Honeymoon Phase

“The marriage is real for me, by the way. I don’t want out. It’s real and it always has been for me. I don’t think it’s the same for your daughter, but I’ll be whatever she needs me to be because that’s how much I love her . . . for whatever that’s worth to you.”

“I have a big cock. He roosts on my front porch and sometimes comes inside my cabin. His name is Rufus, and he crows at 6:04 a.m. every day. If he shows any cock-like aggression towards you, I will move him back to the barn. You will be my number one hen.”

“Like I mean nothing. Like it’s just another day. Like I’m forgettable and meaningless and just a friend and that our marriage isn’t fucking real.”

“Well, the party can’t start until I arrive, so you better be thanking me for gracing you with my presence.”

“It’s climbing a fucking pole. How hard can it be?”

“Luckily, you two kids started off as friends, so your hearts opened to each other slowly over time. You always knew it was in safe hands. Which is why none of us were really that shocked to find out you got married on a whim without telling anyone first.”

“We can do one-night stands or casual fucks or random hookups. We can satisfy our needs however we need to, but we don’t do girlfriends. Ever. We sure as hell don’t do wives. All relationships do is bring trouble.”

“Because when a woman has her claws all over you like you’re open territory, it pisses me the fuck off. We’re married, Luke.

“She loves you back. Even if she don’t say it. It’s still a fact.”

“You keep me at arm’s length, Roe. You let me in but not all the way. I don’t feel safe with you because I don’t ever know that you’re not going to bolt. I mean, hell, I kissed you and you didn’t look at me for two weeks. You’re paying rent at your apartment in Boulder still because you need to make sure if you want to get away from me, you can. It’s plain as fucking day that if I make one wrong move . . . we’re done.”

“You’re my husband and I want to feel all of you.”

“The next time you leave for a fire without telling me, I will kill you, Luke Fletcher. Do you hear me?” I pound my fist on his chest. “I’m your wife and you have to tell me where you’re going.”

“You’re worried because you love her. Not like a friend. Like a wife.”

“We’re better together. You’re in this with me and it’s going to hurt if you lose me now or if you lose me fifty years from now when we’re old and gray and sitting on my front porch looking at our grandkids and marveling over the life we made. And if it’s all the same to you, I’d like option two.”

“That’s my future wife you’re gaping at, so I’d appreciate it if you look the fuck away.”

“Trust me, Addison Monroe, when I kiss you with intention, you’ll know it.”

“When I forgave you for not showing up and we started hanging out again, I realized that’s what love is. It’s tolerating things you might not like from someone you care about because you know their essence. You know them at their best and their worst and you love them through it.”

“We’re going to lie in your bed and we’re not going to touch. We’re just going to sleep. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring yet. I haven’t decided. But I need to sleep and damn you, Fletcher, I can’t do it without you anymore.”