More Than My Own Life

Fine,' Jared Snapped. 'but If You Try Cuddling Up To Me Tonight... So Help Me, O'shea." Ian Chuckled. ' Not To Sound Overly Arrogant, But To Be Perfectly Honest, Jared, Were I So Inclined, I Think I Could Do Better.

I Was An Empty Shell. Like A Vacant House―condemned―for Months I'd Been Utterly Uninhabitable. Now I Was A Little Improved. The Front Room Was In Better Repair. But That Was All―just The One Small Piece. He Deserved Better Than That―better Than A One-room, Falling-down Fixer-upper. No Amount Of Investment On His Part Could Put Me Back In Working Order.

Because There Was Nothing More Terrifying To Me, More Excruciating, Than The Thought Of Turning Away From Him. It Was An Impossibility.

Perhaps There Could Be No Joy On This Planet Without An Equal Weight Of Pain To Balance It Out On Some Unknown Scale.

After All, How Many Ways Can One Heart Be Mangled And Still Be Expected To Keep Beating?