When I was a child, all problems had ended with a single word from my father. A smile from him was sunshine, his scowl a bolt of thunder. He was smart, and generous, and honorable without fail. He could exile a trespasser, check my math homework, and fix the leaky bathroom sink, all before dinner. For the longest time, I thought he was invincible. Above the petty problems that plagued normal people. And now he was gone.

My shirt got torn in a fight. Yours evidently has a fast-release tab.

If I weren't already dead, I'd be alive with joy.

Alec rolled beautiful brown eyes. "No fair playing the death card." "No fair having it to play.

It was an addiction. A pointless, self-destructive addiction. But really, is there any other kind?

What if I was the sexual equivalent of popcorn? Suitable for light snacking only?

Pain is what I feed from when nothing else will nourish the noxious fury in my heart. It’s what I cling to when everything else—everyone else—slips right between my grasping fingers.