Quotes from Adrian Page

Our days were full of tiny moments like these, when she loved me even when I was not looking. When she saw me even when I felt like I was hiding.

I wished I could show Sunny the inside of my mind. To peel back the flesh and bone and white matter and show only the raw truth of me.

I knew why. I knew I loved you from the moment you barreled out of your house and demanded to help us move in. From the first time you held my hand and led me down to our fort by the cul-de-sac." She sighed. "I loved you every minute of it. And every single time we got close enough that I thought you might love me too, you pulled away.

I wanted to tell her I loved her. I wanted to tell her things would be simple. I wanted to tell her the soft animal of my body wanted only the soft animal of hers. But instead, I let myself succumb to the warmth of her skin and the rhythm of her breath, slipping back into a half-sleep.

Lia had mentioned staleness, and I wondered if this was it. Growing old in this town, with these women you've known your entire life, eating cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, and rehashing the same gossip week after week. As comfortable as I was in my routine, in my sameness, I could see how that might seem terrifying.

I ached and ached, but I didn't know what aching was, so I thought it was love. I wrote her I loved her. I wrote her to love me back. I wrote her I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was sorry for. But I felt it in the swell of my belly, full of apples and regret. Deep and primal. The first feeling I ever learned to name.

I kissed her on the top of her head and hoped that she knew that that meant I love you. She slid her arm around me, underneath my shirt, skin pressed to skin, and I knew that she meant I love you, too.

It was a light, soft kiss. Just a peck, really, but the second her lips touched mine, everything inside of me went quiet. Everything in me steadied, calmed, warmed. It was like taking that first good sip of hot chocolate; not the one that burned your mouth, but the one after, when it had cooled to just the right temperature.

I love you. The thought startled me, but I felt it spread through my body like warm ocean waves. I loved her. I wanted to say it, but I was afraid of being too much. Of scaring her off. Of adding to the jumble of overwhelming emotions she was probably already feeling. So, I tucked the words deep in the corner of my heart, saving them for a rainy day

You can't build homes out of people, but that didn't stop me from letting Noah burrow her way into my heart. The fireplace in our living room crackled and bloomed as her eyelids drifted slowly shut, and I thought that no matter where we were, no matter what we did, home would always be with her

I kissed her again and lit up once more. She tasted like peaches and laughter and I remember thinking that peaches were my new favorite fruit.