I was so afraid of wanting too much that I couldn't trust her handing me a shot at getting it. I don't want to be that senselessly fearful ever again.

No matter what grief or loss takes place, most of life flows on all around us, as though nothing's changed. At some point in our sorrow, we each make a choice to sink or swim. There's no alternative.

I’d always disparaged the games people played in pursuit of love - or the next hook up. The whole thing was a competition to see who could get how far, and I could never figure out if there was more luck or skill involved, or some unknowable combination of the two. People rarely said what they thought, or revealed how they felt. No one was honest.

He stared down at me, and i examined his beautiful eyes up close, something i'd never tire of doing.

Please touch me. I need you to touch me.

I'm trying to protect you. From myself. I don't do..." he swung a finger back and forth between us"...this.

Not stupid. Overly trusting, maybe, but that reflects on his lack of trustworthiness, not on your intelligence.