When in Rome

“I think we'll get hurt a lot in this life, but maybe it's worth it because sometimes we will experience really amazing things, too. Maybe not everything will end in hurt. But we'll never know if we don't try.”

“Sometimes a woman is just worn out and needs a break, you know?” The lines on her forehead deepen. “That doesn’t prove that you’re weak or neglectful, it proves to all the women standing by and watching you pave the road to success that it’s okay to say no. It’s okay to shut your door every now and then and put up a sign that says Busy taking care of me today. Piss off.”

“No one loves anything they're miserably chained to.”

“Care is reckless because it doesn’t come with the seat belt that selfishness offers. Care has so much to lose, and almost always ends in heartbreak.”

“When the hell did it become such a crime to be selfish now and again?”

“I tell you what makes me madder than a hornet. When people tell other people how they should feel.”

“To me, you’re Amelia. Maker of shitty pancakes and a smile that rivals the sun. All I want is you.”

“Have you never loved something just for what it means to you?”

“But it’s time for both of us to stop padding our lives so we don’t feel bumps in the road anymore. I think we’ll get hurt a lot in this life, but maybe it’s worth it because sometimes we will experience really amazing things, too. Maybe not everything will end in hurt. But we’ll never know if we don’t try.”

“Dry your tears and kick this gloomy attitude in the pants, Amelia!" I say out loud to myself because who else does a girl talk to when she's alone in the car in the middle of a mental breakdown?”

“Dammit,” he whispers and then looks at me one more time. “You look very pretty.” I feel a smile in my soul before it reaches my lips. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” “It is for me.”

“But you own the key to your own lock and don’t you forget it. Set yourself free for a while and that love will come back, just you watch.”

“That doesn’t prove that you’re weak or neglectful, it proves to all the women standing by and watching you pave the road to success that it’s okay to say no. It’s okay to shut your door every now and then and put up a sign that says Busy taking care of me today. Piss off.”

“Sometimes people decide not to like me for the most arbitrary reasons. Sometimes it's just because I'm famous, and successful people make them uncomfortable. Sometimes it's because I voted differently than them. And sometimes it's because I frowned outside their favorite yogurt shop and now they want to cancel me forever because they think I'm against yogurt.”

“It’s not that Harriet is grumpy because she doesn’t like people—it’s that she’s nearly 100 percent certain she’s better than most people. Who knows, maybe she is.”

“He smiles. SMILES. It’s blinding. My heart stops and then starts again, galloping right out of my chest. Good Gouda, that man has gorgeous teeth. And crinkles beside his eyes. When he smiles like that, he looks so approachable and comfy that I want to drape myself over him and just squeeze him in a giant hug. He’s huggable. The Grumpy Pie Shop owner is absolutely huggable.”

“Do you at least have any romance books? Something steamy and emotional?” He laughs. “No.” “And you call yourself a reader. You should be ashamed.”

“It’s not infatuation. Not even lust. It’s the worst of all the feelings…care. Care is reckless because it doesn’t come with the seat belt that selfishness offers. Care has so much to lose, and almost always ends in heartbreak.”

“Noah is the blanket fort you used to make and hide in as a kid. So warm and reassuring.”

“If you don't intend to walk her down the aisle, then don't go dipping your toes in her pond.”

“He touches me like I’m precious to him. It makes me ache all the more.”

“And I realise in this moment, I’d do just about anything to make her laugh.”

“I’m pudding in her hands. Spineless, melted, wobbly, pointless pudding.”

“A surge of protectiveness rams through my body and suddenly I want to hunt down anyone who has ever turned her down for a game of Scrabble and force them to play all night with her.”

“This woman looks like a fantasy come to life. Plucked straight out of my best dreams and placed right in my living room. The audacity of her.”

“Mabel, I don’t love my career anymore. I haven’t even loved singing lately. That’s why I’m here.”“Well, of course you don’t darlin’. No one loves anything they’re miserably chained to. But you own the key to your own lock and don’t you forget it. Set yourself free for a while and that love will come back, just you watch.”

“It’s agony and heaven to have her confide in me. I shut my eyes against her words, because, dammit, I don’t want to feel anything toward her, but I do.”

“I don’t even know him and I feel safe. Noah is the blanket fort you used to make and hide in as a kid. So warm and reassuring.”

“Cause I grew up here. I speak dip. It’s a language in and of itself.”

“I miss her laugh. Her eyes. The curve of her smile, the feel of her skin, and even her shitty pancakes. What I wouldn’t give for a whole stack of them today.”