Penny Reid Quotes

I turned, feeling steady but somewhat dazed, and looked from the hand, now on my elbow, up the strong arm, around the curve of the bulky shoulder, and over the angular jaw and chin, until my eyes met the breath-hijacking sight of Sir Handsome McHotpants's piercing blue eyes. I cringed. ~ Penny Reid

If more folks thought it out, thought it over, and thought it through instead of talking, then the world would be less cluttered with opinions and assholes. ~ Penny Reid

His smile was quizzical and sincere as he said, "Sometimes you feel more like an adversary than a…."

"Than a what?"

"Than a girlfriend, a partner."

I thought about that for a moment, let it roll around in my head, realized - given what I knew about Alex's past - it made quite a lot of sense.

"With a girlfriend you'd need to give away some of your control. But with an adversary, it's all about control."

"Don't." His voice was a growl, and held more than a hint of warning.

"Don't what?"

"Don't start psychoanalyzing me."

"I'm not." I sighed, rubbed my forehead, and removed myself from his lap. I sat down heavily on the couch. "I'm just trying to figure out how to get in your pants without asking you any direct questions. ~ Penny Reid

Congratulations, Jethro. Happy for you."

"Thanks, Drew."

The two men stared at each other and something passed between them, an understanding of some sort.

"Oh great, now Drew and Jethro can mind-meld. I'm getting out of here." I turned from the group and their chuckles.

"Come on, Cletus. Stick around. I'll gaze longingly into your eyes. Us single guys need to stick together," Beau called after me. ~ Penny Reid

Reading for me, was like breathing. It was probably akin to masturbation for my brain. Getting off on the fantasy within the pages of a good novel felt necessary to my survival. If I wasn't asleep, knitting, or working, I was reading. This was for several reasons, all of them focused around the infititely superior and enviable lives of fictional heroines to real-life people.
Take romans for instance. Fictional women in romance novels never get their period. They never have morning breath. They orgasm seventeen times a day. And they never seem to have jobs with bosses.
These clean, well-satisfied, perm-minty-breathed women have fulfilling careers as florists, bakery owners, hair stylists or some other kind of adorable small business where they decorate all day. If they do have a boss, he's a cool guy (or gal) who's invested in the woman's love life. Or, he's a super hot billionaire trying to get in her pants.
My boss cares about two things: Am I on time ? Are all my patients alive and well at the end of my shift?
And the mend in the romance novels are too good to be true; but I love it, and I love them. Enter stage right the independently wealthy venture capitalist suffering from the ennui of perfection until a plucky interior decorator enters stage left and shakes up his life and his heart with perky catch phrases and a cute nose that wrinkles when she sneezes.
I suck at decorating. The walls of my apartment are bare. I am allergic to most sto ~ Penny Reid

have no judgment for Wendells; in fact, I applaud their stamina and ability to provide excellent service to so many women. It seems like a very efficient and generous use of resources. ~ Penny Reid

My momma once told me, you don't need to be pushed in order to fall. I don't think you'll need to do much pushing, Jessica. ~ Penny Reid

Crap.

She's going to cry.

This was a situation that required neutralizing. I placed my hand over hers and gave her a squeeze.

"There, there." Fruit cake. "Calm down - ~ Penny Reid

Beau could talk a policeman into committing armed robbery. ~ Penny Reid

On one hand, I think it's natural to be curious about sexuality. But on the other hand, I think girls are caught in this terrible net of perpetual disappointment. We're not really allowed to talk about sex, or ask questions about it, or be interested in it. If we are interested and if we like it, then we're labeled as easy or sluts. If we're not interested, then we're frigid and repressed ... we're prudes. It's like, we see images of women being objectified everywhere. And then we're told to act and dress like a man at work and school, or else no one will take us seriously - even other women won't take us seriously. Basically, women are fucked."
"That's depressing. ~ Penny Reid

Feet are resilient, they're like women that way, ~ Penny Reid

There, there." Fruit cake. "Calm down - " "Don't ~ Penny Reid

Is there something going on with you?" I asked, giving him ample opportunity to share his troubles.

His eyes lifted to mine and he twisted his lips to the side. He stared at me, carefully masking his thoughts and saying nothing for a time. Then he shook his head.

"Nope. Nothing is going on with me." Beau's tone was deliberately devoid of telling emotion.

I scrutinized him further.

"Stop it, Cletus."

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to peer into my mind." He cracked a half smile, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I would never do that, Beau. Your mind is a depraved and dissolute place. I would fear for my eternal soul should I manage a glimpse inside."

He grinned at my teasing and I was pleased to see it. "That's right." He turned to the door and called over his shoulder as he left. "And don't you forget it. ~ Penny Reid

I have these big feelings for you and they make me clumsy. When I couldn't do anything with them, it made me sad. Everything about what I feel for you is new to me. ~ Penny Reid

Jennifer Sylvester wasn't fierce. She was nuttier than a pecan pie. "Right. ~ Penny Reid

Kaitlyn Parker has popped Martin Sandeke's spooning cherry." I felt his smile grow just before he said, "It's only fair. I hope to pop your forking cherry. ~ Penny Reid

We were still at the beginning, our beginning, and I'd never been as truly happy in my entire life as I lived and breathed and endured during the moments we spent together. ~ Penny Reid

but applying logic to love is like buttering a pig before you slaughter it. ~ Penny Reid

Have you ever seen someone and thought to yourself, Whoa, he's hot! I'd like to screw his brains out. And then, you talk to the guy and realize someone already has? ~ Penny Reid

Can we discuss this after the wedding?"
"No."
Damn. It was worth a shot.
"Fine." I glanced around the car. How does one ask for privacy in the back of a limo occupied by eight observers? To their credit, my friends did their best impression of quality assurance engineers, checking the seat cushions for stitch durability and picking lint from the carpet. ~ Penny Reid

You can't tell me that I don't know you. I see you. I see you better than you see yourself. And everything about you is beautiful. ~ Penny Reid

I will fucking ruin you, do you hear me? You are nothing! Nothing!

I sighed, tired of his irrelevant presence. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be sure to file that info right between fuck this and fuck that. ~ Penny Reid

He's the man equivalent of a gun to the head, except without the fear for my life aspect. ~ Penny Reid

Poker." He nodded once, holding me in place with a clearly skeptical if not entertained expression. "Is it very cold? This place where you're going to play poker?"

Without me really noticing he'd crossed the room. I felt like one moment Quinn was at the far side by the window and the next moment he was standing directly in front of me, no more than three feet of air, and clothes, separated us.

"N-no. Not necessarily. I just wanted to be prepared."

"Prepared for artic temperatures?"

"Prepared for any eventuality."

"Like what? Poker in a freezer? ~ Penny Reid

Only you get to decide how you stand, what you stand for, and when you do it. ~ Penny Reid

I know you want adventure, I know you want to see the world. But love is the greatest adventure, where you risk the most for the greatest reward. What good will all this exceptional living do if you're doing it only for yourself? ~ Penny Reid

I had no intention of drinking tequila with Quinn.
Quinn plus tequila equaled Quinquelia and that sounded like something that happens in Mexican jails. ~ Penny Reid

You want to get breakfast?" Like- like this?"

He gave me a small sardonic smile as he turned, "No, obviously I'll get some clothes on. ~ Penny Reid

The carpet would be stained ... so what ? It happens. Shit happens.
And yet, why was it necessary for shit to happen all over the apartment I'd just cleaned? Why couldn't they have shit outside ? ~ Penny Reid

Take romance for instance. Fictional women in romance novels never get their period. They never have morning breath. They orgasm seventeen times a day. And they never seem to have jobs with bosses. ~ Penny Reid

Curious, I asked, "Why do I scare you so much?"

"You don't scare me," she responded immediately, sounding defensive.

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

Jennifer let the spoon fall into the batter bowl and leaned against the counter, her eyes lifting for the briefest of seconds. "You don't scare me, I'm just . . . I'm just nervous."

"Why're you nervous?"

"Because . . . because . . . because you're dangerous. And I have a hard time believing your revenge plan involved anything as benign as a male stripper."

"Make no mistake, George is not benign. He is an eighty-five-year-old committed professional and brings his gun. Well, he brings both his guns. ~ Penny Reid

I do quite like the idea of mutual ownership. ~ Penny Reid

I don't want my decisions to be about what will make me more appealing to the opposite sex. I want my decisions to be about making a difference, being a good person."
"You do care," he said flatly. "Everyone cares. Every single person on his earth wants to be desired, wants to be wanted."
"Okay, let me rephrase then. I don't want to care. I strive to not care. ~ Penny Reid

He needed to pick one muffin, and stick with that muffin. He didn't get to lay claim to all the muffins, because that's not how life worked. ~ Penny Reid

I can tell you there are as many kinds of love in the world as there are stars in the sky. ~ Penny Reid

Every character, or actor, on Friends is too pretty. I can't suspend reality for people that good looking - again it's a fantasy. I keep thinking, where are their normal looking friends? Are they only willing to be friends with young, beautiful, thin people of average height? And why is their apartment so big? That's a huge apartment for New York." I shrugged. "It bothers me. ~ Penny Reid

Usually, but not always, a story is told mostly for the benefit of the teller. The story (...) demonstrates how the teller has lived a life full of adventure, of meaning; that they're comical, self-deprecating, and brave; that they're ultimately a person worth knowing.
It's as though folks need to remind themselves of their own worth, and they do this by telling and retelling their favourite eleven or twelve stories, the anecdotes that fundamentally define who they are. ~ Penny Reid

It's just one of those things people talk about. Like, if you could have a superpower, what would it be?"
"I'd like to be able to fly," Cletus responded as though her question had been asked in earnest.
"Not be invisible? Or read minds? Or be omniscient?" Roscoe suggested.
Cletus shook his head. "Certainly not. That'd be redundant because I'm already all of those things."
"Then make it rain blueberries," Roscoe teased. ~ Penny Reid

Just because you don't feel calm, doesn't mean you can't be calm. ~ Penny Reid

I saw his eyes widen and his mouth fall open and his expression change from stoic to stunned.

Quinn Sullivan had lost his composure.

He looked completely astonished and it took my entire slow march down the aisle for him to recover ~ Penny Reid

Tell her. Confess.
If I told her now, she might not give me cake.
Daniel, confess.
But... cake.
No cake until you confess.
Shit. ~ Penny Reid

However, the more stressful my situation is, the less I think about it, or anything related to it. At present , I thought about how the elevators were like mechanical horses, and I wondered if anyone loved them or named them. ~ Penny Reid

Unrequited love was typically my favorite kind of love. The non-reciprocal nature of it appealed to me in much the same way boy bands appealed to me; it was theoretical love because it was untested - hopeless in its one-sidedness, yet tragically inspiring. ~ Penny Reid

You know those French impressionists; all they did was fornicate, drink absinthe, and play dominoes. ~ Penny Reid

I can't think of anything I want to do more than take you for a ride twice a day." He ~ Penny Reid

Sometimes doing nothing is what we're called to do, I think. Does that make sense? In any relationship, sometimes we play the lead, and sometimes we follow. ~ Penny Reid

I suppose, all traditions sound silly when explained or discussed.
I nodded at this truth. It was a good thought, worth remembering, worthy of further contemplation. I tucked it away as a data point to be mulled over later. ~ Penny Reid

I'm not talking about the girl who wants to have fun and a good time with no strings attached. I'm talking about the girl who's looking for a free ride after the ride ends. ~ Penny Reid

He was ... blindingly beautiful, and wealthy, and my boss; all really good reasons why we were not suitable.
But, I really, really liked him. He was damn sexy and interesting and crazy smart and annoyingly insightful. I had to trust that there was something about me that he saw and liked enough to abandon his slamps and his Wendell lifestyle. I didn't like trusting, I didn't like setting greater than mild expectations, but I wanted to have faith in him. Call it wine, call it Quinn-sniff induced obscurity but I was too warm and fuzzy feeling to dwell on the scary side of strip poker. ~ Penny Reid

she's too quiet about it."

"Isn't that the point of leading by example?" Kat frowned at her ball of yarn, more of a tangled mass of yarn than a ball.

"Yes, mostly. But if you don't ever say anything, then how can others follow your example? All the good works get lost in the background noise. I think there are two parts to leading by example: do what you say, and say what you do. ~ Penny Reid

sometimes people are thoughtless, and they make mistakes. I mean, yeah, ideally, let's do our best to be responsible. However, no one is perfect. That's why we have the concept of consequences and forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't mean there's no consequences, it just means we accept and deal with the consequences, and then we move forward. ~ Penny Reid

My smile grew. "Yeah. Me and Drew."
His eyes narrowed. "Is it serious?"
I nodded, my smile morphing into a giant grin. "Yep. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's a chronic condition. ~ Penny Reid

What?" I whispered, suspicious, still fighting my flare of hormones. Or, more precisely, whoremones. That's ~ Penny Reid

Stop what?"
"Stop having an entire discussion without me. ~ Penny Reid

After Shelly left the bedroom earlier, I'd gone through my stuff, looking for something decent to wear. All I had were jeans and T-shirts, so I picked the least worn of each and pulled them on. Then I put on socks. My momma always said you should meet a guest in shoes, family in socks, and friends in bare feet.

I don't know why she said this, but it stuck with me. ~ Penny Reid

They were all watching me with open concern and curiosity; the only sound breaking the silence was Sandra munching on potato chips. "I'm ~ Penny Reid

I love the fire most because of what it leaves behind ...
Ash. It leaves behind ash. ~ Penny Reid

Martin heaved a heavy sigh, settling deeper into the cushions of the couch. "Like I said, everyone is the main character in their own story. Even villains."
I shook my head. "I don't know ... Not necessarily. I mean, sometimes the story is bigger than the characters, like Jurassic Park. The Park was really the central focus of the story, and all the characters were secondary to the Park. Their only purpose was to react to the Park."
Martin yawned, set his now empty beer on the coffee table, and closed his eyes. "That's because dinosaurs are awesome. We're all sidekicks to dinosaurs."
"Or dinner. ~ Penny Reid

He was so adept - so very, very gifted - at stoking my fire then leaving me with a giant lady hard-on. In fact, I suspected maybe this was his superpower. ~ Penny Reid

As a child psychiatrist, I knew too much about the statistics of foster care - less than one percent graduate college with a bachelor's degree, more than fifty percent of foster kids end up homeless after reaching eighteen, and most are dead by twenty-six. ~ Penny Reid

More recently, my father has been impressed with how Billy basically started at the bottom of Payton Mills and has worked himself up to South East Region Vice President."

Cletus frowned. "Is that his title?"

"My father thinks so. And he's certain Billy wants to run for state senate. Both my parents like the idea of having a son-in-law in politics. I think that's why they like Jackson so much. I know he has plans to run for office."

"Jackson would make a great politician."

"I thought you didn't like Jackson?"

"I don't. Saying someone would make a great politician is like saying someone would make a great serial killer. It's not a compliment. ~ Penny Reid

We talked. We talked, and we laughed, and we had an amazing time. Conversation flowed like a beautiful waterfall, and my senses were saturated. Food came and went. Wine was poured and appeared out of nowhere. Time passed and I had no recollection or consciousness of anyone but Quinn being in that restaurant. ~ Penny Reid

Oh we're not together. I mean, we're sitting together and we came here together but obviously we're not together-together. How could we be together? I'm probably never going to see him again after today. We're not even friends. I don't even know him. I mean, you know, really-" I inclined my head toward her and a small laugh burst from my lips, "can you even imagine? It'd be like Planet of the Apes- and he's Charlton Heston with all the muscles and such and I'm that girl ape. They can't be together because it'd be like a Neanderthal with a human, cross species breeding ... and that's just not right. Although Neanderthals are closely related to humans and are in fact part of the same species- if you want to be precise- they are a sub-species or alternate species of human ... ~ Penny Reid

Oh, Abram. Please don't waste energy on this. Haters gonna hate, idiots gonna procreate. ~ Penny Reid

He was so silly. So I said, Duane, you are so silly. ~ Penny Reid

Duane pulled a chair out for me and claimed the seat adjacent as I sat. Or, I tried to sit. I didn't know quite how to sit. Sitting suddenly felt weird. I was super-conscious of my limbs. ~ Penny Reid

You have a big heart. I would never trade your mammoth, irrationally generous heart for a smaller, more frugal one. I love every square kilometer of it." A laugh tumbled from my lips and I lowered to the couch. "Really? It's that big?" "It should have its own zip code. And it's my third favorite thing about you. ~ Penny Reid

Watch out, knitters have balls.... ~ Penny Reid

I wasn't terribly surprised to find Greg standing outside the door to my suite. But I was impressed when he handed me a mug of hot coffee.

"I don't know what a xenophobic hermit requires in the morning, so I made coffee." His voice was hushed.

"Coffee works," I whispered and took a sip of the black liquid, found it magnificently strong, "as long as it was made with the tears of women and children."

Greg flashed me a grin that made my stomach do backflips. "Is there any other way to make coffee? ~ Penny Reid

Sure, but don't expect great observations. Mostly I just looked for dirty pictures hidden within the artwork. Did you know Monet put a boob in all his paintings? Apples and Grapes - get it? I mean, come on. The guy was a horn-dog. ~ Penny Reid

He smiled, fitting his hand in mine. "Parker, I love you."
"Sandeke, I see your love, and I raise you a secret handshake. ~ Penny Reid

Hmm . . ." I squinted, disliking the possibility that there could be two sides to this woman. As a rule, I don't believe in hidden depths, where hidden depths were defined as admirable butpreviously unnoticed qualities. I noticed everything.

Manufactured depths? Yes.

Disguised depths? Perhaps.

But not hidden depths. ~ Penny Reid

Repo cast a narrowed glare over me. "You're saying that Banana Cake girl - "

"She's a queen, not a girl."

He huffed impatiently. "Her majesty of bananas is your woman?"

I gave an affirmative head bob.

The three men traded stares, silently communicating with their eyeballs. This time I didn't mind ~ Penny Reid

Nothing is more frustrating than being attracted to someone who is a complete jerk – except for maybe also caring about that person despite continued abuses. I was such an idiot. ~ Penny Reid

Middling brothers. Goddamn chickens, the lot of them. ~ Penny Reid

Why did it have to be Sir McHotpants? Why couldn't they have sent Colonel Mustard le Mustache or Lady Jelly O'Belly? ~ Penny Reid

But I want to be your only source of romantic situations from this point forward. ~ Penny Reid

waiting for the other shoe to drop. Did you know it originated in cities like Chicago and New York?" "No. I did not" He tilted his head, his mouth hooking upward to one side as though he were trying not to laugh. "Tell me about it."He was teasing me again. "Well, it did. So…"He lifted his eyebrows, "That's all? You're not going to tell me the specific origin of the idiom waiting for the other shoe to drop'?"I shook my head, "I don't know it."He mimicked me and shook his head in response, "You're lying. You do know.""Nope. I don't.""This is just like the mammals." He sighed and placed his phone on the table. Before he took a bite from his sandwich he said, "You're stingy with information."My frowned deepened, "No, I'm not-"His words were somewhat garbled as he spoke between chewing, "You're an information tease.""What?!""Or maybe you don't really know the origin and you're just making things up to impress me-" he took another bite. "I am not! It originates from the late industrial revolution, in the late 19th and early 20th century.Apartments were all built with the same floor plan, in similar design so one tenant's bedroom was
under another's. Therefore it was normal to hear an upstairs neighbor removing his or her shoes and hearing one shoe hit the floor, then the other, when they undressed at night.""I wonder what else they heard." His gaze held mine, seemed to burn with a new intensity."I suppose anything that was loud enough. ~ Penny Reid

And, by the way, thank you for drugging me with Ketamine in Nigeria. He now thinks I'm a recreational drug user." "You're . . . welcome? ~ Penny Reid

You're going to wear that?" Jackson lifted his chin, indicating my outfit. I glanced down at myself. Seeing nothing wrong with my blue jeans, hiking boots, and long-sleeved purple Henley with the top four buttons undone. I returned Jackson's scowl with a frown. "And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" "Your shirt is half undone, your boobs are busting out, and those jeans are awfully tight." I crossed my arms under my chest and glared at my brother. "Are you calling me fat?" "No. I'm saying that outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination. I don't want that Winston boy getting ideas." Meanwhile, I wanted Duane to get lots of ideas. ~ Penny Reid

if you're not just a little bit afraid of letting down one or both of your parents, then you must've had shitty parents. I'm not talking about paralyzing fear - paralyzing fear also means shitty parents - I'm talking about a sliver of worry, a shard of concern. Take my parents, for example. I couldn't care less what my pop thought. He was a shitty parent. ~ Penny Reid

Because I'm not thinking about the fiber content in stain resistant carpet." My eyes remained stubbornly shut.
"What does that mean?"
"It means ... " I lifted my lids and found him surveying me with simple curiosity. I swallowed a new thickness in my throat, knowing that I needed to tell him the truth. "It means my brain finds you more interesting than all the really interesting trivial facts I could be contemplating or researching at present."
His answering smile was leisurely, measured; "I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. ~ Penny Reid

Don't you think everyone deserves a chance?"
"A chance?"
"Yes, a chance."
"What – what kind of chance?" ...
"Yes. Everyone deserves a chance."
He gave me one of his barely there smiles, just a hint of a smile, and licked his lips, "Then I want my chance. ~ Penny Reid

He closed his eyes and grew rigid beneath me. "Don't give me that look."

"What look? Your eyes are closed, you can't see me."

"I feel the look. It's the Fiona death stare of cruel disappointment."

"I have a cruel disappointed look?"

"Yes. It's like getting a spanking, and not the good kind. ~ Penny Reid

Why does everyone call him Mr. Sullivan?"

Steven placed a generous portion of shaved ginger on his sushi and lifted his eyebrows at me, "What do you want me to call him? Sully? Quinning the winning? ~ Penny Reid

This is just your penis having the feels for my vagina. Your penis is making prank calls! and every single time your penis makes a prank call, my vagina answers the phone. And then you hang up. Or your penis claims wrong number or misdial or no hablo Ingles. It's infuriating, and it's called genital call me maybe. ~ Penny Reid

Jethro huffed a laugh and shook his head. "You know, Beau. You're a lot more like Cletus then you let on."

"Thank you." Beau grinned at me. "In lightof recent events, I'll take that as a compliment. ~ Penny Reid

He threw his hands up. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing - "

"That's bullshit, and you know it." He took a deep breath, clearly trying to rein in his temper, and lowered his voice. "For weeks now you've been giving me the silent treatment."

"I've been giving you the silent treatment? That'shilarious."

Our entire life had been one giant episode of Duane giving everybody the silent treatment interrupted by short bursts conversation, mostly initiatedby me. ~ Penny Reid

I may be broken, but all my pieces are yours. ~ Penny Reid

I sat back in my seat and stared out the windshield, much of what I knew about the order of the universe rearranging itself. Perhaps Jennifer Sylvester wasn't feeble after all. Perhaps Jennifer Sylvester was fierce.

That makes no sense. Nobody is that good at playing possum. Well . . . nobody but me. ~ Penny Reid

He gazed at me with something that felt like wonder and said, his voice a quiet rumble, "I don't think I'll keep score with you. ~ Penny Reid

I shut the car door as quietly as possible and quickly maneuvered to the front porch, climbing the steps two at a time, and rushing to the door. I knocked. Loudly. Several times. And then I waited.

My heart was lodged in my throat so I tried to swallow past it. I couldn't show weakness. I needed to be tough.

I can be tough. I nodded, shifting from one foot to the other. I can be real tough. You can't be a sissy and make fifty loaves of bread in a day. That's a lot of kneading. I'm tough as nails. I'm basically the Rocky Balboa of bakers. I'm unstoppable! Aint nobody gunna -

The door swung open. I jumped back a half step. My voice failed me. ~ Penny Reid

My previous outlook could be summed up as follows: Life is shit. Math makes sense. Fictional characters are superior to real people because real people are equal parts pitiful and predictable. ~ Penny Reid

I might cry later, at home, while watching Steel Magnolias and dressed like a homeless person. Sometimes I applied mascara before crying just to heighten the experience. ~ Penny Reid

I felt dichotomously dismayed and dazedly giddy by the prospect. ~ Penny Reid

Nothing screams lady-mind-porn like a hot, shirtless, sexy man doing dishes after giving her a reason to be exhausted. ~ Penny Reid

I reached for something to hold on to and ended up leaning against the wall behind me ~ Penny Reid

We fought over the bill when it came. By fought I mean: I insisted loudly on paying half and he responded with beleaguered silence. Instead of discussing it or attempting to engage in my one-sided conversation, he wordlessly put his credit card in the holder; he kept it carefully out of my reach as I continued to list all the reasons we should split the check, not the least of which was that we'd agreed earlier that this was not a date,
then handed it stealthily to the waiter as he passed. I was still oblivious, making my case, when Quinn signed the receipt."Wait- what are you doing?" I looked from him to the paper slip.Silence. Scribble. Silence. "Did you just sign that? Was that the check?" My voiced hitched, my eyes wide with pseudo outrage. He glanced up at me, something like mock innocence lighting his features, and said, "I'm sorry. Did you want to split that? ~ Penny Reid

But still, big fucking kaboom. The earth shook, the angels sang, the heavens opened. St. Pete tossed me a high-five. He might've winked - dirty old bird - and I might've also forgotten my name. ~ Penny Reid

There is just something about women who spend hours and hours knitting a sweater with mind-blowingly expensive yarn, when they could just buy a sweater for a fraction of the price - not to mention the time saved doing so - that lends itself to acceptance and patience for the human condition. ~ Penny Reid