I felt my heart breaking all over again. Why? Why had this happened to us? Why was the universe so cruel?

He shouldn't have said that," repeated Adrian, eerily serious. He leaned his face toward mine. "I don't care if he's not the emotional type or the complimentary type or what. No one can look at you in this dress, in all that fire and gold, and start talking about anachronisms. If I were him, I would have said, 'You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth.

I'd seen weirder things than a haunted shoe, but not many.

But all I could see was her. No skill of mine, no artist anywhere, could’ve immortalized how gorgeous she was. It was impossible to believe she’d ever had any doubts about her body. The firelight shone on her skin, golden and perfect, making her look like some radiant goddess of legend. I wanted to kneel before her and offer eternal obedience.

When you've got everything you need, why complicate it?

Giving advice was a lot harder than following it.

I had a standing arrangement with God: I'd agree to believe in him—barely—so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays.