“CJ stepped toward her. His hand found her cheek. Natalie's eyes drifted shut. He was going to kiss her. "Good thing we practiced five years ago," he whispered. Natalie whimpered out a pathetic laugh, but then his lips were on hers, his hand tangled in her hair, his other hand holding her against him.And he kissed her.”

“You stay married thirty-four years, you don't have to prove who's got the bigger balls. Just take it for granted she does.”

“There's something you need to know," he said.Her own breath came out loud and uneven. He was entirely in her personal space, but she'd given him enough power as it was. She wouldn't back away, wouldn't let him see her agitation. He tucked her hair behind her ear. Tension took hold of her body. She shuddered, looked up to tell him to stop, but he bent forward, his lips parted, a single freckle on his cheek drawing her attention while his lips got closer and closer and closer until ---"For future reference," he said, "I never kiss horribly." And before she could blink or breathe or think, his lips closed over hers. His grip tightened in her hair, and when she should've protested or pulled away or kicked him in the shins, her body melted into his. Kissing him was wrong.... So wrong. She was so good at so wrong.”

“One day, son, you're gonna find yourself your everything. When you do, you tell her. And then you make sure you live it. Live it every day.”

“She hoped he kissed her.Only her.And that when he kissed her, he was thinking about her.Only her.If he kissed her, she would kiss him back.She would kiss him back with everything she had.Every last person in the stadium would watch her kiss him, and every last one of them would know she wouldn't have minded kissing him forever.”

“CJ stepped toward her. His hand found her cheek. Natalie's eyes drifted shut. He was going to kiss her. "Good thing we practiced five years ago," he whispered. Natalie whimpered out a pathetic laugh, but then his lips were on hers, his hand tangled in her hair, his other hand holding her against him.And he kissed her.”

“Though everyone who mattered to him told him to walk away, though Lindsey herself told him to walk away, he was still here. And she was still glad.”

“And this is Kimmie Elias.”Kimmie inhaled a loud breath. “I had a dream you were thelove child of Bugs Bunny and the abominable snowman, but in my dream that was a good thing, and you lived in a mushroom that hadsecret passages into outer space,” she said.And here he thought he’d already heard it all.”

“Some days, Will wished he could’ve been like Mikey. Living it up, having fun, embracing the moment. But Will had never been the kind who could keep his heart out of it.”

“She ran her hands under his shirt, over his chest, her cooltouch igniting shivers over his skin. “Is this a ploy to get another song out of me?” she asked.“It’s a ploy to get you out of your pants.”“And what, exactly, are you planning on doing once you getme out of my pants?”Will felt his lips curving up again. “Darlin’, you leave thedetails to me.”

“She was the only one who made him hear music. The only one who made him feel home. The only one who wanted nothing more than for him to be plain, simple Will Truitt.”