Hands Down Quotes

“Lovin' you is the easiest thing I've ever done, and it's the easiest thing I'm ever gonna do.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“But if every person weighed their dream against someone else’s, nobody would ever dream at all.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I really had missed this guy, despite everything. But there was a reason why amputees survived and thrived; you learned how to live without.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“How do I look?"
He drew the pad of his finger over my fake mustache. "Like the best thing I've ever seen." And then he kissed me again.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Didn't you hear what I said? Worryin' about you is like... lovin the goddamn sun on my face, kiddo. Like breathin'. It's never not gonna happen.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Bein' around you has always made me happy. Even when you were a baby, you were always makin' me laugh." His head tilted forward, and I barely heard him, but I did. "You still do. That's why I... that's why I'm always botherin' you. You make everything fun. Everything good. You've always been my favourite girl, kiddo. Hands down.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Did you steal my damn heart, run off with it, and say I'll see ya later? 'Cause the answer to that is yes.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I was going to slap him. On the ass so I wouldn’t ruin his photogenic face. ”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I was a chicken, but I wasn’t a quitter.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“He laughed. “I’m never forgettin’, so….”

“So what you’re saying is we’re doing this?”

“Yeah, because I’m not forgettin’ you used to like me—”

“Oh hell no.” I rolled onto my hip and freaking went for him.

Not for his head but for his ribs. His weak spot.

“What the fuck, Bianca!” Zac literally fucking shouted as he threw his body and head back against the headboard, his arms slamming down into place against his ribs… and my fingers.

I cackled, digging my fingers even deeper into his sides. “You remember now? Who’s your daddy, huh?”

Those big, strong arms jerked up and down along his sides, trying to disengage me as he tried to melt into the headboard to get away from me. “You said you were gonna noogie me! What the hell are you doing? Stop it!”

“Duh. Ouch!”

He instantly stopped moving, and so did I in surprise that he’d actually stopped after his elbow clipped one of the bones on my wrist.

Zac’s face was flushed red, eyes bright, and I decided to take pity on him. So I smiled, keeping my fingers where they were but not digging in anymore. “You thought I didn’t remember?” I asked him before dipping my face in even closer. Then I whispered, like a psycho, “I remember everything.” I tapped my fingers lightly along his sides, feeling him flinch. “Especially you being ticklish.”

Those blue eyes bore into mine, and his mouth went damn near flat. Zac’s voice was almost a whisper too as he said, “Did you ask me who my daddy is?”

I nodded gravely.

His voice was still a whisper when he went on with, “You’re my daddy now, I guess.”

Pulling my fingers away, I sat back on my knees and laughed. “Deal. I promise not to use that against you unless I have to.”

His nostrils flared, and he stared at me right in the eyes as he said, still quietly, “Bianca.”

“Yes?”

“I remember things too.”

What?

Before I could process who this man was, what he did for a living, and what talents he’d polished over the years, he came at me with one of those hands that were lightning fast and accurate. Zac licked the tip of his index finger and shoved that turd into my ear just as I started yelling, “Don’t you dare!”

He dared.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Maybe I fucked up and had my head up my ass there for a minute, but I’m always gonna worry about you. For the rest of my life. I’m never gonna be too busy to be there for you. You hear me?”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“And sometimes it was easier not to care about people - at least people who weren't as invested in you as you were in them.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“You’ve always been my favorite girl,”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Sometimes I think you can't be any cuter, and then you go and put on my underwear."

"I'm a little disappointed there isn't a giant Spiderman on them, honestly."

"Giant Spiderman? You're gonna make me blush, kiddo.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Yeah, I grabbed his fucking jeans again with both hands that time and pushed at the middle of his back with my forehead.

To our right there was a nook with a couple of caskets under pale yellow light, and I knew, I knew something bad was going to happen. Why the hell had I agreed to this? Jesus. I’d been to a haunted house before; it wasn’t like I’d enjoyed it all that much.

I was too old for this shit. My heart was too old for this shit. I had so much left to live for.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Sometimes I think you can't be any cuter, and then you go and put on my underwear.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“In a world where people lived for criticizing the shit out of each other, at least I'd hope he knew that there were some people out there who were always proud of him. Who would always root for him. Maybe we weren't perfect people, but nobody was.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Deep inside me, the wuss still ran strong in a few situations, but extra, extra especially when it was related to Zac Travis. Time had healed a lot of wounds but not all of them.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“The sound of a chainsaw going off inside the building had me meeting Amari’s gaze, and he shot me a funny expression.

“You scared?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Why? If I say yes, will you hold my hand?”

Well, I hadn’t been asking to flirt. I’d just been joking. But….

“No,” I replied. “I’m going to be too busy holding Zac’s hand. I don’t want him having nightmares tonight.”

He chuckled just as I felt a hand land on the back of my neck again, molding itself around it.

Tilting my head back, I found those familiar baby blues on me. I whispered, “But for real, I don’t think I’ll get scared, but if I do, I’m using you as a human shield. You’ve lived a much fuller life than I have. Technically, Amari’s bigger but—”

My old friend scoffed. “We’re the same size. You know people still call me ‘Big Texas,’ don’t you?”

“Yeah, I know, but I started calling you that back when you were the biggest guy I knew. You’re not even that big.”

“Excuse me?”

It was too much fun to pick on him. “You’re big, but you’re not that big.”

Zac’s head reared back. “Aren’t you five feet tall?”

“Five foot two.”

Zac blinked.

I blinked.

He narrowed his eyes. “Swear to God, I’m tellin’ Mama on you.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I palmed my cell and looked down at the screen, triple-checking the address that Boogie had texted me, just in case.

Yep, it was still correct.

I opened my text messaging app before I forgot and shot my sister a new message. She still hadn’t replied to me about needing a date to the quinceañera.

Me: I’m going into a house I’ve never been in before. If I don’t text you back in an hour, call the cops. The address is 555 Rose Hill Lane.

I stopped, thought about it, and sent her another message.

Me: Don’t invite anyone I don’t like to my funeral.

Then I sent her another one.

Me: And don’t forget to drop my laptop in a swamp if something happens.

I thought about it for another second.

Me: And don’t forget you’re the only one I want to clean out my nightstand. Wear gloves and don’t judge me.

I slipped my phone back into my purse as I stopped in front of what had to be at least an eight-thousand-square-foot home and eyed the combination of brick and stone walls, telling myself that I had to do this. Boogie had asked.

And the sooner I did this, the sooner I could go home.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Right. Time to say bye. And I was going to do it right, because Mamá Lupe would haunt me in my dreams tonight if I didn’t.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I was nobody’s puppy. I was a German Shepherd, maybe a Belgian Malinois; not the smallest or the biggest but strong, proud and loyal.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Maybe he didn't come into my life for me. I'm starting to think maybe it was for you."

"Or maybe he was supposed to be in both of our lives.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“His gaze flick down to my clothes for a second, his lips quirking just a little. “Sometimes I think you can’t be any cuter, and then you go and put on my underwear.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Luisa was in the middle of giving him a hug when she said, "Uncle Boogie, I called you a Punk-a word, but I love you, and Tía Bianca paid me five dollars to say it."
My cousin blinked, and I caught an edge of his smile before he held out his hand. "Give me half."
"No!"
"Give me a kiss then?”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“I couldn't actually remember meeting Zac. I couldn't remember meeting Mamá Lupe or Boogie for the first time either. My most blurry, distorted memories all included them though, like they had been around forever. Like life before them hasn't been memorable enough.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“Trevor shook his head and might have even rolled his eyes, but it just made me grin. I could tell by then that it wasn’t an ugly eye-rolling. It was his “I guess I can put up with you” eye roll.

Basically, he really, really liked it.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“The world was a heavy place, and I had a finicky back.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“My boss—one of my three new bosses, if I was going to be technical—stared at me blankly from where he stood across the counter, either thinking I was full of shit or trying to figure out how to turn what I’d been doing around on me so he could have an excuse to bitch.

Because that was what he did—really well, unfortunately.

So well that most of my coworkers had quit over the last month since the gym had been officially taken over by its newest owners. Asshole 1, Asshole 2, and The Decent Guy Who Was Unfortunately Never Around Who Might Also Be An Asshole If He Ever Spent More Than Five Minutes At Maio House. That was how we referred to them—at least those of us who were left.

Okay, maybe it was just me and Deepa who did, but I highly doubted it.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down

“She didn’t really make any kind of facial expression, but there was something in her eyes that I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know was more like what are you looking at, bitch? Pssh. Like that was intimidating. You didn’t know scary until you read what people thought about you on the internet.”
― Mariana Zapata, Hands Down