“Then over late-night dinners, this boy and I destroyed each other with words so cruel and careful they made a kind of poetry. We sanded each other down until we practically shone. But eventually we were so broken that all it took was one touch of tenderness for him to betray me. it could have happened to me, too, but broken men are much more appealing than broken women. Broken men inspire longing. Broken women are just looking to get kicked further down the drain.”