Pieces of You Quotes

“It took a few days to let Mia’s words sink in, and when they finally did, I came to one simple conclusion.  I am privileged and honored to have been loved by Holden Eastwood. Even for a couple of months. A few weeks. A single day.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“It’s not fair!” I cry. “It’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to everyone around me, because that’s all I want in my life. It’s all I’m searching for. Someone to love me enough to stay.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“He shakes his head, looks down his nose at me. “She was with Dean last night!” he spits, his chest rising and falling with each sharp inhale. Each forced exhale. “Dean! Who you loved, right? And you said it yourself, it’s not like we were in love! But I was, Jamie!” He points to himself, his arms moving, veins popping out of his flesh. “I was in love with you! I was so fucking in love with you that just the idea of hurting you ruined me!” He’s yelling so loud, I feel each of his words inside me, beating me down, one by one. “And if you’d given me a chance to explain that, then you’d know exactly how I feel about you! But you didn’t! And then you come here… accusing me… thinking that I would actually do something like that to you…” He laughs once, his eyes to the sky, and I don’t take a breath. Not a single one. “That just proves how fucking little you think of me!”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Holden means what he says, and he says what he means, and the fact that he hasn’t said anything means… everything.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Look, Jamie.” He heaves out a breath, leaning back on his outstretched arms. “I’m not someone who needs to deep-dive into every emotion or scrutinize everything we do.” His eyes meet mine, penetrating. “I say what I mean, and I mean what I say, and as long as you understand that, then nothing matters.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“I’ve become so accustomed to taking care of myself, or others, that the mere act of someone else doing it for me has my chest aching.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“You think it’s stupid, don’t you?” The crack in my voice betrays the strength I’m attempting to portray.  “I don’t think it’s stupid,” he says, sitting taller, his gaze distant. “It’s just that… I don’t think you went through what you did and survived what you have so you could come out of it and be normal.” He pauses a beat. “You’re not here to be average, Jamie. You’re here to be extraordinary.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“And maybe I had it wrong. Maybe Holden Eastwood isn’t the flame to my moth. Maybe he’s the moon. The light. Guiding me out of my darkness.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“My mom had always told me that this was the life that was chosen for us, and there was no way out of it.  Gina had given me an out, and in a way, I believe she was the only thing in the world “chosen” for me.  And now Holden’s here, doing the same, and it’s not that I believe he was put on this earth for me and me alone, like Gina was, and maybe Holden and I aren’t destined to be Best Friends Forever, but we could be something… for now.  And maybe that’s all I need.  A Holden for now.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“You’re mean.” I shrug. “It’s a defense mechanism.” He watches me as if trying to read between the lines. It’s not that complicated. You get burned enough times; you stop trying to find warmth in other places, other people.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Because… it would be different if he cheated on her with someone worthy, you know? I’m trailer trash who washes dishes at a truck stop.” She laughs, but it’s filled with so much sadness it creates a sudden, forceful ache in my chest. I stare at her, right into her eyes, and I can see all the broken fragments of a girl who refuses to see her worth. I’ve stared into similar eyes my entire life: my mom and Mia. “I can’t even imagine her shame,” she says, her words uneven. I don’t look away, and neither does she, not even when I can see her discomfort set in. “I mean, just look at her… and look at me.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“On paper, we don’t make sense. In reality, paper doesn’t mean shit.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“We could’ve been perfect.
In another time.
Another world.
Where mine wasn’t falling part.
And hers wasn’t already in pieces.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“You’re the only fucking thing that makes sense to me right now.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Maybe I had it wrong.
Maybe Holden Eastwood isn’t the flame to my moth.
Maybe he’s the moon.
The light.
Guiding me out of my darkness.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“She’s everything I thought she’d be and nothing at all like I’d imagined … Jameson Taylor is a masterpiece, and I’m in way, way over my head.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Jameson Taylor is like a puzzle.
And I’ve always liked puzzles.
Searching for the right piece to fit perfectly in just the right place… it’s time-consuming and challenging, but it brings a kind of order to the chaos, and if you put in the effort, the end result is always rewarding. And that’s why I do it: for the reward.
And now… sitting opposite Jamie, watching her, I feel like I need to somehow piece her together.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“I stare at her, right into her eyes, and I can see all the broken fragments of a girl who refuses to see her worth.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Love, at this age, is bullshit. It’s deceitful and vicious and cruel, and it exposes the weakest parts of the strongest people. And I’ve been witness to the destruction love can cause too many fucking times that I want nothing to do with it.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Just because we weren’t together anymore, it doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“I understand that the whole of him belongs to her, but I can still hold on to pieces of him.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“My words are harsh, but they’re also reality—a reality I refuse to sugar-coat or wrap neatly in a bow just to spare the feelings of others.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“I’m not playing these fucking games with you, Jamie.” Her eyes widen. Just a tad. “I like you because I fucking do, and I want you because, honestly, I don’t think I have a choice.” Her hands are on my jaw now, thumbs stroking. I tilt my head, kiss the inside of her palm as if it’s something we’ve done a thousand times before. “And you have no idea what it does to me when you touch me like this.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“With his forehead resting against mine, his exhale warms every inch of me. “I’m here because I can’t seem to keep the fuck away from you.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Dean broke my heart. A heart he knew was barely beating. And it wasn’t just about our so-called feelings for each other. It was about me—about my inability to trust, to care, to love. He knew all the parts of me I’d never breathed a word to anyone else before. And he urged me to confide in him, to reveal all my secrets, my shame, my torment… and then he took all those things from me, along with my fragile heart, and he severed them into tiny, irreparable pieces.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“And this might be the reason I’m more pissed than I should be. She’s obviously not cracking my fucking head open trying to understand me. To get to know me. She’s trying to figure out why Dean was a dick to her.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“By the time we get to the house, Jamie’s lifted her skirt halfway up her thigh, and almost every inch of exposed flesh is covered in lines so intricate I want to snap a picture of it so that I can study it later. I don’t, obviously, because there’s a special place in society for that level of creep, and it’s called prison.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Living in a trailer park comes with a cliché stigma that isn’t fair to anyone. People do what they can to survive, to put a roof over their heads and food on the table, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. And, the possible judgment, coming from him, a boy whose—I’m willing to bet—parents are actually parents and do what they can to shield him from the bottom of the barrel, is… expected. And I don’t have the energy to be mad about it. Agitated, maybe. But mad? No. People don’t know what they don’t know, and Holden? He knows nothing about me.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Hey, look.” I motion to where the woman’s opening the door. “It’s your best friend, Gladys,” I quip. “Her name’s Esme,” Jamie mutters. “I know.” I sigh. “It was a joke.” “I know,” Jamie echoes. “It wasn’t funny.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You

“Love… love, at this age, is bullshit. It’s deceitful and vicious and cruel, and it exposes the weakest parts of the strongest people.”
― Jay McLean, Pieces of You