Actually," Alan said, earnest and clear-eyed, "this is my first time playing poker.

Also, you may not have noticed, but this is a cupboard." "I admit that our private office is of modest dimensions," Kami told him, "But that's the way we like it. Just because we're editors doesn't mean we need special privileges. We're not snobs.

Who ever he is, I agree with your mother," said Dad as he entered the kitchen. "Stay away from him. Stay away from them all until you're of marrying age. Once you reach a nice, mature fifty-four, gentlemen callers will be welcomed here.

There's this book," Jared said. "And in this book a guy said that he would rather touch someones hand if she was dead than another girl who was alive. It's creepy. I know that." He was staring off into space, as if at some private nightmare. "Nothing matters in comparison. Nobody is real but her. So it feels sometimes as if nothing else matters at all, including other people. She wouldn't like that. Other people SHOULD matter." *** So he loved Kami.

And they all lived happily ever after (barring death, divorce, arrest for tax fraud, that incident with the pool boy...)

Ash should take the ladies, because he's charming." Ash looked pleased. Jared raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying that I'm not a charmer?" "You are very dear to me, but you have all the savoir faire of a wildebeest," Kami told him. "A wildebeest," Jared repeated. "A dashingly handsome wildebeest," Kami assured him.

Actually," Alan said, earnest and clear-eyed, "this is my first time playing poker.