Tracey Garvis-Graves Quotes

The burgundy dress she's wearing stops just above her knees, showing the perfect amount of leg, but the sleeves are long and covered by some kind of lace overlay. It is the ideal attire for a corporate dinner party. Annika has the kind of body that isn't overtly noticeable. Her breasts never feel like they're in your face, but they make you wonder what they look like under her clothes. Her legs are only slightly longer than average, but they're toned. She is the most perfectly proportioned woman I've ever had the pleasure of seeing naked, and has the softest skin I've ever run my hands across. Tonight, she looks both sexy and conservative, and I look forward to introducing her to my fellow team members.

I don't fit in your world."
"Neither do I," he said, his expression tender yet resolute. "So let's make our own. We've done it before.

Wine is essential after a visit to Chuck E. Cheese's. They should really give you a bottle on your way out.

It's a hard pill to swallow when you have to admit, even to yourself, that you were wrong about the person you were certain was perfect for you.

It was hard for me to come up with something on the fly, which is why I preferred, if at all possible, not to say anything at all for fear it wasn't the right thing.

As they walked home hand in hand, Ian said, "I feel like taking a nap. And by nap I mean move in and out of your naked body at whatever speed you prefer."
"And they say men don't know how to communicate."
"Well, that's where they're wrong. I was crystal clear.

Oh God T.J., I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking Nothing like going on about having kids in front of someone whose fertility had been exchanged for survival.

You named the chicken, Chicken?"
She looked embarrassed. "When we decided not to kill it, I got attached.

I'd spent the preceding twenty days swirling in a paralyzing vortex of loud sounds and bad smells, overwhelming stimuli, and confusing social norms, and I'd had just about all I could take.

Always choose love. Always choose the adventure. You'll never regret it.

[T.J.] I pulled my arms out from underneath her body and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I love you, Anna."
The surprised look on her face told me she hadn't seen that coming.
"You weren't supposed to fall in love," she whispered.
"Well, I did," I said, looking into her eyes. "I've been in love with you for months. I'm telling you now because I think you love me too, Anna. You just don't think you're supposed to. You'll tell me when you're ready. I can wait." I pulled her mouth down to mine and kissed her and when it ended, I smiled and said, "Happy birthday.

The constant vigilance and my heightened anxiety that I'd screw it up anyway exhausted me, but I persevered.

Though she has trouble deciphering other people's facial expressions, her face is an open book and no one would ever have trouble understanding hers.

There is nothing worse than realizing you're about to watch the girl that you've fallen in love with die.

You're not gonna name it Dog, are you?

All you have in your kitchen is a coffeemaker." She hopped up on the counter.
"Well, now I have a coffeemaker and a beautiful woman. What more do I need?

Is your life better with him, Anna, or without him? I decided right then, standing on that sidewalk, to stop worrying about things that might never go wrong.

Well, how do you usually meet women?" "They have a way of suddenly appearing. Like the birds in that song." She had to think about that for a minute. "You mean 'Close to You' by the Carpenters?

Are you free Friday night? Around six thirty? I'd like for us to go on our third date. And you know what that means." "I do happen to be available, and I'm well aware of what sometimes happens on the third date. But for your information, we're not quite there yet." "We're not?" "No." "Are you sure? Because I feel like we could be.

He cupped my face in his hands and wiped my tears with his thumbs.
"Better?"
"Yes."
He looked into my eyes and said, "I'll never leave you alone, Anna. Not if I can help it.

If you're going to stare at it, it's going to wake up and say hi.

What are you saying? That you're a thief who steals from other thieves?"
He wrinkled his nose, and it was adorable.
Stop! Thief!
"It sounds so distasteful when you say it like that. I prefer master appropriator of ill-gotten funds. You can call me master for short.

What's it like being with her? Is it true what they say about older chicks?"
"She's not that much older."
"Uh, okay. So anyway, how is it?"
"It's incredible."
"What's she do"
"She does everything, Ben.

It would be like eating your favorite food. At first, it would be great but after a while you wouldn't want it anymore. It wouldn't taste as good.

What did you wrap my hand with?" he asked. "My thong." I looked up at him. "You were right ; it's totally uncomfortable. Awesome for first-aid though." The corners of T.J.'s mouth turned up slighty. He looked at me, his brown eyes showing a trance of the spark that had been missing the night before. "It'll make for a funny story someday," I said. "You know what, Anna? It's kinda funny now.

[T.J.] If she had gotten sick, the only thing I could have done was watch her suffer. Bury her next to Mick when she died. I didn't know if I could make it without her. The sound of her voice, her smile, her– those were the things that made living on the island bearable. I held her a little tighter and thought if she woke up I might tell her that. She didn't though. She sighed in her sleep, and eventually I drifted off.

One of the best things about reconnecting with Annika is how natural it feels to be with her. Standing on the sidewalk, I wonder if she remembers how it felt to be in love with me.
I haven't forgotten how it felt to be in love with her.
As soon as we're settled in the back of the cab, she snuggles up next to me. Her body relaxes until I can feel her melting into me. She goes limp and falls asleep with her head on my chest. I don't mind at all, and I hold her until we get home. With my arms around her, she feels like mine again.
It's only when we're inside her department that I realize the evening- and the performance required of her to endure it- has taken everything she had and there's simply nothing left.
She's done.
She walks into the bedroom, and I follow. She pulls a T-shirt out of a dresser drawer and turns her back to me, not because she's upset that I followed, but so that I can unzip her dress. I oblige, and as soon as I've lowered it, the dress hits the floor. Her bra and underwear follow, which tells me that modesty is still a completely foreign concept to her. I'm not going to ogle her like the horny college student I once was, but I appreciate the view of her naked backside just the same. She turns around and when I see the front view, maybe I ogle just a little.
I mean, I'm human.

I waited for her to open her eyes. They were amazing, big and dark grayish-blue. They were the first thing I noticed when I met her. She had come to our apartment to interview with my perents, and I was embarrassed because she was beautiful and I was skinny and bald and looked like shit.

All I wanted was to show you that I've changed. That I'm not the same person I was in college." She sounds defeated.
"Well, guess what? You haven't changed all that much. You're still the same girl I fell in love with at twenty-two. And here's a newsflash: I like that girl and always have, and I never once said I wanted her to change.

- "Do you think it's possible to love more than one person? At the same time?"
-"I think just about anything is possible when it comes to love,

I never know what people are thinking. It's like visiting a country where you don't speak the language and you're trying so hard to understand but no matter how many times you ask for juice, they keep bringing you milk.

Are you lonely?" Jonathan asks.
How could I tell him that my loneliness was crushing? How it felt awful to be lonely but not know how to reach out to people and fill the time I always had too much of? It wasn't that I didn't enjoy being alone, because I did, and could spend hours on solitary endeavors like reading or going for long walks without ever wishing for human companionship. I could visit the animals at the shelter or write another play for the children to perform. But sometimes I craved the presence of someone else, especially if I could be myself.

We were eating lunch when a chicken walked out of the woods.
"Anna, look behind you."
She turned around. "What the heck?"
We watched as the chicken came closer. It pecked the ground, not in any kind of hurry.
"There was one more after all," I said.
"Yeah, the stupid one," Anna pointed out. "Although it's the last one standing, so it's done something right."
It came right up to Anna and she said, "Oh, hi. Do you not know what we did to the rest of your kind?

So you want a nice guy, but you don't want him to be boring."
"Yes. Nice and not boring and not into threesomes and no cocaine. I mean, is that too much to ask?"
"No, although I feel compelled to point out that the threesome thing is pretty universal."
"Oh for God's sake," she muttered.
"That doesn't mean we're all going to try to convince you to participate in one. It's just that very few guys would be like, 'Go away, extra girl,' should one happen to climb into our bed when you're already in it. That's all I'm saying.

Maybe that's how it starts. You stumble upon something that helps you cope, fills a void. Makes you feel something different than what you currently feel. You know in the long run it probably won't be good for you, but you do it anyway. Tell yourself you can handle it.

The selfish part of me, however, couldn't fathom not falling asleep in his arms or being with him every day. I needed TJ, and the thought of being away from him bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

[T.J.] I kissed her as soon as we were inside her apartment, and I wasn't gentle about it, holding her face firmly in my hands and pressing my lips hard against hers. She wasn't anyone's to own – I knew that – but right then she was mine.

I often think about the island. When the kids are older, we'll have quite a story to tell them.
We'll edit, of course.
We'll also tell them that this house, and the property that surrounds it, is our island.
And that T.J. and I are finally home.

And when you're not happy with your own life, and yourself, you can't be happy with anyone else.

I want to work at a library someday," I said. "I want to spend every waking day of my adult life surrounded by books.

I've been in love with you for months. I'm telling you now because I think you love me, too, Anna. You just don't think you're supposed to. You'll tell me when you're ready. I can wait.

Maybe love is like a pendulum. It swings back and forth, slowly, steadily, and sometimes you don't know where it will come to rest.

I love you. I will never stop loving you.

I never wanted you to leave, but I didn't know how to ask you to stay.

I've never been so scared in my life. I thought that shark was going to eat you."
TJ hugged me, resting his chin on the top of my head. "It didn't though."
"We're going to eat him now, aren't we?" I asked.
"Oh, hell yes," he said, a big grin on his face.

It's like everyone around you has a copy of the script of life, but no one
gave it to you so you have to go in blind and hope you can muddle your way
through. And you'll be wrong most of the time.

What if it turns out that after going through the evaluation, I find out I'm not on the spectrum. That I really am just weird. I don't know if I can handle that.

I must cry more than anyone you know," I said. He brushed the hair back from my face and smiled. "You puke a lot, too.

Get out of my computer immediately. I'm willing to move past the fact that you hacked me, but it ends now."
"No more backdoor?"
"No more backdoor."
He appeared crestfallen. "Ever?"
"Never," Kate said firmly.
"Not even on my birthday or like a special occasion?"
"Are we still talking about my computer?" she asked.
"You probably are.

I never wanted anyone else, T.J. I just wanted what was best for you."
"You are what's best for me," he said, cradling my head in his arms, his legs intertwined with mine. "I'm not going anywhere, Anna. This is right where I want to be.