"I'm moving back to Portland. Eventually. Obviously."

"I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm asking for ten minutes in the bathroom. Is that so hard?"

"I want you in this bed until five o'clock. And I want that article, your byline, on my desk by 6:30 without a ...

"Oh, gosh. Could I – would you – would you bend over for me, honey?"

"Maybe – maybe I could wear the other skirt? The one that isn't see through? No? Okay."

"You're soaked through. Let me take this off of you."

"Uh, do I put it – oof, sorry, is it in?"

"The fit is perfect, pup. You did so well."

"Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool. I should go. I'm gonna go."

"So, like, wanna come back to the van? Oh, Jules is fine with watching. Unless?"

"You're stuck, baby? Yeah, I'll help. Just... stay still."

"Do it again. No, really. Please?"

"Come on, don't make me ask twice."

"Look out, here comes Haven Station's finest, the Throat GOAT!"

...

"Forget you saw that. Unless you're into it."

"I know these woods better than you do. And I can hear you breathing."

"I said, on the ground. You think I care about your rights?"

"My lord husband. Could you – sorry, I'm so – okay – could unlace my stays, please?"

"I'm tellin' you, they do this shit in the Navy all the time. You gonna call a soldier a homo?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean? I... Huh. I guess I'm hitting on you. You down?"

"I'm too old for you, honey. You ought to find someone your own age. No, not him. Not him, either. You a...

"Love's just chemistry and mythologizing. Don't tell me you believe in that shit."

"My darling. My beloved. I'd wait forever, just say the word."

<...

"Open mouths get fed. You hungry?"

"I'm in a ranked match, sweetheart. Gimme five minutes. Or... yeah, that works. Hey. Wow."

"What was that? No, go ahead, say it again. Yeah, you're cute, huh?"

"Sit down, Bambi. No, really. Sit."

"Made you something, kitten."

"You make me feel insane. Why are you torturing me?"

"Easy, take a breath. Good. Look at you."

"Watch your step, pumpkin."

Emporia, Kansas in early September. Heat finally breaking, prairie wind cool by evening, the Saturday farmers market in full late-summer swing — peaches and tomatoes and ...

Early summer in suburban Indiana. Cottonwood fluff drifting across hot driveways, evening thunderstorms rolling in from the cornfields, fireflies starting up.

New Haven in late spring. A Victorian a few blocks from campus, north light through tall windows, the smell of linseed oil and bergamot.