"I don't like how he holds on to her and don't like how long he's holding. That doesn't look like brotherly love to me. I stare at his girl. Why is she so damned happy to see her guy hugging someone else?"

"I must have killed a lot of cows in a past life for Karma to hate me this much."

"I came to this house for safety. They came because the foster care system ran out of homes. We stayed because we were stray pieces of other puzzles, tired of never fitting."

"Hearsay, even from the people I love, doesn't equate to gospel truth."

"I touch the double row of silver hoop earrings hanging from his left ear, trail along his jawline, his neck, down his shoulder, to the flaming tail of the dragon on his arm. He leans into the caress, and my own body feels on fire with the continued way his eyes gaze upon me. The first moment I saw him, the night people clamored over each other to step out of his way, I was frightened. The guy with earrings and tattoos and an energy radiating danger. Now-inside and out-all I see is beauty."

"Thomas make it easy to cave to temptation with his golden - blond hair, muscle from head to toe and sexy brooding expression a few girls have written about in poems."

"For the second time since meeting her, Echo looked as if I'd slapped her. Water pooled at the bottom edges of her eyes, her cheeks flushed red and she blinked rapidly. She'd succeeded in making me feel like a d*ck again."

"But there is one person who expected the unexpected from me and the only time I noticed disappointment on his face was when I cowered like a sheep. And I had to take a moment to figure out I'm not ashamed of him. It's him who should be ashamed of me. I've put Razor in an unfair position. He introduced me to his world. Welcomed me with open arms. Made me feel like I belonged and I've asked him to keep a secret when doing so is killing him. And I told him that we would be over...I did the exact thing to him that Clara did to me and that's not okay. No part of it is okay."

"He loved me.Noah Hutchins had told me he loved me, and that had made the past week at school absolute hell."

"Isn't it always the things that you can't see that hurt you?"

"I love you enough to never make you choose."

"Emotions is evil. People who make me feel are worse. I take comfort in the stone inside of me. If I don't feel, I don't hurt."

"I walk with my head high, shoulders squared. I'm better than them. No matter the whispers and taunts they throw out. Fuck them. Fuck them all."

"And he laughs. Not the heavy laughter from before. It's a great laugh. A deep laugh. One that makes my lips lift. Isaiah, the guy who an hour ago carried himself like a jungle predator, now has the content aura of a lazy cat bathing in the sun."

"I like how you smile and how you laugh. I like how you love and defend your family and I like how you're trying to love mine. I love how you trust. But mostly, Emily, I love you."

"People who live in the luxury of a steady paycheck and food in their bellies get too caught up in right and wrong, moral and immoral, good and bad, heroes and villains, even truth and lies. As if we're all either one or the other. As if we all have a choice. As if I have a choice. But I don't believe in choices. I believe in survival."

"I know who I want to be and I want you by my side as I become that person."

"Typical me--hurricane that leaves nothing but destruction."

"Here's the thing- I love you and I love her, but I swear to God I'll kick your ass if you hurt her."

"She's my girl now and I'll do anything for her at any time. I'm in love with her."

"Hate the sin, not the sinner, isn't that what good people say? Or are you asking yourself at what point does the sin overtake the sinner?"

"Echo is my life. My life. I lover her. If there's a chance I can make her happy... If I can save what's between us... I'll do it, so fucking tell me!"

"Nothing makes you think you might need years of therapy like saying the word breasts in front of your mother."

"Food shouldn't be half-bad. It should be all good."

"He has a wide gait and I struggle to appear casual as I attempt to match his stride. His shirt's back on, which is a sin. He could definitely give Echo's guy a run for his money in the abs department."

"How many more of us are faking the facade? How many more of us are pretending to be something we're not? Even better, how many of us will have the courage to be ourselves regardless of what others think?"

"There are edges around the black and every now and then a flash of color streaks out of the gray. But I can never really grasp any of the slivers of memories that emerge."

"Sometimes life happens."

"My heart quickened when I caught a flash of red entering the lunchroom. At the corner door farthest from me, Echo paused and performed a quick scan. She held her books tight to her chest, sleeves clutched in her hands. Our eyes met. Her green eyes melted and she gave me that beautiful siren smile."

"The most dangerous guy at my school-the lone person who makes me feel safe-is reveling in the way I am touching him."

"She's my daughter. The only one I have and the only child I'll ever have. I see the fear in her eyes, I sense her hesitancy, but when I get her to smile it makes up for all those moments in between. I got this one chance. My last chance. I don't want to blow what little time I have left with her so no, I don't want anyone rocking her world."

"She's so beautiful it hurts. Golden blond hair flows past her shoulders. Those gorgeous violet eyes shouldn't be so wide with fear. I've dreamed of being this close to her again. I ache to gather her in my arms and keep her safe from the world...to be her protector, but I can't be that man."

"Running is still running. It doesn't matter if it's a physical move from one place to another or if it's to within yourself."

"I bunch Rachel's hair in my fist. The silky strands rub the spot between my fingers and I press my lips to her head. My heart hurts and soars and hurts again, all at the same time. I said I love her. Love her."

"Aires and Echo Emerson. Their mother must have hated them to give them names like that."

"The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life."

"Violet moves, a readjustment, and I expect her to pull away. But instead, she leans further into me, her head on my shoulder, and her sweet scent becomes a warm blanket. No other place I'd rather be in the world right now. No place at all."

"In the police's defense, the Riot aren't wearing their cuts, but I'm disappointed. The Riot watching the store are big names and we know them by face and road name in order to stay safe. I'd think the police would have done their homework, especially with Violet's life on the line."

"Smiled. The type of smile that men drive all night in a blinding rainstorm on their bike to see. The type of smile that keep men fighting brutal wars for years in the vain of hope of seeing it again. The type of smile that made me come to my feet, because if i didn't, I'd fall to my knees."

"You both have grown up feeling as if you weren't properly loved by those who should have loved you the most. People make mistakes. They make wrong choices at the worst moments. Never at any time were you not lovedKnow this. Cherish this. Love one another and be courageous enough to live your life and love more. Don't let fear trap you."

"My best friend has warned me to stay away. Violet, a girl raised by the Terror, has warned me to stay away, but even after digesting her advice, knowing the rumors and experiencing what I have, I can't leave. The bandage on Razor's arm and the cuts and bruises along his side testify to how dangerous his life is, but with one long look into those beautiful eyes , I know that I'm a lost cause to logic. I've already fallen in love."

"It's a beautiful smile. One that brightens the rat-infested attic room. No one has ever smiled like that at me. No one. Everything inside me twists with the need to keep her close.I should be pissed. Who knows if I'll ever see the money from Eric. Who knows if Noah and I will lose the lease, sending me back into the system. Right now, I don't f*cking care. I'm touching an angel."

"That must be love: when everything else in the world could implode and you wouldn't care as long as you had that one person standing beside you."

"You can`t change destinies already written, that only happens in fairy tales."

"But then again, I shouldn't judge. That is, after all, my pet peeve."

"I'd like to somehow find the courage to be on the outside who I am on the inside."

"It wouldn't be fair to Chevy, and it wouldn't be fair to me. The love I had for him was consuming and powerful and raw. I briefly close my eyes as memories of Chevy's hands on my body and his lips on mine cause warmth to curl in my bloodstream...Even when we fought, we never had problems with attraction."

"Quiet anger frightens me. The drunks, the idiots, the ones that rage easily - them I can handle. I know when to step out of their way. It's the ones that hold the anger in, the men that think about what they do and how they do it, that scare me. They're the ones that cause damage."

"There's a power I only feel when I'm with Isaiah. A boldness I've never possessed in my life. Never in a million years would I have imagined I'd be the girl who'd say she was falling fast for a boy before he did. Never in a million years did I think I'd be lying in bed with a totally ripped guy that has his shirt off. But Isaiah has this effect on me. He makes me feel stronger than I really am."

"Breathing became a painful chore. Her lips turned down while her warm fingers caressed my cheek. That touch typically brought me to my knees, but now it cut me."