Danielle

“I don't think the opposite of casual is serious, actually."
"What is it then?"
Jake looks at me. His hazel eyes appear almost gold underneath the light of the heat lamp - tiny specs of sunlight. "Depth," he says. "The opposite of casual is deep.”
― Rebecca Serle, Expiration Dates

“He could wait out any bad mood. The anger of an animal didn't make him angry. It helps you understand them better, he told me. You don't want that anger becoming fear. You want it turning into trust.
And while there were a lot of things he'd hated about working at a ranch, he'd loved the feeling of coming to an agreement with another living thing, of understanding each other's needs, giving space when it was time for it, and pulling close when it was needed.”
― Emily Henry, Happy Place

“But when it came, all I felt was fear. Fear that he wouldn't be who I'd imagined. Fear that I wasn't ready. Fear that I wouldn't feel the way I was supposed to. Fear that I'd fuck up even this, this thing I was meant for. But what I was not afraid of, maybe, was that it was over. It's hard to be single, but it's also something you can get good at. And I was good at it. It's easy to love the things we are good at.
Yes, I wanted epic love. Weak-in-the-knees, movie-kiss-in-the-rain epic love. What I never realized, not up until this very moment, is that I got it - everything I'd been asking for. I'd been on the back of a motorcycle in Paris and across the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise. I'd been on the beach in Santa Monica at sunset. My life has been filled with magical moments, I was just so busy waiting I didn't see them when they were here.”
― Rebecca Serle, Expiration Dates

“I wonder if I'll miss it, I think. The feeling of openness. The understanding, even buried down deep, that anything could happen. That I could bump into someone at an airport or in line at the pharmacy. That the man three stools over at the bar could be taking me home tonight. That the next great adventure was just a slip of paper away. Being single is like playing the lottery. Most of the time all you're left with from that trip to the convenience store is a bag of chips and a six-pack. But then there's always the chance. There's always the chance, however slim, that with one piece of paper you could win it all.”
― Rebecca Serle, Expiration Dates