“For the first time in my life I was admitting defeat.”

“Inside my chest, my lungs are wild animals, clawing at the cage."Oh, man," Autumn mumbles from beside me. "His smile makes me stupid."Her words are a dim echo of my own thoughts: His smile ruins me. The feeling makes me uneasy, a dramatic lurch that tells me I need to have him or I won't be okay.”

“She was like a fire-cracker standing too close to a match: all potential energy, still wrapped up so neatly. He wanted to watch her explode. Hell, he was the match. He wanted to make her explode.”

“For the first time in my life I was admitting defeat.”

“I just want to see you come apart."I wanted to tell her that she was witnessing it now, and in all honesty she'd been watching it happen for weeks.”

“You sure you don't want me to bring you back something?" Her eyes moved in the direction of his office. "A hit man? Some holy water?”

“He could only do rowdy because he felt what I felt: that whip-crack unleashing that comes when you meet the person who frees you”

“Figure out how to balance Oliver with a career you’ve wanted your whole life,” he tells me. “Because you’ll end up with neither if you think you have to choose.”

“Steve Perry versus Arnel Pineda. At his confused expression, I explain, "The guy on YouTube who gained a following for covering Journey songs...then eventually became the new lead singer for the band?”