“Sooner or later, you have to accept that you’re not responsible for other people’s choices. Worse, sometimes you can’t fix what’s wrong with them.”

The past and the future were two places I had no business being. The only thing that mattered was right now. And right now…well, I still felt like shit.

“It’s just life is so much harder than I thought it would be,” I confessed. “I thought if I had a plan and followed the rules, it would be easy.”

For once in my life, I didn’t want a gold star. I wanted someone to see me. Really see me for the hot mess I was.

Was there someone out there who would find me to be enough? Not too much or too little, but the person they’d been waiting for their whole life.

I’m going to find the kind of man who wants an uppity, needy pain in the ass. One who wants to wade into my mess and stay for the duration.

“You know what they say about fine. Fucked up. Insecure. Neurotic. And emotional,”

“I understand,” she said. “I’m a lot. Waylay’s a lot. This whole thing is a lot. Even on my best day, I’m too much and yet not enough.” Her laugh was humorless.

Things I didn’t want to dissect because it felt good, and I didn’t want to waste time wondering how it was going to go bad.