Lia Carstairs

“I got caught,” Jean finally said. “I do not want to talk about it tonight.”
“Okay,” she said, and looped an arm around his waist. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
Jean moved without thinking, pressing a close- mouthed kiss to her temple the way she did whenever she thought he was unraveling. Cat’s arm went so tight around him he felt two vertebrae in his spine pop, but the smile she turned on him was bright.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Golden Raven

“I don’t want you to be like Zane,” Jean said, slow as he tried piecing it together. “I don’t want Coach to be like the master. I don’t want to teach Tanner contrition when he continuously fails my drills or to break my racquet over Cat’s back if I think she should have performed better. I don’t ever want to go back to how things were. Maybe you are fools, and I am the biggest fool for indulging you, but better to be reckless fools than Ravens.”​He held the nickel out toward Jeremy. “We will do it your way, and we will win anyway.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Golden Raven

“If I threw a rock into the chasm between your talents and his, I don’t think I’d ever hear it hit bottom.”​ It was so uncharacteristically rude Jean could only stare at him.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Golden Raven

“Kevin watched him work with a distant gaze. ​“When did you learn how to cook?” he asked. ​
“Cat is teaching me,” Jean said. He could have left it at that, but after a beat, he admitted, “I like it. It makes everything else go away for a while.” ​
He’d never hesitated to join Cat in the kitchen, but this was the first time he’d offered such an unguarded opinion of it. The smile that curved Cat’s lips was gentle; the look Laila sent Jean was fond. Kevin studied Jean like he wasn’t quite sure who he was looking at: not with any trepidation, but quietly reevaluating a man he’d known for so many years. For a moment Jeremy felt the history between them and was dizzy; in another he was keenly aware there was too much there for him to ever understand. ​
Kevin offered Jean a second arepa, waited for Jean to reach for it, and said, “I’m glad.”
― Nora Sakavic, The Golden Raven