Falling hard and fast. And there didn't seem to be a thing I could do about it.

As we talked, I had the sense of uncovering something precious and long-buried, fully formed. Our conversation was a process of removing layers, some of them easily dusted away. Other layers, requiring chisels or axes, were left alone for now. We revealed as much as we dared about what had happened during the years that separated us. But it wasn't what I had expected, being with Hardy again. There was something in me that remained stubbornly locked away, as if I were afraid to let out the emotion I had harbored for so long.

The truth is, you can never really know a man until you've loaned him money. And you can never know a woman until you've slept in her bed.

The worst part about loving someone, Merripen, is that there will al­ways be things you can't protect her from. Things be­yond your control. You finally realize there is something worse than dying . . . and that is having something hap­pen to her. You have to live with that fear always. But you have to take the bad part, if you want the good part." Kev looked at him bleakly. "What's the good part?" A smile touched Cam's lips. "All the rest of it is the good part," he said, and went.

"I won't apologize for my past. A man is supposed to have experience." "From all indications, you've acquired enough for ten men".

And it occurred to me that friendship was a lot more dependable, not to mention long-lasting, than love.

Only someone who had experienced such bitter despair would be able to recognize it in another.