Rule (Marked Men, #1)

by Jay Crownover

At first I thought the pounding in my head was my brain trying to fight its way out of my skull after the ten or so shots of Crown Royal I had downed last night,

Never related to something more in my life lol

“I look like a clown no matter what when I’m around that girl.”

“I don’t believe in skipping ahead, Dale. I read the book all the way through.

But then she kissed me and I was pretty sure I forgot my own name.

“You’re beautiful.” I had said it to many others before her, but I think this was the first time I meant it.

“You have me, Shaw, any way you need me, any way you want me, you have me.”

“Because it’s always been you even when I didn’t want it to be, even when it broke my heart over and over again. It’s just always been you.”

“When I look at you I don’t see anything but you, and Shaw, you are perfect. I don’t care what color your hair is, if you’re pale or tan, if you have makeup on or just woke up—all I care about is that when I look at you, you always look back and see me. You’re beautiful inside and out

“I deserve it all because I’m willing to give it all. I would have worked through the darkness with you, Rule. What I won’t do is watch you walk away from me every time something happens that has the potential to hurt you. I’m sorry I never talked to you about Remy, but I told you all time and time again he and I weren’t a couple. You had the undeniable proof on my birthday. You should be mad at him for keeping it a secret, not me. You were right all along; we don’t trust each other enough to ever have had a chance at making this work. I think I wanted it too much and you didn’t want it enough.”

“Here’s my heart, Shaw. You have it in your hands, and I promise you’re the first and last person to ever touch it. You need to be careful with it because it’s far more fragile than I ever thought, and if you try to give it back I’m not taking it.