“I couldn’t picture myself with a boyfriend, but if i had to, i envisioned a nice normal guy who turned in his math homework on time and maybe even played rec baseball.”

Did you hear something, nora? Vee asked. I thought i heard something. You definitely heard something, i agreed. Could that be a dog fart i heard? Vee asked me.

Or, if you decide you want to sleep at my place, on opposite sides of my bedroom with a do not cross line drawn down the middle, i’ll do it. I won’t like it, but i’ll do it.

I love you more than i think i should.

The guy i’ve got my eye on happens to be hot. Off-the-charts hot. Hotter-than-patch hot.’ she paused. ‘well maybe not that hot. Nobody’s that hot.

I needed him like i’d never needed anyone.

You smell good, too, said patchit’s called a shower. I was staring straight ahead. When he didn’t answer, i turned sideways. Soap. Shampoo. Hot water.Naked. I know the drill.

He tasted deeper, holding himself over me, and suddenly he was everywhere; his knee trapping my leg, his lips grazing warm, rough, sensuous. He splayed his hand at the small of my back, holding me tightly, driving me to sink my fingers deeper into him, clinging to him as if letting go would mean losing part of myself.

The archangel.” i murmured. Looking back over my shoulder at the ride, which had started its next ascent. “it means high-ranking angel.” there was a definite smugness to his voice. “the higher up, the harder the fall.

Let me show you, he said in my ear. Like this. Feel that? Relax. Now pivot your hipsits all in the hips.

Are you defending marcie? He shook his head. I dont need to. She handled herself. You, on the other hand i pointed at the door. Out.

Did i really want to stay on this road longer, knowing it was only going to end in devastation?

The subjects pulse increased on contact, he said. Dont write that.

Vee: and i’m not going to let you sit at home all afternoon with your sour face on. Nora: i don’t have a sour face. Vee: yes, you do. And you’re wearing it right now. Nora: this is my annoyed face. You woke me up at six in the morning!

I could get you to smile like that, and without sales tax.

My legs are falling asleep, i blurted. It wasnt a total lie. I was experiencing tingling sensations all through my body, legs included. I could solve that. Patchs hands closed on my hips.

Any happiness, no matter how brief, seemed better than the long, simmering torture of waking up day after day, knowing i could never have him.

I love the flow of the game. There’s a certain fluidity to basketball. I don’t enjoy watching baseball or football in the same way.

In my opinion I really haven’t done anything yet. I still have a lot to prove. I just want to prove to myself that I can play at the highest level of baseball in the world every day.

I hope baseball doesn’t get to the point where everyone’s saying, ‘He takes it [steroids]. He takes it. He takes it!’ because not all of us do. I’ve been big my whole life, and I’ll always be big. That’s all natural.

In baseball, it’s tough to get up for every single game, every single moment. In football, you have 90,000 fans screaming and the band’s playing. I do miss that

At Texas, I was a football player playing baseball. And the way I play I think I still am.

I have fun. I always have fun. I don’t really get in a hurry about anything. I just try to go with the flow and have fun, and that’s how I try to play baseball.

I grew up in the ’60s, which was a creative time, so it wasn’t that big of a stretch to go from a baseball bat to a guitar to a film camera.

There’s nothing bad that accrues from baseball.