“The scent is growing into more than just a problem. It invades. It swirls. It travels. It sticks to his nose. It concentrates, sometimes. They rarely touch. When they did, her wrist accidentally brushed against the front of his shirt, and he found himself tearing off the piece of fabric where her smell was most intense. He slipped it in his pocket, and now carries it everywhere. Even as he leaves to avoid her.”
― Bride
― Bride
“Maybe there is something devastating about the incompleteness of it. But maybe, just knowing that the other person is there . . .” His throat bobs. “There might be pleasure in that, too. The satisfaction of knowing that something beautiful exists.” His lips open and close a few times, as though he can only find the right words by shaping them first to himself. “Maybe some things transcend reciprocity. Maybe not everything is about having.”
― Bride
― Bride
“Her presence soothes him more than a full-moon run.”
― Bride
― Bride
“Maybe you're not meant for me the way I'm meant for you, but I'm going to choose you anyway, over and over and over again.”
― Bride
― Bride
“I have no friends, no hobbies, and no real purpose aside from earning enough money to pay rent in order to … exist, I guess.”
― Bride
― Bride
Max’s 2025 Year in Books
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