Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

My eyes focus on how her tongue drags across her bottom lip. I’m tempted to roll on top of her and kiss her.

She shakes her head. “Nope. Not going there right now with you.”

“Buzzkill.” I sigh. “Then tell me what else you wished for.”

“I wanted someone to appreciate my presence rather than destroy it.”

I frown, hating how she needs to wish for something like that in the first place. “Why did you wish for that?”

“That’s a story for another day.”

Fuck another day. I want the story now. “Come on.”

“Nope.”

“Fine for now. But how do you know the wish came true?”

“Because I met you.”

Shit. How does her simple statement make my heart pound harder against my chest?

Damn, I like this girl. I expect fear to infect my common sense, but nothing happens. Not a glimmer of anything other than happiness echoes through my body.

“Why are you sharing this with me?” That’s the best you can come up with? The girl is basically telling you she likes you, and you’re fucking it up. I’m an idiot. That’s the damn truth.

She laughs again, her smile banishing my thoughts. “I wanted to share the one thing that makes me vulnerable.”

“Why?”

“Because we all have weaknesses, Santiago. You believe yours is how you’re missing a leg, and I think mine is my crippling loneliness and preference for wishing instead of doing. I make wishes to combat the emptiness I feel from all the disappointments in my life. Wishes are the closest thing I have to magic.”

I want to tell her that the magic is within her, not some wishes scribbled in a journal. And I crave screwing over every person who has disappointed her and has threatened to destroy her happiness.

I say nothing, choosing to soak in her words. The hum of Chloe’s restorative energy fills me to the brim with something I can’t ignore anymore.

I want the real deal with her. The dates, the laughs, and the feeling she brings out of me time and time again.

She describes her loneliness as a weakness, but I only see it as a strength. While people like me shrivel away in the shadows, people like her create their own light. She’s like the moon who shines bright despite the never-ending darkness.

And she makes me want to wish that daylight never comes again.

24

Chloe

“Are you ready for our road trip?” I open the passenger door of Santiago’s G-Wagon. Thank God I have long legs because this SUV is a monster. I grab the hem of my boho skirt and use the step to hop inside the car.

“It’s less than two hours away. I drove in races longer than that.”

“Oh okay, Mr. I’m a famous racer, hear me brag. Are you forgetting I grew up in New York? I never went anywhere!”

Santiago gets into the driver’s seat and slides on a pair of Ray Bans. My eighties-obsessed heart sings at the sight. He’s a mix-up of every John Hughes’ character I love watching.

Please don’t get me started on his new look. I knew Santiago was sexy before, but I didn’t realize he was that sexy under his beard and long hair. Seriously, I don’t thin

k I have enough self-control to make it through a car ride next to him, let alone a whole weekend.

Santiago starts the car. “Is this your first time traveling outside of America?”