R. Cooper > Quotes

“Not want you?” His voice was rough. “Everett, I'd lay you down right now in this thin blanket of snow and take you.” Everett's eyes widened, but Alex's mind was racing, the images coming at him too quick for him to hold them back. “The cold air would touch you and then my mouth.” He moved back into Everett's space, and Everett groaned. “My hands. Naked, Everett. I could bite your long limbs and lick the grace from your words and shock the neighbors with what obscenities I'd drive from your lips.”
― R. Cooper, A Wealth of Unsaid Words

“Desperately hoping other gays know how gay you are without you saying anything is gay culture.”
― R. Cooper, Jericho Candelario's Gay Debut

“When he loved something, he loved it, and that was all there was to it. He also tended to express that devotion the way he thought, in random, fast, seemingly disconnected ways.”
― R. Cooper, Checking Out Love

“Chalk again?" Cal seemed almost disappointed. "Too bad there's no chalk monster."
Penn snorted with amusement. Chalk monster. That was like saying it was a vampire. Everyone knew vampires didn't exist. Zombies who drank blood to stay alive. Ridiculous.”
― R. Cooper, Some Kind of Magic

“Of Human Bondage?"

Will said quickly, moving just out of sight for a moment and forcing Charlie to move to the edge of the dining area to see him. He tossed one arch look over his shoulder as he reached up to grab that book, and even knowing it was an act, Charlie felt himself tensing. His eyes fell on the leather cuff at Will's wrist, as they were probably meant to.

"Kinky."

Charlie's throat locked. "I'm not..."

"Into Bette Davis? I know, a lot of people find her scary at first, but after awhile you really start to get into her."

The completely reasonable tone was at odds with the wicked light in the kid's eyes, the way his lips were curved up, how he held his breath when Charlie blinked and frowned, replaying the insane words until they made sense. Until he remembered that Bette Davis was in the film version of that novel, until he could finally take his gaze off that wide leather band.

His face was burning.

"Smartass," he muttered, completely mystified when being called a smartass made Will hop in place, since Will had already made it clear that he had a brain under all that hair and glitter.”
― R. Cooper, Play It Again, Charlie

“It's okay to be afraid. Sometimes there are good reasons to be.”
― R. Cooper, His Mossy Boy

“You cannot settle and be happy.”
― R. Cooper, Dancing Lessons

“Nonsense. Every month it’s the same routine, and when you are late, I am late. Do you think I want to get my chestnuts roasted for your incompetence?”
― R. Cooper, Casper Gets His Wish

“So,” Cory hummed, “you like men who can feed you.” He appeared thoughtful.”
― R. Cooper, Vincent's Thanksgiving Date

“was more than nerves, that he felt like he was gasping for air when he tried to speak. He didn’t understand why other people found silence so uncomfortable when it had never bothered him. But every time he was quiet for too long, he could see people start to wonder what was wrong with him. Then he’d get cold and his palms would get sweaty, and he’d know from the knot in his stomach that he’d done it again; he’d alienated someone else with his inability to talk politely about things that didn’t matter.”
― R. Cooper, Vincent's Thanksgiving Date

“...dancing and love should never evoke the same fear as wars and murder.”
― R. Cooper, The Firebird and Other Stories

“Some people pointed out that trust is necessary for creatures to share a spoken or written language.” That got him another startled blink. “You see, because words reference things that aren’t necessarily there at the time, so they could be lies. There’s no reason to trust words, since words can be faked, unlike primal noises.”
― R. Cooper, Checking Out Love

“Interacting with the straight world takes effort for most of us. There's a kind of visible relief in someone when they realize they can relax.”
― R. Cooper, Jericho Candelario's Gay Debut

“Jha, an inexplicable, overwhelming attraction, a pull from deep in the body toward someone else. And absolutely the worst thing for anyone in Taji’s position to feel.”
― R. Cooper, Taji from Beyond the Rings

“You can apologize if you’re sorry for hurting his feelings, but you will not apologize for your own,”
― R. Cooper, Izzy and the Right Answer

“Human emotions are puzzling and an embarrassment to all we have achieved as a species,”
― R. Cooper, Izzy and the Right Answer

“Ever see yourself doing the same thing over and over?” he wondered, not expecting an answer. “And inside you’re screaming, Why do I keep doing this? Why am I so stupid? Because you know how it will end, and yet you do it anyway. And more of you seems to get stripped away each time until all that’s left is this hopeful”—he curled his hands into fists—“idiot who never learns.”
― R. Cooper, A Dandelion for Tulip

“Taji was being touched more tonight than he had been in months. One begrudging bridal carry and two kicks to the shin. He was on a roll.”
― R. Cooper, Taji from Beyond the Rings

“Your name is Cory,” Vincent blurted, belatedly remembering he’d never acknowledged it. Then he froze, wishing he could hide his head in his hands. He might as well have admitted to Cory that he was going to imagine himself saying that name later, in embarrassingly intimate situations.”
― R. Cooper, Vincent's Thanksgiving Date

“Loneliness could turn a person inward, leave them without a bridge to the outside world.”
― R. Cooper, A Little Familiar

“A lifetime's habit of not asking for what he wanted, knowing he wouldn't get it, that he might get something worse, was not easy to shake.”
― R. Cooper, Jericho Candelario's Gay Debut

“Spit it out. Unless you still think spitters are quitters.” Davi elbowed him right in the ribs. “I was fifteen when I said that, and a virgin besides.”
― R. Cooper, Dancing Lessons

“A few minutes ago he’d been petrified, and now all he could think was that he refused, absolutely refused, to embarrass himself any more. The man was a historian. Once Arthur got over his appearance, he was going to remember that most historians were full of themselves and often boring, and he was going to feel very foolish.”
― R. Cooper, A Boy and His Dragon

“Halloween was a celebration of life through an awareness of death, and a reminder of the presence of spirits.”
― R. Cooper, A Little Familiar

“Iz did not have bad thoughts. Or at least, he did not allow the bad thoughts to win, though it took an exhausting amount of effort. He painted his nails Lilacs-in-June and Apple Blossom White and told himself he was scary, and brilliant, and only a bit freakish. He reminded himself that someone like Ronnie loved him as he struggled through extra credit work he didn’t care about and drifted through two on-campus guest lectures. He used depilatory cream because some days shaving was too much, and he stared at the circles under his eyes and wondered if it mattered whether or not he was beautiful if two particular people did not care. Those were perilous moments. He forced himself to get up in time to do his hair properly before class. No messy buns. No ponytails. He ate oatmeal for breakfast, every day, even if he forgot lunch and dinner. He sat outside if it was sunny, and returned to the library when it was not, so no one could say he hid in his bedroom. He did not go out with his friends. He did not visit or talk to anyone for long, except Giselle, who set him down in front of a period drama miniseries that lasted for hours as if that was any kind of distraction when Iz could barely focus.”
― R. Cooper, Izzy and the Right Answer

“I will give you all that you want.” It was a dangerous thing to say to someone like Taji, who would ask for everything out of curiosity, if nothing else.”
― R. Cooper, Taji from Beyond the Rings