Whitney Barbetti > Quotes

“I don’t need a thousand people to know I existed. I just want someone to know I lived.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I don't want to merely exist, Parker. I want to live. I want to leave the world with that one sweet moment.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I so desperately wanted to be his gravity, to hold him on this earth and keep him from leaving me.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I was naked under his gaze. Skin was just that: skin. But to see your soul stripped, laid bare for the eyes of someone you barely knew-that was terrifying.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I'm not talking about the scars that separate your skin, Parker. I'm not blind, I can see those. I'm talking about the scars much deeper than that. The scars that exist within you. The ones you actually try to hide.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Words could bite. When I spoke to strangers, I wanted my words to have fangs.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Don’t smile, Parker,” Everett said, leaning in to me. “It would look weird on your face.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Some of us have scars that aren't meant to be seen”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“In here, he said, pushing on the skin above my heart, you're ten below zero. And you're closer to death than I am.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I don't love anything." - Parker
"I know." - Everett”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“My heart stirred in my chest and I knew, without hesitation, that this man would destroy me. The thought made me breathless.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I couldn't stop shaking my head. I didn't want this. I didn't want to draw people to me with my broken pieces. I wanted to be left alone among all those pieces, sitting in the middle of them so if people dared to come close, they'd cut themselves on all the pieces to get to me.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“This doesn’t have to be anything more than what we want, Andra. We don’t need to define this. You are warm, honest, beautiful, and full of wit. I appreciate how vibrant you are, and how you challenge me. I want to spend time with you simply because I enjoy being around you.” I heard his sigh. “I don’t want to suffocate you. No labels, no drama. Just fun. Maybe a kiss or two.”
“Or three. Or four,” I added.”
― Whitney Barbetti, He Found Me

“He sighed and moved his hands under water, linking with mine. “You are like a drug to me. Dangerous. Addicting. I can’t get enough of you.” He brought our hands above water and kissed one of my hands, linked with his. “But I want more, more than just a night, more than just a few touches. And I have a feeling that once we cross that line, you will run away.”
― Whitney Barbetti, He Found Me

“You're ten below. Cold as ice.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“It hurts, you know. Loving you. It hurts now. But I'd rather suffer through this pain in my final moments than suffer through being alone, from living a life unfilled.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“-It’s rude to stare.
-I never claimed to be anything else.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Is that how you live your life? By people forcing you out of your comfort zone? Why not willingly put yourself in situations that make you uncomfortable?”
“Why would anyone do that?” Our voices were getting louder, taking up space in the Jeep.
“How do you expect to understand anything if you don’t take a step out of your comfort zone, if you don’t embrace the scary?”
“I don’t need to understand anything.”
“Then you’re not alive. You don’t want to feel, you don’t want to connect, you don’t want to exist outside of that big head of yours. I should have told you that you were six feet under instead.”
“We don’t all have to live the way you think we should live.”
“Of course not. But what is living, really? Are you going to spend the next sixty years of your life alone? You’ll die in your sleep and no one will know, no one will care.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I don't like warm beverages in general. Oh he said, taking a sip of his coffee. We wouldn't want to thaw you out, would we?”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Are you inlove with me? Not even close.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“Love, the emotion that should elicit healing, was in fact the most painful emotion of them all. It crept in when you didn’t want it. Made itself at home, terrorizing your hormones with confusion. It made you more susceptible to pain, it weakened your resolve while simultaneously making you frantic with need. And it hurt. Not just mentally, but physically.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“JOY CAME ALWAYS AFTER PAIN.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“He held me as if my bones were made of glass, as if my skin would tear beneath his lips if he applied too much pressure. When his lips pressed against the pulse at the base of my throat, I wondered if he could feel the power in my pulse, the power he was solely responsible for. As if in answer, his hand moved from my neck to my chest, resting over the space that contained my heart. There was something beautiful and intentional about that gesture, like he was acknowledging the mortal part of me that reacted so restlessly to his touch.”
― Whitney Barbetti, He Found Me

“This,” he said, running his fingers down my dress, “is perception. It’s what my eyes see. But this,” he pressed his hand to the center of my chest, just above the bust line of the dress, “is reality. I much prefer this. This,” he said, pushing again, “this is what my soul sees.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“My mouth was insatiable, desperate. I had never needed physical touch so intensely, so frequently. I didn't know what these impulses were from, or why I acted upon them, but in this moment there was no room in my head for anything but Julian.”
― Whitney Barbetti, He Found Me

“I plucked one plump black olive from the plate and put it in my mouth immediately before saying, “Well, I feel bad for you, then.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I love antipasto.”
“I guess I don’t understand why that’s a problem.”
“Because,” I emphasized, cutting into a piece of salmon. “I don’t like to share.” I quickly slipped the smoked meat in my mouth before winking at him.
His smile finally met his eyes again. “Good to know, because I’m not the sharing kind of guy either.” He winked back at me, but it was so blatantly comical that I couldn’t help the laugh that flew out of my mouth.
“Something tells me you’re not talking about cured meats,” I said before slapping his hand away from my olives.
“I knew you were smart.”
I swallowed the olive I’d snatched from his hand and glared at him, while mouthing, “Mine.”
“Funny, that’s what I was thinking, too,” he said, looking directly at me.”
― Whitney Barbetti, He Found Me

“Feelings were like a rich piece of cake: too much made you sick. My indifference was like a comfort blanket. I wrapped myself up in it and kept myself from feeling. Life was easier this way.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“You kiss me with lips that have loved another,
And you tell me words that you´ve said before,
And I let myself pretend for a moment that you are not the sum of your memories.
I tell myself these lies so you don´t have to.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Six Feet Under

“Once you made someone happy, you were obligated to keep them that way.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero

“I am. I’m rude because I don’t conform to society’s standards that white lies are inconsequential. I don’t believe in hiding behind words that aren’t truthful. I’m an impatient man. I don’t beat around the bush. If you ask me something, I won’t lie to you.”
― Whitney Barbetti, Ten Below Zero