Desiree Ortega

“Hey, bro, do you think you can put Shorty back on her chain?"

I stepped forward with my hands on my hips, only slightly intimidated to find Kaleb almost eye level with me when he was seated and I was standing.

"First of all, no one is the boss of me but me. Secondly, if you ever reference my 'chain' again, I will kick your ass." I jabbed him hard in the chest with my finger. Possibly breaking it. "And thirdly, don't call me Shorty."

Kaleb sat silently for a second, his eyes wide as he looked at Michael. "Where did you get her? Can you get me one?"

I blew out a loud, frustrated sigh and dropped down beside Michael, who didn't even try to hide his smile. "You should probably apologize to Emerson."

"I am sorry." Kaleb grinned at me. "Sorry I didn't meet you first.”
― Myra McEntire, Hourglass

“Just be happy, and if you can't be happy, do things that make you happy. Or do nothing with the people that make you happy.”
― Esther Earl, This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl

“What I was trying to say,” he whispered, “is that I see you in everything. There isn’t a word for you that means enough, because you’re everything to me.”
― Veronica Rossi, Into the Still Blue

“One can acquire everything in solitude except character.”
― Stendhal, Five Short Novels of Stendhal