Head Above Water Quotes

“You’re a dream,” I whisper, my nose brushing his. “You’re a dream in the midst of my worst nightmare.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“My entire body feels shredded and torn to pieces, the slab of muscle that used to be my heart most of all. But it still stumbles in my chest, trying to find a rhythm to beat to in this new existence I’ve found myself in.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“khaki shorts”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I come with his name on my lips as I shoot inside his ass, filling him with my release. Claiming him as mine, once and for all.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I’m just glad it’s died down now. No more scandalous stepbrothers screwing each other in the midst of grieving their dead parents.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“A piece of me refuses to believe today was the last time I’d ever see my father’s face in person. From this day on, all I’ll have are photographs and my memories, and even those begin to fade over time.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Nothing pulls me from this nightmare. Nothing lets me escape from this reality.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“The gay guy catching all those unrequited feels for his straight stepbrother. Sounds like the plot right outta some awful gay romance novel.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Oh, he went to prison for killing someone? Yeah, I’d still fuck him.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“But the thing they don’t tell you about hope when it comes to grief? While it can be the thing that keeps you afloat, it can also be the very thing that drowns you the fastest. And by the time you’re able to figure out you’re still sinking?”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Grief, like love, is something that binds us all. It’s part of the human experience. Part of being alive.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“East,” he says, his voice thick and raspy. “The reason I’m here is you. When I left, I left my heart too. In this town. On this beach.” He swallows. “I left it with you.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“We weathered one of the worst storms anyone can face, and we did it together.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“But I have to do it. Have to accept reality. Because…that’s the thing about hearts— Like waves, they break too.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“The heart that’s meant to beat in my chest—the one he will no doubt own for the rest of my life—lies at my feet. A mangled mess. Shredded and worthless. I leave it there when I walk back inside. While I pack my things. Even when I get on the plane back to Charleston, it’s still there. Where it belongs.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“We both knew you were never going to choose me.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“By technicality, we aren’t even family anymore.” Wrong. So fucking wrong, East. You’ve always been my family. You always will be.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I’m not coming until you’re inside me, so just fuck me already.” So fucking bossy. “You’re topping from the bottom there, Can,” I warn,”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I don’t think anything will ever be able to take this pain away. But you’re the only thing that makes it bearable.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“My mouth crashes back to his, and I realize he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see that there’s no chance this isn’t real. That he already is mine. He’s mine, the same way I’m his.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Fuck me like I’m the one you want. Like this thing between us is real.” His bloodshot gaze collides with mine, full of pain and anguish, grief and misery. “Fuck me like I’m yours.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I could live the rest of my life right here, in this moment, and it still wouldn’t last long enough,”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“You own me,” I utter through the gravel caught in my throat. “Every fucking inch of me.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“We’re reminding ourselves that they might be dead, but we’re still here,” I pant, staring into his soul. “We don’t know how much time we have before it’s all over. And we can’t just take it for fucking granted. We need to do more than just survive. We need to fucking live.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Grieving,”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Goddamnit, East. What’re we doing?”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“I’ll be whatever he needs me to be. Fucking anything.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“Shatter, break, and fall apart first if you need to, I plead internally. But please, just come back to me.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“It’s not easy to keep someone else’s head above water when you’re drowning yourself.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water

“And then, for some stupid reason, the greedy heart in my chest ruins it all by answering him. Asking for the impossible. Keep me.”
― C.E. Ricci, Head Above Water