Throw Down Quotes

“Slowly, he pulled back and set me carefully on the ground, his forehead touched mine, and he looked at me. "That the girl who said something to you last semester?"
"How'd you know?"
"Thought I was gonna have to restrain ya." He smiled. "You were about to throw down."
"I probably would have embarrassed myself," I confided. I moved so our noses touched as well as our foreheads.
"I'd have bet money on you." He pressed a quick kiss to my lips before bending down to the mess I made on the sidewalk.”
― Cambria Hebert, #Hater

“You said you’d welcome competition, yet you went and pulled some strings to drive away the first person to challenge you.”
“I told you already. There must’ve been a clerical error.” She crossed her arms. “And scared? Please. My barbecue’s the best—I could beat anyone’s sauce, any day.” Her voice squeaked on the last word, and he let one corner of his mouth lift.
“From what I heard around the market this morning, it’s your grandfather’s sauce, not yours.”
― Chandra Blumberg, Stirring Up Love

“You’re wrong about one thing. I’ve failed plenty. But I’m not going to fail at this. And since you insist on staying, you’ll get a front-row seat to my success. Enjoy the upgrade from the cheap seats.”
She turned and sauntered away. Done with the confrontation. Done with him.
Cheap seats? Oh heck no. Insult his sauce? Whatever. Insult him? Fine. But she’d hit a nerve by smack-talking like a spoiled princess.
Dazzled by her beauty—and that was on him—he’d forgotten for a moment she was selling hand-me-down sauce from an inherited restaurant. Secure by birthright in comforts he’d spent his childhood chasing, only to fail, again and again.
Forget forfeiting. Not only did he plan to show up and outsell Simone Blake every week, but he’d accept the invitation to pitch his brand on The Executives. Win an investment and prove once and for all, in front of the whole country, that he mattered.
He might come from nothing, but he was going somewhere.
Cheap seats? She’d be watching his victory from the couch.”
― Chandra Blumberg, Stirring Up Love

“My meal from Honey and Hickory came with a side of dysentery straight out of Oregon Trail.’” Finn now spat out the quote against the echo of Simone’s accusation, reciting from memory a review he’d found on a late-night, liquor-fueled deep dive into all things Honey and Hickory. “That’s a direct quote from a one-star review I found for Simone’s historic family restaurant online.”
Simone strode forward and claimed center stage. “Written by a disgruntled cook who was fired for never showing up to work. It hardly classifies as empirical evidence.”
“Look, Ms. Blake,” he said, leaning heavy on the honorific like she had, gratified when her eyes narrowed. “Beyond Honey and Hickory’s subpar reviews, your generic flavors can’t match the nuance of Finn’s Secret Sauce. You’re a mom-and-pop barbecue joint with no soul, stuck in the past.” Directing his next words to the investors, he said, “Whereas I’m all heart, focused on the future of barbecue. Sustainable, organic, outside-the-box flavor blends.”
Simone clicked her tongue. “Organic? Wow, super cutting edge. If this was 1999.”
Hands on her hips, she angled away from him, toward the crowd. “Honey and Hickory was farm to table long before it was fashionable, and we cook with locally sourced meat and home-grown produce.”
“Like you had anything to do with that? Your grandfather probably set up those contacts while you were in diapers.” He turned his focus on the audience; two could play at that game.
“Don’t let Ms. Blake fool you. She’s been at the helm of the restaurant for less than a year, yet she’s trying to convince you she played a role in Honey and Hickory’s decades of success.”
― Chandra Blumberg, Stirring Up Love