Rana

“Do you think we looked like that to them?” “What, sexy? I probably did.” “No, like...in love?” Ilya seemed to consider the question before answering. “We are very good at pretending to not be in love. Maybe we are bad at showing it when we are allowed.”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game

“No one asks to be born. And no one wants to die. We don’t bring ourselves into the world, and when it’s time for us to leave, the decision will not be ours to make. But what we do with the time in between the day we are born and the day we die, that is what constitutes a human life. You will have to make choices—and those choices will map out the shape and course of your life. We are all cartographers—all of us. We all want to write our names on the map of the world.”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

“He enjoyed a brief fantasy as he sat on the bench of pressing Shane against the glass after scoring a goal and kissing him breathless. That would shut this fucking crowd up.
“Man,” Bood said as they skated to the bench, “this town hates you.”
“Nah. They wish I played for them.”
Bood laughed. “Hollander would hate that.”
“My good friend Shane Hollander, you mean?”
“There’s no way he likes you that much.”
“He loves me,” Ilya said plainly. Honestly.
Bood, of course, thought he was kidding. “Now you’re really dreaming.”
Ilya chomped on his mouthguard to avoid smiling.”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game

“I love hockey, and I deserve to have the career I want for as long as I want it. I’ve earned that. But if I had to choose...I’d choose him.”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game