Taylor Swift on Falling in Love: "I Don't Think It Through"

USMagazine, Thursday, November 22, 2012, 11:30am (PST)

Taylor Swift has never had a problem saying those three little words.

In the Nov. 25 issue of Parade, the 22-year-old "I Knew You Were Trouble" singer -- who split with high school senior Conor Kennedy, 18, in late October -- opens up about her much-talked about love life.

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"I don't think there's an option for me to fall in love slowly, or at medium speed. I either do or I don't. I don't think it through, really, which is a good and a bad thing," Swift admits. "You don't look before you leap, which is like, 'Yay, this is awesome! Let's not think twice!' And then you're like, 'We used to be flying. Now we're falling. What's happening?'"

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Swift -- who's written breakup ditties about everyone from Taylor Lautner to Joe Jonas -- says she isn't sure she's ever been in love. "I tend to think things are love and then look back and reevaluate," she explains. "I know how many people I've said 'I love you to' to. I could probably count it up, but I don't feel like it. Part of me feels like you can't say you were truly in love if it didn't last. If I end up getting married and having kids, that's when I'll know it's real -- because it lasted."

For now, at least, settling down isn't Swift's top priority. "People think I want to get married really young -- I don't know why," says the singer, currently flirting with One Direction's Harry Styles, 18. "I'm a romantic person, but that doesn't mean I want to miss out on being in my young 20s."

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After failed romances with John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal, the "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" chart topper admits she has a thing for bad boys with a heart of gold. "There's a really interesting charisma involved. They usually have a lot to say, and even if they don't, they know how to look at you to say it all," Swift tells Parade. "I think every girl's dream is to find a bad boy at the right time, when he wants to not be bad anymore."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Taylor Swift on Falling in Love: "I Don't Think It Through"