“The kiss stayed there with no place to go, no sensory reserve that could absorb it and file it away as a common act of intimacy, a thousand times received. He knew what Anna was asking: whether you could love someone without habits.”
“You d better close those lips before I m tempted to kiss them and really give you something to be all hot and bothered about.”
“He leaned toward me and delicately grazed my lips with his. The tease left me breathless, burning for more. “I keep having to remind myself that I can do that,” he smirked.”
“>>How old were you when you had your first kiss? >>Twenty. It s pathetic. Guys don t want to kiss fat girls. >>Not true. There are all those guys on jerry springer, and there s president Clinton... >>Make that: no one I ever wanted to kiss wanted to kiss a fat girl. >>I ll bet you never gave anyone a chance. Mitch says you practically beat him away with a stick. >>I was trying to spare him.”
“I found it impossible with his mouth so close to me, his lips being so fantastic and my eyes dropped to them again. They were fine. I licked my lips. “Ava.” My eyes drifted back to his and I was in a Luke Lip Fog. “Yeah?” “You lick your lips while looking at my mouth one more time, you’ll find that pretty pink tongue of yours in my mouth.”
“Hey. I ve just thought of something which I shouldn t think about. Hey. Whoa, wait a minute. I feel like I m thinking of even ore things I shouldn t. After all, I can t want, nor wish for it, because I ll never get it. Even though there s no way that guy s life will belong to me. Why am I this upset? We met more than ten years ago. But even on the day we first kissed, and the day we first slept together, somehow, he has never... told me he likes me, much less that he loves me. I ve never said it either. And yet, I ve only told him to stay by my side. I thought that was enough. I hate this. Why am I fixated on that man? I don t want to realise that now. That I want him to love me. I want him to love me. I want him to love me so much I could die.”
“Why am I fixated on that man? I don t want to realise that now. That I want him to love me. I want him to love me. I want him to love me so much I could die.”
“ I...I still— Can t believe it? Rafe shrugged. I m guessing a regular person wouldn t have survived. But we re part cat so maybe falls aren t so bad. I think I lost one of my nine lives though. He twisted to look at the stab wound. Maybe two. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, and when I did, I knew he was real—the heat of him, the smell of him, the feel of him, the taste of him so incredibly real that it surpassed anything my memory could conjure up. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back, and it was like every other amazing kiss he d given me, multiplied ten-fold. I kissed him until I couldn t breathe, and then I kissed him a little more, until I had to pull back, gasping. I have got to die more often, he said. And he grinned, that incredible blaze of a grin that made me kiss him again.”
“This kiss was hello. It was I ve missed you, I ve craved you, I ve never forgotten you. It was love.”
“Kissing a stranger because that is what is done presages an unhappy year not for any supernatural reason, but because you are unsatisfied enough with your lot in life to put your lips on the line for a fallacy.”
“Simon kissed me and I just stood there like someone had cut the cord between my brain and my muscles. Finally, the connection caught and I did kiss him, but awkwardly, some part of me still holding back, my gut twisting, like I was doing something wrong, making a huge mistake, and— Simon stopped. For a moment, he hovered there, face above mine, until I had to look away. Wrong guy, huh? he said, his voice so soft I barely caught it. Wh-what? He eased back, and his eyes went blank, unreadable. There s someone else, he said. Not a question. A statement. S-someone...? A boyfriend, you mean? From before? No. Never. I wouldn t— Go out with me if there was. I know. He took another step back, the heat of his body fading, the chill of night air moving in. I don t mean a guy from before, Chloe. I mean one from now. I stared at him. Now? Who else...? There was only one other guy— D-Derek? Y-you think— I couldn t finish. I wanted to laugh. You think I like Derek? Are you kidding? But the laugh wouldn t come, just this thundering in my ears, breath catching like I d been smacked in the chest. Derek and I aren t— No, not yet. I know. I—I don t— Just say it. Please let me say it. I don t like Derek. But I didn t. Couldn t.”
“Δεν τον είχα φιλήσει αλλά ήξερα ότι θα γινόταν κι αυτό, και το ήξερε ότι το ήξερα, και υπήρχε κάτι σαν αμοιβαία χαρά σε τούτη την ολίσθηση προς το αναπόδραστο, κι ας μην ήξερα το όνομά του ή αν ο,τιδήποτε από όσα έλεγε ήταν αλήθεια.”
“ “You were just worried about me.” An exhale, relieved that I understood. “Yeah.” I turned. “Because you think I’m worth it.” He put his fingers under my chin. “I absolutely think you’re worth it.” “But you don’t think you are.” His mouth opened. Shut. “That’s what this is about, Derek. You won’t let us worry about you because you don’t think you’re worth it. But I do. I absolutely do.” I lifted onto my toes, put my hands around his neck, and pulled him down. When our lips met, that first jolt...It was everything I hadn t felt with Simon, everything I d wanted to feel. His hands went around my waist, pulling me closer— Simon s footsteps thudded through the hall. We jumped apart. And he says I have lousy timing, Derek grumbled.”
“Their lips brushed like young wild flowers in the wind.”