dK

“Fuck,” he muttered.
…
“Language in front of the girls,” I snapped.
“Baby, they hear it all the time,” he returned and I felt my eyes get wide in motherly affront.
Cal looked at my face then over the seat to the girls and asked, “You gonna say fuck because I say fuck?”
“No,” Kate answered immediately.
“No, ‘cause Mom doesn’t like it,” Keira replied waspishly.
Cal looked back at me and raised his brows.”
― Kristen Ashley, At Peace

“I looked up at Lee when we stopped in front of Hector and informed him helpfully, “You might want to take your arm away. Blanca tells me Hector doesn’t like men touching me.”
“Blanca told you that?” Lee asked, his smile (and arm) still firmly in place.
“Yes. She’s known Hector, like, his whole life so I think she’s in the position to know.”
Lee nodded, his smile somehow bigger like he was trying not to laugh then his eyes moved to Hector and he said, “I tried to stop it.”
Hector looked at Lee then looked at me then he muttered, “Oh fuck.”
“It was Ally’s idea,” Lee told Hector.
“What was Ally’s idea?” Hector asked Lee.
“It was not Ally’s idea!” I cried.
“It wasn’t!” super-power-eared Ally yelled from the open back window of Lee’s Explorer. “It was Sadie’s idea. I just was offering moral support.”
“Shut up, Ally!” Indy shouted out the open passenger side window.
“I will not shut up! I’m not taking the fall for this one!” Ally shouted back.
I turned to the car, dislodging Lee’s arm and lifted both my hands and pressed down. “No one’s going to take a fall. Everyone calm down. It’s all okay. It’s rock ‘n’ roll!” I screamed.
“Righteous!” Ally screamed back.
“Rock on, sister!” Indy screamed too.
“It’s rock ‘n’ roll?” Lee asked, sounding as amused as he looked.
“You all wanna quit screamin’ at three o’clock in the mornin’ in my fuckin’ neighborhood?” Hector suggested.
Mm, well maybe we were being an eensy bit loud.
“Time for beddie by,” I announced (sounding like Ralphie), got up on tiptoe, kissed Lee’s cheek (like Ralphie and Buddy would do to me), turned and gave Indy and Ally a double devil’s horns (like Ava taught me) and shouted, “Rock on!”
They shouted back in unison, “Rock on!”
“Christ,” Hector muttered.”
― Kristen Ashley, Rock Chick Regret

“There was a lot of things about love that you could only learn after you’d faced the real kind. The best kind wasn’t this soft, sweet thing of hearts and picnics. It wasn’t flowery and divine. Real love was gritty. The real kind of love never quit. Someone who loved you would do what’s best for you; they’d stand up for you and sacrifice. Someone who loved you would face any inconvenience willingly. You didn’t know what love was until someone was willing to give up what they loved the most for you. But it was also never letting them make that choice, either.”
― Mariana Zapata, Wait for It

“I'm starting to understand that you can always make time for the things that matter.”
― Mariana Zapata, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me