Tessa Bailey

'[…] Once in a while, a good thing comes from a shot of sudden bravery.'

'This is you in my heart,' I say, voice uneven. Kissing him softly. Once, twice. 'Do you feel yourself there?'
'Yeah,' he chokes out, eyes suspiciously damp. 'Keep me there. All right?'

She shook her head, stopped trying to put on a brave smile.
"Why? So you can put me in the recharging station? You have the most dangerous job in the country, Brendan." Her lower lip wobbled. "I don't want your hugs."
His brow arched. "Recharging station?"
"That's what I call it ... "Still backing away from him, she flipped her hair back, sniffed. "Never mind."
"When I hug you?" Fuck. His heart was turning over and over like a car engine. "My hugs are your recharging station?"

'I love you,' she gasped […]
'I’ve never said it to anyone before,' she murmured, resting her head on his bicep. 'It didn’t feel like I always thought it would.'
He ran his hand down her hair. 'How did you think it would feel?'
She thought about it. 'Getting it over with. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.'
'And how did it feel instead?'
'The reverse. Like putting a bandage on. Wrapping it tight.'

'Piper, I don’t just go putting my arms around girls.'
She paused in the doorway. Looked back. 'What does that mean?'
He gave in to just a touch of temptation, tucking a wind-tangled strand of hair behind her ear. Soft. 'It means I’ll be around.'

'Anyway,' Natalie said seriously, with a quick smooth of her hair, 'I foresee great things.'
'So do I,' August agreed, looking down at her.
But she had a feeling they weren’t talking about the same thing at all and the possibility made her heart hammer.

'I promise to take your side in every argument unless it’s the one you’re having with me, then it’s fair game. But the point I’m trying to make is that we might fight…' He scanned the room with a pointed look. 'But God help anyone else who tries to fight with you. They will answer to me.'
[…]
'I also promise to protect you from this day forward. From cat claws to fires to drunk people with axes. You’re always going to be safe. I’ll make sure of it. You can call me no matter where you are, and I’ll come.'

'They should have noticed. You should always be noticed.'

'Your turn. Love or pride?'
'Love,' he answered without hesitation.
Why did something inside her bloom like a rose over his answer? 'Really?' Her voice was more uneven than a middle schooler’s. 'You just told me that whole story about Honda Accords and your family valuing pride.'
'I know.' He appeared thoughtful. 'But love seems more important now.'
Don’t ask why. 'Why?'
'Because I can tell you don’t believe in it. And I want you to.'

"You make me feel like I'm in the exact right place." He exhaled into her neck, kissing it revently. "Nothing to run or hide from. Nothing I want to avoid."

"How did I look at her?" He was afraid to find out.
"Ah, son. Like a summer day showing up after a hundred years of winter."

How do people live their lives feeling like this, day in and day out? Like your next breath depends on another person’s happiness? She’s torture and heaven all wrapped up in one forbidden package.

'Dolly said once that if you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.'

As her idol Dolly Parton once said, "If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one." Hell, she was going to need a fleet of cement mixers.

Like this garden, she was chaos. But she was good, and he’d known this. He’d reached for her with both hands and asked to keep her, mayhem and all—but he hadn’t accepted his own flaws yet. He’d recognized her as beautiful while believing his were still hideous, and that’s where he’d gone wrong.
He hadn’t been fully right, fully ready for her. Not when he couldn’t accept his own imperfections… and realize those imperfections were what made victory worthwhile.

'Miss Bristow. Where do you see yourself in five years?'
[…]
'It’s important to have plans. Goals. It’s just as important to know when your plan needs to change, though. Life… requires change. Five years ago, I wasn’t planning on competing in a beauty pageant. I don’t even like wearing dresses.' The host and audience laugh. 'You have to decide what’s worthwhile and adapt, even if it’s new or you didn’t expect it. Maybe it’s just as productive to live without a five-year plan. Or to start with a five-day plan and see where it takes you.'

Love isn’t duty and tradition and consistency. It’s wild and unquenchable and inconvenient. It’s messy and raw.

'There’s so much bad. Happening all the time, around us. I guess I just…' Her chin lowered and the emotion in her gaze almost knocked him back a step. 'I like to stop and appreciate when something good happens.'

'My name is Aaron.' Take the warning. Please take it. 'And I never beg.'
'My name is Grace.' A deep breath, a step back. Away from him. 'And I know better than to say never.'

En son for intérieur, il se réjouit de faire savoir à toute la ville que Piper Bellinger était à lui.