Besides the obvious difference, there was not much distinction between losing a best friend and losing a lover: it was all about intimacy. One moment, you had someone to share your biggest triumphs and fatal flaws with; the next minute, you had to keep them bottled inside. One moment, you'd start to call her to tell her a snippet of news or to vent about your awful day before realizing you did not have that right anymore; the next, you could not remember the digits of her phone number.

Leave it to a man to mess things up

Who spit in your porridge?

Just because you didn't speak the facts out loud didn't erase their existence. Silence was just a quieter way to lie.

I wanted him to feel what I felt when I was with him: that incredible combination of comfort, decadence, and wonder; the knowledge that, with just a single taste of him, I was addicted.

There are some weapons you can't protect yourself against.

I have several writer friends, but I don't involve them in my work process. I'm more likely to talk about the business of publishing with them.