Finding Sadie (Los Rancheros #0.5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

air and looks to the exhausted boy.  “What do you say?  One more ride?”
    “Yes.  Definitely yes,” is Jayden’s immediate reply.
    By the time we get him back to his room and hooked up to more monitors than he was on before, he can barely keep his eyes open.
    “What about the toys?” Jayden slurs as he tries to stay awake. 
    Batty sits down on his bed again.  “What do you want do with them, bud?”
    “Give them to the kids that get to see Christmas.”
    For the first time in a long time, I think I might cry.  I gently give Jayden a hug, his arms too tired to return the gesture.  “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
    “I’ll never forget you, Robin.”
    I smile shakily.  “I’ll never forget you, little dude.”
    I leave before I lose it, intending to just walk away.  “Wait, please.”
    I turn to see Jayden’s mom holding my purse out to me.  Totally forgot that thing.  “Thanks.”
    “No.”  She shakes her head and puts a hand to her heart.  “What you did, both of you . . . I can’t tell you what this meant to him.”
    I shift uncomfortably.  “It was my pleasure.”
    “Our pleasure,” Batty says as he exits the room.  We shake hands with the parents before walking side by side to the elevators.  I’m lost in feelings that are swirling.  A confusing tornado of too many things at once.  I don’t realize we’ve made it to the parking garage until he speaks.
    “You need a ride?”
    I look to the right at my car then to the left and up to meet his eyes.
    “Yup.”

 
     
     
     
    As soon as we get in the car, Batty takes off his mask.  I almost laugh out loud. Holy. Shit. If this car was bigger I probably would have been in his lap with the next breath.  No, I definitely would have.  Instead I pull my green mask off of my eyes.  Batty looks at me and starts the car, peeling out just as fast as before.
    I can’t stop looking at him.  His cheekbones are high, and little indents on his forehead are turning slightly red.  His hair is messy, a light brown tinged with blond, and spiky.  He bites his lip slightly as he takes a corner, and I feel myself clench.  Oh my God.  Please let this go where I hope it’s going.
    At a stoplight he looks at me for the first time.  “I need to know where you live.”
    Duh.  Snap out of it.  “Malibu.”  That’s all I can remember right now.  I have about an hour to come up with the rest.
    He doesn’t say anything else as he rumbles through the city.  This car, with his looks, about melt my panties by the time we get to my house.  Wait, I don’t wear panties unless I’m sleeping.
    I have to resort to hand gestures to point right and left, tapping on my window or to his side after so many wrong turns and getting a growl.  I want that particular sound in my bed, not this tiny car.
    Finally we pull up to my house.  The engine gets turned off and I can barely breathe.  He doesn’t say anything so I step out of the car, bending down to get my purse.  Stupid thing.  When I straighten I squeak when I see him on the other side of the door.  Jesus he moves fast.
    We move to the door and I get the keys in the lock with deep concentration and sigh when it pops open.  I hear a faint beep but don’t pay attention.  I turn back to Batty.
    I watch his eyes taking in my features.  Eyes, cheeks, nose, hairline—I wonder briefly what it looks like.  I’m not in the habit of putting my hands through it because it’s usually tangled, but I left it clean for the hospital visit—and finally my lips.  His eyes seem to snag on them and don’t move away.
    “Are you . . . goodnight,” I choke out.  Batty breathes in through his nose before seeming to hold it.  I notice because I can see his black shirt rise and not go down in my peripheral as I hold his eyes.  His jaw clenches, triggering muscles I didn’t know could be visible.
    “Not yet.”
    As his mouth crashes into mine and he lifts me up, I whisper, “Oh