Birthday Girl Quotes
"I need to get my car running. I can’t keep relying on him for rides."
"That’s the problem with making your friend your boyfriend, I guess. He still thinks he can get away with murder."
"I wish she’d stop looking at me like that. There’s a good possibility Cole won’t be here at two a.m. considering he’s not answering the phone right now."
"I know it’s too much to expect that I’d have everything figured out by now, but it’s still embarrassing. I hate looking helpless."
"Don’t doubt yourself, don’t second-guess, don’t let fear hold you back, don’t be lazy, and don’t base your decisions on how happy it will make others. Just go for it, okay?"
"I don’t think this is a good idea," I tell Cole, pulling out my stacked milk crates from the back of his car. "I feel like a freeloader."
"To anyone else it looks like an arm-wrestling grip, but when we look down, we see our thumbs side-by-side and the small, pea-sized scar we both have."
"Stay with me, okay?" he whispers. "I need you."
"You know who you’re meant to be," I tell him. "Committing to it is a different process for everyone, but you’ll get there."
"It’s nice to be able to move without bumping into something."
"The least I can do is make sure we keep our end of the bargain. We clean up and share some of the cooking duties. That’s all."
"I don’t think less of my sister because of her job. She feeds and clothes her kid. She swallowed her pride and did what she had to do, and I love her for it."
"My body is private. It’s personal to me and whom I want to show it to."
"This_, meaning Cole and me living in his father’s house."
"When you eat cheap growing up, you find your own ways of adding a little gourmet to it."
"Time moves a lot faster than you think it will. Securing a good future takes an investment and a commitment, but it’s worth it."
"I want a life I never want to take a vacation from. That’s my goal."
"We talked so easily the other night when we didn’t know who the other one was, but it’s changed now."
"It was like being in prison, having to take him back to her after my weekends with him."
"Leaning over the table, I close my eyes, take in a breath, and make my usual wish Let tomorrow be better than today."
"You gotta eat, too, right? What kind of pizza do you like?"
"If you eat the veggies first, you’ll have less room for pizza. A little trick I picked up on Pinterest."
"You’re doing chores. You’re paying for your right to be in the house. So if you want to use the pool or have a friend over or like… leave the bedroom, it’s fine."
"My grandfather, he smoked, so… I just like the smell, is all."
"I’m sure customers have bought her shots before."
"Something’s changed. The conversation was easy, and then it wasn’t. And it’s my fault. I’m cold. Somewhere after Lindsay and the chaos, I stopped being able to open up. I got too used to being alone."
"I just don’t want to be working a dead-end job forever, you know?"
"I really don’t care about the wedding," she says, staring back at the television. "I just want the life."
"Everything smells fragrant, too, and sometimes it’s because she made muffins or pancakes, and sometimes it’s because of the scented candles I no longer mind her burning in the house."
"I love my kid, but it’s hard to see why he deserves her."
"I breathe out a laugh, but surprisingly, the words are coming easy now."
"Everyone was just so happy, and even at their age, they kept growing, having fun, being silly…"
"It’s like a skeleton," I comment. "When do the walls go up?"
"It’s hard to find that one person who speaks your language."
"We’re not here on a free ride. I can handle a few chores."
"Everything will be fine. It might not be right now, but it will be."
"Birthday wishes don’t always come true, so I don’t waste a chance when I blow out a candle."
"I can do without her eggplant lasagna, that’s for sure, but if she weren’t here, Cole would be avoiding me even more than he is now, and I wouldn’t be holding my tongue with him as well as I am. I’m glad she’s here."
"You don’t worry about things you’re not aware of."
"They think they can treat you badly, because you’ll take it. But you win when you never let them do it again."
"It’s the kind you know you deserve, because you worked your ass off that day."
"Somewhere along the way, who I was and what I wanted became irrelevant."
"I understand we do away with certain things as we get older."
"Don’t kid yourself. They’re still looking at you like a piece of ass, even with all your clothes on."
"Please don’t cry again, or I’ll have to take out the pool and build you a gazebo or some shit."
"It’s nice coming home and having life in the house. Having people to talk to."
"I was hoping you’d want to help with it or something."
"At this point, I’m too used to being on my own that I’m like an only child. And an only-child doesn’t know how to share his things."
"Liquid heat runs down my arms, and I stare at my hand, struggling to concentrate, because she’s all I’m aware of now."
"The room has grown quiet, and I’m not sure if the guys are afraid to talk normally, because there’s a woman in the room or if they’re distracted."
"It kind of is a pretty cake, though. The frosting is designed into roses and starts off at the bottom in white and slowly grows pinker by row as it moves toward the top where it’s finally evolved into a dark hot pink."
"Everything is starting to feel familiar and warm here. Like a home."
"I smile to myself. She sees me as a man, not just someone’s father. I shouldn’t like that as much as I do."
"You’re fun. And kind of funny. And pretty interesting."
"I wasn’t constantly doubting every move I made and listing every possible outcome for a single action and how Jordan would respond to it."
"It’s the little things that add personality to a house. An artsy chandelier, the right rug, and backsplash."
"The more you do for someone, the less they do for themselves."
"Misbehaving? I repeat. What does that mean? And why do you think I care. I’m not her dad."
"You’re going to have to come to find out. I just hope you don’t get here too late."
"You’re special, Jordan. You know that, right?"
"Don’t do things outside of your nature because of money. You’re perfect the way you are. Don’t change."
"I would rather eat from a dumpster than take money from you."
"You live in a house where you pay no rent or utilities, young lady."
"Men will get ideas. They’ll think they have a free pass and they can touch what belongs to my son. You’re embarrassing him."
"I’m not just worried about her safety, though. I have this urge to make sure she’s okay and taken care of."
"I can’t help it, but I can make sure I don’t act on it."
"She’s quiet. Clean. I barely know she’s in the house."
"I’m done with this conversation. We’re leaving now."
"Has that stepbrother tried anything with you?"
"You don’t have anyone who cares about you in this shithole."
"You’re not trading in a perfectly good home, in a nice, safe neighborhood, for this. Swallow your pride, Jordan."
"I feel like I’m going to explode at any second."
"You deserve the best. She’s getting the best."
"I don’t want her to trade down because she thinks she’s unwanted at my house or she’s imposing. I want to make sure she knows that she doesn’t have to leave."
"She’s happy at my house, she’s safe there, she has a bed, and there’s no fucking mice. It’s that simple."
"I’m a tenant now, essentially, and while the end goal is to live here to save money for my own place eventually, I can’t live off him like I was."
"I’ve never lived with a man who had lived on his own before me."
"I’m sorry, because this isn’t the first time I wanted you to touch me."
"You’re a beautiful girl, Jordan, but you are just a girl."
"If you want," I broach gently, "you can just bring the kids over here. They can swim."
"I’m here, okay?" I whisper. "Nothing’s changed. I still love the smell of your candles and the sound of your music in the house."
"We hold each other so tight that I don’t know if I’m holding her up or she’s holding me up, but for a moment, I’m afraid I’ll fall if I let her go."
"Déjà vu hits me. I’m surprised I still have the energy for this."
"You can see her brain working through every decision and every interaction, because she’s so good at assessing consequence and danger by now that it’s become second nature."
"It takes conviction to do what you know you’re supposed to do regardless of what you want."
"I’m not asking permission, but it kind of comes out like that."
"You were slamming the washer and dryer doors and blaring music at ten at night. You seem…irritable."
"Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to change your lifestyle just because I’m here. Go for it."
"She won’t satisfy you. She’s not what you want."
"You have everything you need in this house. There’s no reason to look elsewhere."
"I love how you worry about me and want to protect me."
"I'm not laughing," he points out sternly. "Now get inside and take off your clothes. I've had a whole day to dream up the theme park I'm going to make of your body tonight, girl."
"I couldn't wait to get home," he whispers. "You don't know how hard I was trying to control myself today."
"How hard?" I work at his belt, frantic to get it off.
"I was in the worst fucking mood," he growled. "I couldn't get you out of my head. All I wanted was this."
"You know I'm teasing, right?" I tell him. "I'll only ever perform for you."
"If you leave, I won't have everything I need in this house."
"How can I not want to come home to this everyday? So fucking sweet."
"She's right to watch out for you, Jordan," he says biting my bottom lip. "You're too young for all the fucking stuff I want to do to you."
"I'm not that young," I taunt. "I'm old enough for lots, in fact."