Wrecked (Dirty Air, #3)

by Lauren Asher

Not all heroes wear capes. Turns out some rock badass tattoos and a McCoy race suit.

“Because in real life, we don’t start out as the strongest. It’s about surviving the little battles. Once the pawn makes it to the other side, it can turn into a queen. That’s who I want to be. The person who comes out stronger than when they started.”

Period girl

“Oh, enemies to lovers. Nice. That’s a great story to tell people when they ask how you fell in love.”

I want to change because someone who has every reason to walk away refuses to leave my side. And this is how I come to the realization that I need to save myself.

I let out a soft laugh. “Your mom sounds great.” My chest burns at the idea of not having mine.

Awwww man poor girl

“The rain makes me feel alive because it reminds me that life’s a cycle. Water falls from above to be sucked back up again by the clouds eventually—round and round. I love the storm clouds before the first drops fall. Love how the rain feels against my skin, and I love the way it smells. It’s so weird, but my favorite days are the gloomiest. And it teaches us how even the ugliest storms can lead to a rainbow at the end.”

“No. Spending time around you, wanting more from you than a quick fuck—that’s the reason fate is cruel.”

The kiss in my apartment didn’t satisfy a craving—it created one.

Jax Kingston stole a piece of my heart, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever get it back. And worse, I don’t know if I want it.

“I wish I hated you. But instead you’re making me like you more. You pretend to be this put-together person, but you’re broken—damaged like me. And the absolute fucking worst is that I want to know your messed-up parts too. I want to put them together with mine and see what we create. So I don’t know whether to run in the opposite direction or beg you for a chance despite how much of an arse I’ve been,”

“But most of all, I wish I wasn’t a coward. I’m not brave. Fuck that. If I were, then I’d face my future for you. And bloody hell, if that doesn’t worry me more than anything else. You have the power to change it all.”

If we let the nightmares define us, then we lose sight of our dreams.

I gave someone who destroys everything in his life something I can’t take back. The possibility of earning my love.

My parents look at Elena with endearment. Shit. I’m tempted to cover Elena’s mouth with duct tape to prevent my parents from falling in love with her. And now I’m thinking of tape wrapped around Elena’s wrists while I fuck her. Way to go, Jax.

Dyinggggggg

“What about fate’s big fuck you?” I tease. “While fate’s fucking me over, I might as well fuck you.”

Period Jax

“Thank you for being brave and sharing a part of your life with me. When I heard about everything you were doing for Jax, I expected you to be strong, but you’re so much more. Thank you for being everything my son needs. For someone who lost so much at a young age, you truly have lots to give to the world.”

“Thanks. But I don’t exactly hate my life because I’m meeting you after all. Cancer can suck my pale arse.” I shoot him a small smile. “What’s your secret to staying upbeat?” “Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, so I might as well make today my bitch.”

I don’t want to fall in love, but damn if her smile doesn’t make the crash landing worth it.

The pawn doesn’t become a queen through sheer luck. It takes grit, work, and confidence. And I’m so damn ready to make my way across the board.

“I don’t think anyone ever truly moves on. You can heal, sure, but letting go insinuates you don’t want to remember anymore. And the memories aren’t the problem. The mistake people make in life is that they assume pain is bad. But really, pain means you feel something. It means you’re alive. It’s about using it as a weapon rather than a weakness. So heal yourself, but don’t let go of the memories. They’re what make you so very you.”

“Fuck the usual. I don’t want to be picture-perfect with you. I want to be a fucking mosaic, made up of broken pieces so damn colorful, you can’t help finding them beautiful.”

“I think I’m falling in love with you.” The words leave my lips in the faintest whisper.

He keeps quiet for a solid minute. I second-guess myself, but he squeezes me tighter into him. “Elena?” “Mm.” I copy him. “I already know I am.”

I thought I was Jax’s salvation, but it turns out he was my damnation.

“She was never mine to keep. Life with me would be like living in a gilded cage—pretty to look at, but a cage nonetheless.”

Gild

“It’s not the selfish part, it’s the human part. And that’s what makes you genuine.”

‘The sun might seem as if it stops shining from time to time because of a cloud or a rainstorm or the nighttime, but it’s still there. It endures everything to nurture the lives that depend on it. You’re my sun. I don’t care if you’re hidden because of a storm or the end of the fucking world. I can’t live without you, and I can’t imagine a world where my son would want to either.’”

Show him that the sun doesn’t stop shining, even on the worst of days.”

I don’t need a happy ending. I need our ending. The one that might be messy and imperfect but exclusively ours. And it’s about damn time I go and fight for what I know is rightfully mine.

It’s like living in the eye of a hurricane. It’s calm, quiet, but you’re painfully aware of destruction looming nearby.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. Live a messy life with me, Jax Kingston. I want chaos. I want darkness. I want sunshine and rainstorms with you. But most of all, I want you any way I can have you because I love you.”