I probably should have been used to that by now — but I wasn’t. I had a feeling Edward wasn’t the kind of person anyone got used to.

I was wishing that I could believe that you were real. And I was wishing that I wasn’t afraid.

I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck.

I promise to try to be safe. I’ll do the laundry tonight — that ought to be fraught with peril.

Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him — and I didn’t know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

He came to rest with the side of his face pressed tenderly against my chest. Listening to my heart.

When I came here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.

I wanted to close that little distance, to reach out and touch him, but I was afraid he wouldn’t like me to.

His voice was like melting honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.