When they kissed she immediately felt his tongue, tensed and strong, pushing past her teeth, like some bully shouldering his way into a room. Entering her.

Dearest Cecilia, You’d be forgiven for thinking me mad, the way I acted this afternoon. The truth is I feel rather light headed and foolish in your presence, Cee, and I don’t think I can blame the heat.

Nothing was to be lost by beginning at the beginning.

He had never before felt so self-consciously young, nor experienced such appetite, such impatience for the story to begin.

You can tell a lot from a person's nails. When a life starts to unravel, they're among the first to go.

Finally he spoke the three simple words that no amount of bad art or bad faith can every quite cheapen. She repeated them, with exactly the same slight emphasis on the second word, as though she were the one to say them first. He had no religious belief, but it was impossible not to think of an invisible presence or witness in the room, and that these words spoken aloud were like signatures on an unseen contract.

Not everything people did could be in a correct, logical order, especially when they were alone.