Reading it for the nth time enables me to feel different kind of feelings every time that I read it. And upon reading these lines again and again, makes my heart cry ‘cause it all just feels so real. (Spoiler ahead!!!) Levi is officialy the “c’mere” guy (and I love it – and at first, I thought it was some kind of foreign phrase like maybe French, Italian or something like that. Haha! I am so dumb) and he calls Cath “sweetheart”, its cheesy (let’s admit) but when he does, my heart hurts, ‘cause really, that’s one of his sweetest way (take note, one of his ways; because he has a lot).
So, let’s start now. Here are the lines that I love the most:
Cath started checking her e-mail. “Hey, Cath,” Levi said, kicking her chair. She could hear the teasing in his voice. “Will you warn me when you take off your glasses?”
-Chapter 7
If Cath knew Levi was in her room, she’d call and wait for him to come get her. But most nights she pressed 911 on her phone, then ran back to the dorm with her finger over the Call button.
-Chapter 8
His eyes sparkled. “Cather.” “I don’t exist to amuse you, you know.” “One, are you sure? Because you do. And, two, we don’t make fun of you. Very much. Anymore. And, three…” He was counting on his fingers, and his cheeks were twitching, and it was making Cath laugh. “Three,” he said, “I wont make fun of you, to anyone but you, from now on, if you’ll just once, right now, read me some of your fanfiction.”
-Chapter 12
At some point Levi had put his left arm around her and pulled her back against his chest --- she’d fidgeting and rubbing her back on the wall, and Levi just reached behind her and pulled her into him. Then his hand had fallen back down to the bed and stayed there. Except for when he stretched or moved. When he moved, Levi would bring his hand up to Cath’s shoulder to hold her against him while he adjusted. She could feel his chest rising when he breathed. She could feel his breath on her hair sometimes. When he moved his chin, it bumped into the back of her head. The muscles in Cath’s arms and her back and her neck were starting to ache, just from being held so long at attention. She lost her place in the book and stopped reading for a moment. Levi’s chin bumped into her head. “Take a break,” he said in a voice that wasn’t a whisper but was just as soft. She nodded, and he held her left elbow while he reached his right arm across her to get the glass of water. His body curved around her for a second, then settled back again against the wall. He kept his hand on her elbow. Cath took a drink, then settle down the water. She tried not to squirm, but her back was stiff, and she arched it against him. “You okay?” he asked. She nodded again. And then she felt him slowly moving. “Here…” Levi slid down the wall onto the bed, resting on his side, then tugged Cath down so she was lying on her back in front of him --- his arm beneath her head like a pillow. She relaxed her shoulders and felt warm flannel against the back of her neck. “Better?” he asked in his superscript voice. He was looking at her face. Giving Cath a chance to say no without having to say it out loud. She didn’t speak. Or nod. Or answer. Instead she looked down and shifted slightly toward him onto her side, leaning the book against his chest. She started reading again, and felt Levi’s elbow curve around her shoulder.
.....
“ ‘When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. . . .’ “ Cath closed the book and let it fall on Levi’s chest, not sure what happened next. Not sure she was awake, all things considered. The moment it fell, he pulled her into him. Onto him. With both arms. Her chest pressed against his, and the paperback slid between their stomachs. Cath’s eyes were half closed, and so were Levi’s – and his lips only looked small from afar, she realized, because of their doll-like pucker. They were perfectly big, really, now that she had a good look at them. Perfectly something. He nudged his nose against hers, and their mouths fell sleepily together, already soft and open. When Cath’s eyes closed, her eyelids stuck. She wanted to open them. She wanted to get better look at Levi’s too-dark eyebrows, she wanted to admire his crazy, vampire line – she had a feeling this was never going to happen again and that it might even ruin what was left of her life, so she wanted to open her eyes and bear some witness. But she was so tired. And his mouth was so soft. And nobody had ever kissed Cath like this before. Only Abel had kissed her before, and that was like getting pushed squarely on the mouth and pushing back. Levi’s kisses were all taking. Like he was drawing something out of her with soft little jabs of his chin. She brought her fingers up to his hair, and she couldn’t open her eyes. Eventually, she couldn’t stay awake.
-Chapter 15
“No,” Cath said, “seriously. Look at you. You’ve got your shit together, you’re not scared of anything. Im scared of everything. And im crazy. Like maybe you think im a little crazy, but I only ever let people see the tip of my crazy iceberg. Underneath this veneer of slightly crazy and socially inept, im a complete disaster.”
.....
“It doesn’t matter,” Reagan said. “He already likes you. I think he’s into the nerdy schoolgirl thing. He talks about you like you’re something he found in a natural history museum.” This confirmed everything Cath had ever feared about Levi wanting to buy a ticket to her freak show. “That’s not a good thing,” she said. “If is if it’s Levi,” Reagan said. “He loves that stuff. When he gets really sad, he likes to walk around Morill Hall.” That was the museum on the campus. There were wildlife dioramas and the world’s largest mammoth fossil. “He does?” God that’s cute. Reagan rolled her eyes. “Come on.”
-Chapter 16
“I know you’re a decent guy,” she said. “And I want to forgive you; it’s not like you cheated on me – I mean, it’s only kind of like that. But even if I do forgive you . . . “ She pulled on his new sweater, stretching it. “I don’t think I’m any good at this. Boy-Girl. Person-person . I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more that I care about someone, the more sure I am they’re going to get tired of me and take off.”
……
They sat next to each other on the shuttle, looking down at their hands because it was too bright on the bus to look at each other’s faces. Levi didn’t talk, and Cath didn’t worry about why not. When they got back to her room, they both knew it was empty and they both had keys. Levi unwrapped her scarf and pulled her forward by the tails briefly pressing his face into the top of her head. “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,” he said
-Chapter 25
“I’ve got this,” he said. “You get the door.” “No, seriously,” she said. “I can carry it.” Levi was all smiles and fond glances. “Sweetheart, get the door. I’ve got this.” Cath pressed her fingertips into her temples. “Did you just call me ‘sweetheart’?” He grinned. “It just came out. It felt good.” “Sweetheart?” “Would you prefer ‘honey’? That reminds me of my mom. . . . What about ‘baby’? No. ‘Loveboat’? ‘Kitten’? ‘Rubber duck’?” He paused. “You know what? I’m sticking with ‘sweetheart’.” “I don’t even know where to start,” Cath said. “Start with the door.” “Levi. I can carry my own gross, dirty laundry.” “Cath. I’m not going to let you.”
-Chapter 26
She smiled, and her eyes started to drift downward. “Cather. . .” Back up to his eyes. “You know that I’m falling in love with you,right?”
-Chapter 31
Levi was all soft motion and breath, curves and warm hollows. Levi’s chest was a living thing. “You’re beautiful,” she said. “That’s you.” “Don’t argue with me. You’re beautiful.”
-Chapter 33
“You said she was hot.” “When?” “When you met her.” Levi looked confused for second, one eyebrow arched beautifully. “You called her Superman,” Cath said. “Cather,” he said, remembering, “I was trying to get your attention. I was trying to say that you were hot without actually saying it.” “Well, it sucked.” “I’m sorry.” He reached out for her waist again. She kept looking down at the eggs. “I know that you like me,” she said. “You know that I love you.”
-Chapter 34
This is just literally a huge spoiler. And if you’re still not yet convinced to read this book, I just don’t know. Haha!
*Note: I do not own any of these words. These belong to Rainbow Rowell. And I can’t thank her enough for writing this because I feel the happiest when I am reading this over and over again. So, thank you so much, RR.
