Heartbreaker (Unbreakable #1)(90)

I blinked. Nothing made sense. Clearly I suffered from a concussion. Because my gorgeous, sunshine-haloed hallucination of Darren had called me “baby.”

When I grinned at the vividness of the dreamlike experience, ready to touch my apparition to see if he burst into glittery golden dust with the slightest poke of my finger, my lip hurt.

“Ow.” I winced at the sudden stab of pain.

He frowned. Deeply. “Kiki?”

His gaze roved down my body.

I followed it, glancing at the dirt caked on my shirt, the jagged rips in the knees of my pants, and spots of dark crimson spattered all over the fabric of both.

I sucked in a shaky breath, unsure about what was happening. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He swallowed hard, then let out a measured breath. “You have blood dripping down the left side of your face.”

“Oh.” I touched a finger to my cheek. Sticky...wet. Real.

Then I reached out, staring at my hand until it made contact with his forearm. Warm. Solid. Very real.

“You’re here,” I breathed out, amazed. And more than a little stunned over the fact.

“I am. Hope that’s okay.” He reached up for my sunglasses. “May I?”

When I nodded absently, he removed them. Then he squinted at my face, above my left eye. “It’s a clean cut about an inch long, just under your eyebrow. Bleeding seems to be slowing.”

The clinical words blurred, my injury inconsequential. After all, I had finished the race.

But he is standing right…

“What are you doing here?”

“We are here.” He nodded back over his shoulder. Logan stood beside the nearest booth. She waved excitedly, a huge grin on her face.

I lifted a hand and gave her a half-wave as a tentative smile began to form, but the pain in my lip stopped me again. So did my confusion.

“But…why?”

“Logan got me to see that I didn’t have to control everything. She helped me realize what was important.”

My heart began to thump harder. But I took a deep breath, refusing to jump to conclusions.

“Logan needs me whole,” he continued. “For her.”

He searched my eyes for long seconds. “For me to be whole—I need you.”

Overwhelmed, tears welled, threatening to spill over. “Us...couple...together?” My words sounded nearly incoherent through gasped breaths.

With care, he wrapped his arms around me in a tender embrace and gazed into my eyes. “Only if you’ll have me, Flash. Only if I’m lucky enough...” His tone lowered to a whisper. “Only if you need me too.”

Heart thundering, my body trembled. I slid my arms around his waist, then clung to him, reveling in what he’d said—what his weighted words meant. Because although I could trudge through life without him, if forced to, my humble, artistic, trail-running world was complete with him in it.

I let out a grateful sigh and tightened my hold, determined to never again let go.

“I do.” I rested my right cheek on his chest, closing my eyes. “I need you too.”





Darren…

The following night, Kiki and I had our first date—post reunion.

Actually, our first real planned date ever.

Before we’d left the race, she’d gotten medical attention, at my insistence. Then after we’d parted ways—Logan and me to our house, Kiki to hers—we’d texted almost nonstop. And had three lengthy phone conversations, the last of which continued late into the night until we’d started to nod off. Two weeks of zero communication had demanded it.

Now we stood in her courtyard in the cool night air, her hand clasped tightly in mine.

We stared out at the quiet patio space that seemed more alive from the party we’d held there. All of her cherished mismatched bistro sets had been returned to their places. Strands of clear party lights remained above us, swaying in the breeze. The brick planter, once sparse with only a few herbs, now overflowed with blooming plants.

Over the last hour, we’d fed each other Chinese takeout—one chosen entrée each instead of the whole buffet. Minutes ago, we’d tossed the demolished cartons into her trash can.

“Thank you. For everything.” She leaned against my side as her voice lowered to a whisper. “For loving me.”

“Thank you for letting me… for waiting.”

She gave a silent nod. Then she spun in front of me, grasped two fistfuls of my shirt, and tugged me down until my lips gently crashed into hers.

Gratitude filled my heart as I wrapped my arms around her, sighing into our kiss.

She abruptly pulled back, then grabbed my hand and tugged me toward her front door. “C’mere. I have something I want to show you.”

My chuckle echoed out as we entered her warehouse. “I have something I want to show you too.”

“Not that.” She smacked my hand away when I curved it around her hip. “I want to show you something I made for you.”

“Not yet,” I growled out the correction, crowding her into my arms when we reached the stairs that led to her loft.

As we climbed, I kept her in my hold and nuzzled her neck. Every shudder and tiny moan she made imprinted into my brain, etched into my heart.

“Stop.” Her eyes lit with mischief when she opened the door, spun around, and put a hand up between us. “Wait. For just two minutes.”