Quotes from Long After

Cheryl McIntyre ·  290 pages

Rating: (5.1K votes)


“You aren’t running from me, are you?” (Chase)
Her eyes meet mine and she smiles softly. “No. No running.”
“Good,” I say. “Because, regardless of my name, with this hard-on, I don’t think I could chase you.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“I think this is what love must be like. That one person that’s always inside your head, running through your thoughts before you even realize you’re thinking about them. That person you like thinking about all the time because the image of her makes you smile. The one that has you counting time by how soon you can see her again. The one that makes you feel good just by sharing the same air. The only one you want to touch your fingertips to and relish the sensation of her skin against yours. To kiss. To really kiss—mouths, lips, tongues, teeth, breaths. Eyes closed and world blocked out.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“Oh, joy. It’s going to be that kind of visit,” he says flatly. “Hold on. Let me gather all the fucks I give.” He pats his pockets and then his chest. “Okay, done,” he finishes, holding out empty palms. “What else do you want to complain about?”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“Nobody is perfect until you fall in love with them.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“Love. It turns you into a murder planning lunatic with a penchant for stalking.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After



“I want you to be sure I’m who you want. Because I’m not playing around here. I’m all in. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong, and I’m at the point that I don’t really give a shit anymore. But I’m putting it out there so at least you understand how I feel.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“I didn’t kiss you just then because I fucking care about you. I’ve cared about you for a long time. When I kiss you for the first time, it’s not going to be overpowered with grief and trepidation. And you aren’t going to jump when I touch you.” I bring my hand up, grazing it along her cheek. She trembles and I don’t know how to take that. “You can be pissed at me all you want—I’m used to it—as long as you understand that I wanted to kiss you. That it’s a struggle, even right now, to keep myself from tasting you. Shit, Annie. It’s always been a struggle with you. But I want your lips healed. Your heart whole. And I want you to be sure I’m who you want. Because I’m not playing around here. I’m all in. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong, and I’m at the point that I don’t really give a shit anymore. But I’m putting it out there so at least you understand how I feel.” I push”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“Screw this love shit. I’m done. Love isn’t a cure-all. It’s a fucking disease.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


“That’s crazy, right? No, there’s crazy, there’s fucked up, and then there’s me. I’m all alone on this level of insanity.”
― Cheryl McIntyre, quote from Long After


About the author

Cheryl McIntyre
Born place: in Ohio, The United States
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Popular quotes

“How strange it was to be inside a machine again! All his life he’d been inside machines, whether he realised it or not. Modern houses were machines. Shopping centres were machines. Schools. Cars. Trains. Cities. They were all sophisticated technological constructs, wired up with lights and motors. You switched them on, and didn’t spare them a thought while they pampered you with unnatural services.”
― Michel Faber, quote from The Book of Strange New Things


“Shelton pushed Ben lightly. “Remember when you couldn’t flare without losing your temper? So Hi kicked you from behind to get you mad, and you threw him in the ocean?”
Ben snorted. “He deserved it.”
“I was providing a service,” Hi protested. “I recall Tory once trying to eat a mouse.”
I pinched my nose. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
Ella giggled. “One time Cole lost his flare while carrying a boulder. It pinned his leg for an hour.”
Then everyone had a story. Our funeral became a wake.
The mood lifted as we swapped flare stories. It was cathartic. A way to say good-bye.
I caught Ben smiling at me. “I remember when Tory sniffed that mound of bird crap in the old lighthouse. I thought she’d vomit on the spot.”
Chance laughed. “I knew she was too clever. Always with a trick up her sleeve.”
The boys glanced at each other. Their smiles faded.
Something passed between them.
Abruptly, both looked at me.
I could see a question in their eyes. A resolve to see something through.
They talked. Oh God, they talked about me.
They’re going to make me choose.

In a flash of dread, I realized I could delay this no longer.
With another jolt, I realized I didn’t need to.
There was no point putting it off.
There was also no decision to make.
My eyes met a dark, intense pair staring back earnestly. Longingly. Fearfully.
I smiled. Even as my heart pounded.
Before anyone spoke, I stepped forward, legs shaking so badly I worried I might fall.
But my second foot successfully followed the first.
I walked over to Ben’s side.
Slipped my hand inside his.
Squeezed for dear life.
Ben’s eyes widened. He gasped quietly, his chest rising and falling.
I met his startled gaze. Smiled through my blushes.
A goofy smile split Ben’s face, one I’d never seen before. His fingers crushed mine.
No decision to make.
Tearing my eyes from Ben, I looked at Chance, found him watching me with a glum expression. Then he sighed, a wry smile twisting his lips.
Chance nodded slightly.
Not one word spoken. Volumes exchanged.
The silence stretched, like a living breathing force.
Finally, Hi cleared his throat. “Um.”
My face burned scarlet as I remembered our audience. Ella was gaping at me, a delighted grin on her face. Shelton looked like he might turn and run. Hi was rubbing the back of his neck, his face twisted in an uncomfortable grimace.
Still no one said a word.
This was the most painful moment of my life.
“So . . .” Hi drummed his thighs, eyes fixed to the pavement. “Right. A lot just happened there. Weirdly without anyone talking, but, um, yeah.”
― Kathy Reichs, quote from Terminal


“I twist my fingers through his hair, press my lips to his cheek. The words tangle in my throat, being born and dying a thousand times. I love you.
― Emily Henry, quote from The Love That Split the World


“I would have rather had a dad with change jingling in his pocket; one who would have spent the last forty minutes of the world raking leaves for his kids to jump in, so that they perished in one loud, bright instant, giggles still bubbling up from their bellies, never suspecting a thing.
Yeah, well. Tough luck, rich boy.”
― S.A. Bodeen, quote from The Compound


“For every God there is a Satan, and because God made all of us godly, there is a Satan in us all.”
― Felix O. Hartmann, quote from Dark Age


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