic. Demand your right to speak your truth.”
“stay with me. I know you don’t need me to fight your battles, but I need you to do this for me. I need you to stay here, so I can know that you’re safe.”
but we both know that while I’m shorter by at least six inches, I’m bigger than he is. The curves of my stomach and breasts would shred any little t-shirt he could pull out of his drawer,
Love this
She doesn’t need to detail her trauma for me to believe her, and I don’t want, or need, the full story to know I want her.
“Princess, wake up.”
“I know I don’t have to, Mallory, but I want to. Is that okay?”
If it was real, if sex was on the table and I wanted to wait, I know he would be okay with doing so. “That’s good. You deserve someone who’s willing to wait for you.”
No one could have come out of what you went through completely unscathed, but you picked up the pieces and built something beautiful out of the destruction.”
Neatly trimmed tufts of soft, black hair cover her mound,
I love this too. Hairy pussies rise
you keep reminding me that once upon a time I was a victim. Do you see me that way, Chris?”
I wish he replied to this.
“You do?” He’s not even trying to be funny. I can tell he really wants the assurance.
There’s only her. And in this lifetime and every one after it, that’s all there will ever be for me.
Long elegant fingers that one day, when she’s ready and I’m braver than I am right now, will be adorned with my rings.
I can hear it in her voice, the anguish and pain she feels because I feel it, and she loves me.
Your ailments are mine.
I’ve never been more thankful for my friends than I am right now.
I dont know why this has the same feeling of being rushed and a bit corny as the ending of a book that an author is trying to quickly wrap up.
Every time he speaks in the past tense, my heart beats a little harder. Each thump cracks my ribs, knocking another shard loose until they’re hanging precariously over the most important part of my anatomy. Hearing that Mallory and I’s plan worked, that we had successfully convinced him to release the reigns, sends me floating up into the clouds. My ascent is marked with joy and love for the incredible woman who is more mine now than she was when Dad bought the act. But I know, based on his expression and his tone, that the feeling will be short-lived. That whatever he says next will send me
...more
NONE of this was necessary. Get to the point.
My answer is immediate and painful,
Then show that in how you structure the paragraph. Put the "no" immediately after the q instead of adding all this unnecessary purple prose in between.
Unraveled by the same hands that claimed to want to put me back together.
