Redeemed (Dirty Air #4)(75)

She looks at the monitors with longing. “What I’d give to throw turtle shells and banana peels at other racers with this setup.”

The ridiculousness of her idea has me throwing my head back and laughing. “I honestly don’t know if this newer machine is compatible with it.”

“Then what is it for?”

“F1 racing.”

Her lips form an O. “Got it. Okay, well sorry to interrupt you. I’ll leave you to it then.” She walks backward before bumping into a wall.

“Wait.”

She halts.

“Do you want to test it out? If I can download Mario Kart, that is?”

Her eyes narrow. “Why do I have a feeling you’re trying to distract yourself so you don’t have to do whatever it is that you wanted to do in here?”

I grin. “Because that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Her smile drops. “Then no thank you. I’ll pass.”

The last thing I want is to be left alone in this room. “Okay, fine. How about we compete in a Mario Kart match? Whoever has the highest score wins whatever they want.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I nod.

“All right, if that’s what you want. But just so you know ahead of time, I’m not betting on giving you a blowjob this time.”

My skin heats. “Why not?”

“Because if I win, I’m going to ask you to try out the F1 simulation with that fancy wheel you have there.” She points to the one Noah shipped.

“I better not lose then.”

I’m able to download the most recent version of Mario Kart without any issues.

Chloe cracks her knuckles one by one. “Step aside, sir. Bowser is here to rock and roll.”

“Bowser?”

“Did you expect me to pick Princess Peach? And here I thought you knew me better than that.” She sticks out her tongue.

My skin prickles with memories of that tongue on my skin. I cough as I load the screen, trying to rein in my hormones.

Chloe and I take turns competing in a championship against one another. She’s a natural, and I find it hard to keep up with her high scores. And worse, I barely put any effort into beating her.

I don’t mind losing the bet. As long as Chloe stays by my side, I can attempt the simulation afterward. Honestly, playing with her wasn’t about avoiding what I came in here to do. I just wanted to spend time together since she was gone the whole morning, and it seemed like a good idea.

She doesn’t leave once as I situate myself in the fake cockpit and start up the latest simulation game. My hands tremble as I get a feel for the throttle paddle. The fake F1 cars line up on the grid, one by one, reminding me of old race days.

Chloe’s hand covers mine. “I just want you to know I’m really freaking proud of you right now.”

A blush creeps into my cheeks. “It’s just a game.”

“It’s more than that.”

“How so?”

“This is your redemption.”





Chloe runs the needle through the linen before pulling it up over her head. She sits crisscross on one of the lawn chairs by the lake, seeming to enjoy the early morning breeze.

“What are you making?” I plop down on the chair beside her after my morning workout of mowing the lawn. Could I pay someone to do it? Sure. But could I give up the opportunity to give Chloe a front-row seat to me working the machine while hiding her attraction? Definitely not.

She flashes me the embroidery circle. It’s an exact replica of the lake and mountains surrounding us.

“Wow. You are incredibly talented. How did you make it look so real?” I peer over and check out the fine thread details. There has to be hundreds of multicolored stitches recreating the scene.

“First I sketch whatever design I want on the fabric. Then I pick the threads. For an intricate design like this, I split the threads to make it finer.”

My eyes widen. “Wait. You drew that first?”

“It’s not that hard.” Her cheeks flush.

“No. It’s incredible. Do you have pictures of other ones you created?”

I didn’t realize she was this good at her designs. They’re like pieces of art, woven together by thousands of threads. It’s a shame she hides this talent from the world.

She pulls out her phone and opens up an album. “Here. You can flip through all of those.”

I grab it with greedy hands. The different designs Chloe made range from picturesque nature scenes to quotes and poems. All her designs show up on different objects, from clothes to accessories. I had no clue she was this talented.

“Are you sure you don’t want to start up a shop? These are amazing.”

She laughs. “You’ve never seen other designs to know if that’s true. What if I’m secretly terrible and you have no clue?”

I roll my eyes and pull out my phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Researching the market.”

She snorts. “Why would you do that?”

“Because someone I know speaks from a tall soapbox to others about boosting their self-esteem yet doesn’t do the same to herself.”

“Burn,” she hisses.

I smirk and scroll through Etsy and Pinterest. Spending time with Maya taught me all the tricks of where to purchase certain types of custom items. There are quite a few talented embroidery shops, but nothing compares to the designs Chloe makes. It’s like she channels her inner Bob Ross and makes intricate landscapes out of thread and a needle.