Betsy

“You’re afraid.”
Cooper nodded, then let his head tip back, gasping, when Oliver pulled him closer still and moved to nuzzle over the scars on his belly.
“Why?”
“Because you can hurt me.” It slipped out without Cooper thinking, and he almost kicked himself when Oliver pulled away to stare at him seriously.
“I would never.”
“Not like that. You could hurt me because I... I care.” The last words were nothing more than a mumbled exhale that your average person wouldn’t have heard.
Oliver heard.
He stood, their bodies pressed together, and he leaned in so his mouth was hovering over Cooper’s. “In that case, you scare me, too.”
Cooper’s heart pounded and he tingled all over. “Yeah?”
He felt Oliver’s smile on his lips. “Special Agent Dayton, I’m absolutely terrified, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“If you only ever make a change when you’re unhappy, you’ll always be in the position of running away from something, never running toward it.”
― Charlie Adhara, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

“What is it?” I ask. The softness in his gaze floors me, as does his answer. “Looking.” “You’ve seen me a million times,” I point out, heart pounding. His expression manages to convey how much of an idiot I am, while also weakening my knees. “Never enough.”
― Emmy Sanders, To Catch a Firefly

“Are you happy?" I ask him.
The question is so abrupt, I expect him to balk a little, but he doesn't. "I've had moments of it, yeah."
I don't like this answer. I want him to be joyful, loved, adored, full of everything, all the time.
"I'll admit," he adds, "I feel more of it being near you.”
― Christina Lauren, Love and Other Words