Redeemed (Dirty Air, #4)

by Lauren Asher

I wish to find someone who appreciates my presence instead of destroying it.

I dared to wish so freaking big, Walt Disney himself would be jealous.

“Maya was pregnant.” His voice breaks. He’s got to be fucking kidding me. No… Noah can’t tear his gaze away from the lake. “The baby…”

“Fork me. Daddy speaks it when he loses races.” Oh. Kid talk for fuck me. Got it. Noah must take games of tag with his son seriously.

Lol

Santiago unleashes a laugh. It’s unrestrained and makes his face light up. I wish he did it more often, and I remember to save that thought for my journal later. Look at me making wishes for other people. I’d count that as my selfless act of the day.

Marko, cockblocker extraordinaire, interrupts us, squeezing my neck with his sweaty arms. “Time for gelato?”

Lolol

“Princess, can you take me? Tickle dragon is grumpy.” The little shit.

He cooks, he babysits, and he’s grumpy. My kind of kryptonite.

I’m impressing you through empanadas, tapas, and good wine.”

Damn. I guess Noah plans on retiring early because of her and everything that happened. He gains another ounce of respect from me at this latest admission.

She revives a part of me I’ve neglected over the years, pushing me to be a better version of myself. Chloe Carter has me hooked, and I can’t exactly say I’m sorry about it.

No matter how many times I warn myself about Santiago, I can’t help the draw I have toward him. This man is beyond likable, and I don’t know what to do about it.

I take a seat and Santiago pushes me in before sitting beside me. He goes above and beyond with his display, even offering to serve me my food. Ugh. He cooks, he puts up with me, and he acts like a gentleman.

“Why would we do that?” “Because I’d rather see you smile than cry.”

Her mood is infectious. I absorb it, allowing her positive energy to pulse through me. I’m growing to enjoy Chloe’s presence as we spend more time together. And

I’m not the kind to harbor grudges because life’s too short to spend it angry at people who genuinely care.

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

“You’re telling me that we have to share one bed?”

“And one room?” “That’s usually how the one-bed situation works. Yes.” I smirk.

“Is that supposed to be a con?” “That and a red flag.” “Well, when it comes to you, consider me colorblind.”

It hits me that playing guitar isn’t the only music that feeds my soul anymore. Chloe’s laughs are the sweetest melody, a harmony of sounds that can’t be recreated by any strings or notes. They fill me with a warmth, banishing the darkness that grew and festered over the years after my accident.

“You’re right. For the first time in a long time, I don’t want to turn back the clock, either.”

“Why?” “Because you make me want to live in the present rather than kill myself by focusing on the past.”

My sister lucked out finding someone like Noah. He loves her in the way she deserves, and I can’t help feeling happy for her. There’s no better match for her and Marko.

“Life is about creating the memories that matter, while forgetting the ones that don’t.” I want to create new memories. With my family, with racing, and maybe even with Chloe.

So, yes, I want to experience the world through Chloe’s eyes because it’s like seeing color for the first time. It’s breathtaking and spectacular, fundamentally shifting life as I know it. She’s my kaleidoscope in a world of gray.

I’m curious to see how someone woos a woman with a boombox outside of her house.” “With a meaningful song, of course. Bonus points for nostalgia if you play ‘In Your Eyes.’”

In the past few months I’ve known her, Chloe Carter has banished the monsters making my days dark, and replaced them with everything that makes her days special.

“I can’t believe you did all this.” “You’re a brother to me.” He places his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

if you don’t love yourself, then why do you expect anyone else to?”

“I love you, Chloe. I love you so damn much, sometimes I ask myself if it’s normal to have an uncomfortable feeling in my chest whenever you’re not around.”

“Say it again.” “I love you, Santiago Alatorre.” “I’ll never get used to you saying it.”

Where most people see weeds, I only see you—my beautiful wildflower, untamed and free.

The sound of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” playing outside has me halting at the front door.

Yeah, I’m a fool in love. A big fool who can’t help recreating one of her favorite movie scenes just to get her back. The biggest idiot for searching high and low all over the internet for an eighties stereo like the film.

“Loving you is like the ocean. Infinite. Fierce. Breathtaking.”

“Loving you feels like seeing a rainbow for the first time. It’s so amazing, you can’t help wondering if it was created by magic.”

“And most of all, loving you is realizing I don’t have to make a wish ever again because I already have everything I could ever want.”

Noah turns toward me. “You did it.” I shake my head. “There’s no me without you.” I pull him into a hug. I tuck my head into his shoulder and let out the few tears I was holding back.

Somehow while searching for my father, I found a man to love and a job that makes me happy to wake up every morning.

You might be the hero in my story, but you’re the legend in theirs.