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“No. The world needs selfless people like you.”
I need you.
We watch Mable and her friends chase each other in comfortable silence, but I refuse to accept no for an answer. I’ll talk to Ricardo myself if I have to. One way or another, I’m going to help.
“I may not have all the answers for you, but I promise to help you find them.” I press a kiss to her crown, tamping down the urge to tell her how much she means to me when she’s only just opened up. I’m scared she’ll run if I push too hard, and I won’t lose her again. “There’s no rulebook for when you’re supposed to have this shit figured out.”
Placing her chin against my chest, she gives me a half-hearted smirk. “I miss the days when I thought growing up meant eating dessert for dinner and staying up as late as you want. I legitimately thought that was the whole point.”
I hug her tighter. “I swore quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem when I grew up.”
“Right!” She finally snorts a laugh.
I freeze as her amusement fades, and she sweetly peppers kisses over my shirt.
She starts below my collarbones, pausing to give the thickest scars seconds more of her attention, and I close my eyes, marveling at the natural way we give and take.
All this time, I thought I quit harming myself because I grew out of it. I was a confused teen who needed release, and while that was true, I realize now it was something else entirely.
Without Penelope, there was no reason to resist my father. My only goal was to please him, follow in his footsteps, and do as he asked, because that’s all I knew. That’s what was safe.
No Penelope. No arguments. No burns.
I reached a level of contentment that I convinced myself was happiness, but that fighting urge floats to the surface. Now I’m questioning if I was really ever happy. Whose purpose am I living—mine, or my father’s?
Yanking me out of my thoughts, Pen holds her hand out, palm up. “These were the only blue and black ones I found,” she says timidly. “You know, cause you’re a boy.”
The freckles smattered across her cheeks and arms are darker now from absorbing the afternoon rays, and because I can’t resist, I kiss them. “Thank you.”
I drop the shells inside the jar with my bounty from Mable and screw the top shut.
“When you’re ready, you can write your dream down and place it in there, then give it a shake.” She rattles hers for emphasis. “Maybe, one day, it’ll come true.”
A powerful force draws us closer as I stroke the delicate curve of her jaw. I physically ache when she leans into my touch, giving me her trust despite our indifferences.
“I’ve only ever wanted one thing, Penelope.”
“And what’s that?” she says, barely above a whisper.
“You.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Logan
Monday and Tuesday following my weekend with Penelope are filled with demanding prep work for the upcoming fundraiser.
Every time we cross an item off the list, another gets added, but she doesn’t complain. In fact, not that she’d ever admit it, but we actually make a decent team.
Despite the hours of work we’ve put in to pull this thing off, tonight we get to relax, cut loose, and I finally get to introduce her to some of the most important, influential people in my life.
I give Javier and Declan an awkward smile when I step out of the discount store.
“Well, how do I look?” I ask, sweeping a hand down my monstera leaf shirt, and a pair of khaki shorts covered with nicks and holes that are, according to the woman behind the counter, ‘intentional.’
Javier smirks before moving to open the back door of the SUV. “Like twenty bucks, sir.”
“I think you mean ‘a million bucks.’”
