Say stop, whenever you want to stop. Understand?" I nodded. "Do you want to stop now?" My head moved back and forth to the pillow. "Thank God.

That's how they say it: He loves you in his own way. Well, what about my way? What if I need for him to love me in my way?

His hands reached for me, gripping my hipbones and pulling me forward. he stared down at me, his voice low. "There are some things I will make time for, Jacqueline.

I don't know why it's so hard for me to say those three words. Most guys throw it around like breath, like bait.

Not. Your. Fault." I nodded again, holding onto his words like they were redemption.

It isn't fair how I doubt him, and I wonder if he'll ever gather that my loss of faith extends further than I'd ever known it would, severing lines of trust and leveling my confidence like a city-flattening tornado.

He was in a slow-motion mood-one of my favorites, though it meant i'd be driven crazy before we were done.