"If I had known things would turn out this way, I would have trained harder. I would have learned to take care of myself. But I guess that's the point, isn't it? You never know what you're going to have to face, so you'd better be prepared."

"Since the dawn of time, women have been attracted to mates with strong survival skills-like intelligence and physical prowess-because men with these qualities are more likely to bring home dinner at the end of the day. He stuck his thumbs in the air and grinned. 'Dinner equals survival, team."

"Citizen's arrest,' he said. 'Well, that, and Patch told me to."

"I called Vee.'How are you doing?' I asked.'Good. How are you?''Good.'Silence.'Okay,' Vee said in a rush, 'I am still totally freaked out. You?''Totally."

"They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. They never tell you that when you watch someone you once loved dying, hovering between this life and the next, it's twice as painful, because you're reliving two lives that traveled one road together."

"Try to relax. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense."

"I had fun last night,' I told Patch, flicking off my chin strap and handing over my helmet. 'I'm officially in love with your sheets.' 'That the only thing you're in love with?''Nope. Your mattress, too.'Some smile crept into Patch's eyes. 'My bed's an open invitation."

"I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled ' Jerk ' on the first line. On the line beneath it I added, ' Smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon."

"Don't blame me. Tell your mom to move closer. Tell her there's this new club called civilization and you guys should join."

"I don't have a car.'His eyes sliced into mine. 'I walked here,' I explained. 'I'm on foot.''Angel,' he said in a way that sounded like he sincerely hoped I was joking."

"Being with you never felt wrong. It's the one thing I did right. You're the one thing I did right."

"You possess other people's...bodies.'He accepted that statement with a nod.'Do you want to possess my body?''I want to do a lot of things to your body, but that's not one of them."

"Holy freak show!"

"Anything was better than nothing. Half-full was better than empty. Ignorance was the lowest form of humiliation and suffering."

"Fine! I'll throw on some clothes. Turn around. I'm in my pj's''I'm a guy. That's like asking a kid not to glance at the candy counter."

"I love you more than I think I should."

"I was terrified of what might have happened to you,' I choked."

"Vee never needed a reason to do something stupid. Sad thing was, most of the time I didn't either."

"He was abominable...and the most alluring, tortured soul I'd ever met."

"You're mine, Angel. Every last piece of you. I won't let anything change that."

"Patch's eyes made a slow assessment of me, sharpening to vivid black. 'I'm going to have a hard time sending you off with Scott in that dress. Just a heads-up: If you come home and the dress looks even slightly tampered with, I will track Scott down, and when I find him, it won't be pretty."

"If I'd wanted you dead five minutes ago, you'd have died five minutes ago."

"I saw you, and I wanted to be close to you. I wanted you to let me in. I wanted to know you in a way no one else did. I wanted you, all of you."

"Did I really want to stay on this road longer, knowing it was only going to end in devastation?"

"You dress to impress'. 'No Angel, I undress to impress.'"

"What do I have to do to convince you that I'm only using Dabria for one reason, one only reason: Destroy Hank, bit by bit if is necessary,and make him pay for all the things he has done to harm the girl I love?"

"Reading a good book in silence is like eating chocolate for the rest of your life and never getting fat."

"Do you sleep naked?"

"We don't have to go back to my place, Angel. I can take you home, if that's what you want. Or, if you decide you want to sleep at my place, on opposite sides of my bedroom with a Do Not Cross line drawn down the middle, I'll do it. I won't like it, but I'll do it."

"I've missed you,Angel. I dod not spent a day without missing you in my life. I became obsessed to the point I thought Hank had backed off of his oath and had killed you. I saw your ghost in everything. I couldn't scape from you and i din't want to. You tortured me, but it was better than losing you."

"The only thing a boyfriend was good for was a shattered heart."

"I don't want to be here when my latest work of accidental art is discovered."

"What about you?' I kept my voice carefully indifferent. He flashed me a cold smile, sharp at the edges. 'Worried about me?' Because I couldn't think of anything snide to say, I stuck my tongue out at him. Jude wagged his head. 'More tongue exercises? Would have thought you'd had enough last night.' 'Go to hell.' 'Sorry, love, but we're already there."

"But if I hadn't fallen, I wouldn't have met you."

"I needed him like I'd never needed anyone."

"I nibbled my lower lip. 'If you could see into my past just by touching my back, you'd have a hard time resisting the temptation too.''I have a hard time keeping my hands off you without that added bonus."

"Jev stroked his chin. 'Do I look like a summer fling?"

"It isn't about love,' Vee said. 'It's about fun."

"His eyes made a slow scan of my closet doors, which were cracked. 'I thought I heard something.''Yeah, well, guess what? I'm a living, breathing person, and every now and then I make noise!"

"If you haven't guessed it already,' I said, something fervent and resonating slipping into my tone, 'I need you, too.''Is that a yes?' he asked, pushing his fingers through my hair, fanning it out around my sholders and searching my face intently. 'Please let it be yes,' he said with a gravelly edge. 'Stay with me tonight. Let me hold you, even if that's all it is. Let me keep you safe."

"Hang on, did you just call me Angel?' I asked.'If I did?''I don't like it.'He grinned. 'It stays, Angel."

"It will cost me a lot to send you with Scott wearing that dress but, just so you know: if you come with that dress even slightly wrinkled, I will trace Scott, and when I find him, it's not gonna be pretty."

"Right now, I had everything I could ask for. It wasn't a long list, but it was a very satisfying one, starting with the love of my life back in my arms."

"His smile was sexy and warned of trouble, but I'd made up my mind that not all trouble was bad."

"I have a free couple of hours,' I told him, walking toward my car, which was parked on the next block. 'There's a very private, very secluded barn in Lookout Hill Park behind the carousel. I could be there in fifteen minutes.' I heard the smile in his voice. 'You want me bad."

"There was nothing wrong with fire as long as you didn't stand too close. Something to keep in mind."

"You're making an admirable go of it, but in the end, loyalty is about taking aside."

"She'll kill me if she finds you in here. Can you climb trees? Tell me you can climb a tree!'Patch grinned, 'I can fly."

"Don't start. I saw Marcie climb inside your Jeep.'She needed a ride.I adopted a hands-on-hips pose. 'What kind of ride?'Not that kind of ride, he said slowly."

"There's nothing wrong with the fire.. if you don't get too close. - Patch."