Nancy

“Don't do that," he says. "Don't ask me questions you already know the answers to. Twice I've laid myself bare to you and all it's gotten me was a bullet wound and a broken heart. Don't torture me," he says, meeting my eyes again.
"It's a cruel thing to do, even to someone like me.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me

“And then she kissed him," he murmurs, "and all manner of thought left his head. It was a kiss he had dreamed about, but it was a thousand times better than his dreams. And he was ruined in all the best ways...and he'd never be the same again.”
― Beth Michele, For the Love of Raindrops

“Hello, friend. How I’ve missed Your honest echo I hold so dear. Hello, foe. How I resist Your graceless way of drawing fear. Hello, demon. Glad I’ve found you. The angel takes my breath away. She pretends, while you’re hell-bent on preserving true decay.”
― Alyson Santos, Breaking South

“Words are like seeds, I think, planted into our hearts at a tender age. They take root in us as we grow, settling deep into our souls. The good words plant well. They flourish and find homes in our hearts. They build trunks around our spines, steadying us when we’re feeling most flimsy; planting our feet firmly when we’re feeling most unsure. But the bad words grow poorly. Our trunks infest and spoil until we are hollow and housing the interests of others and not our own. We are forced to eat the fruit those words have borne, held hostage by the branches growing arms around our necks, suffocating us to death, one word at a time.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me