Collided (Dirty Air, #2)

by Lauren Asher

“God, I love your mouth.” He shoots me a smile that has my knees shaking. Somewhere between Shanghai and Germany, this happy yet noncommittal man wrapped his hands around my heart and owned me.

I love him from his head to his toes.

Falling in love is ugly like that. And damn if ours turns out to be the ugliest of them all.

“That’s my girl, fearless after ten pep talks.”

“Ready to fly, Sunshine?”

“I’m zero percent ready for this.” How fitting, when I was zero percent ready for her. But here I am, about to jump out of a plane because I like this girl and want to take as many firsts from her as I can.

Liking Sophie is kind of like jumping out of a plane. Exhilarating, addicting, and damn near impossible to forget.

I used to joke with her about breaking her, but at this moment, I realize I’m the one breaking little by little at her hand.

Because life is funny that way, fucking you over without your consent.

Call me a coward. I’m well aware. When he joked about me loving him when we went skydiving, I nearly confessed my feelings.

Despite his inability to decide if he loves me, I still love him with everything inside me. I’d do just about anything to help him be happy. It looks like I fell in love with someone untouchable and unbreakable, proving to me how shattered people like Liam can’t fall apart again. Welcome to my disaster ever after. Pull up a chair, bust out the popcorn, and enjoy the show.

With her, I want to kiss and suck at her skin until I leave bruises so no fucker comes near what’s mine.

“Fuck yeah, babe. God. It never feels like enough with you. I want you every fucking day, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“I love you. I have for months, but you’ve been too blind to see it, unable to acknowledge me and my feelings. To see me.”

“I thought we were on the same page.” His look of pity adds to my distress. “Forget the same page. We’re not even reading the same book.”

“How did you know you loved Noah?” Another hiccup escapes my lips. “When it hurt more to be without him than with him.”

I’m a grown woman, and you can’t force me to go home, just like you can’t force me to live a life I hate. That’s not living. It’s surviving. And you taught me to thrive and make the world kiss my sneakers.”

The prince can’t be saved if he’s too stubborn about staying locked up in his castle.

She’s off-limits—to you, to paparazzi, and to any other straight male within a one-hundred-mile radius of her. She’s mine, the end.

“I love you so fucking much. I never want to go another day without saying it or a moment without you knowing it.

I love living in perfect disharmony with her because the best things happen when we’re busy focusing on everything else.