Don't Let Go by Michelle Gagnon Read Free Book Online

glanced over. “What?”
    “Nothing. Just thinking that my hair looks awful,” she said ruefully.
    “I think it’s cute.” He threw her that grin that always made her stomach lurch. She’d had boyfriends before, sure, but not like this. Those guys had all wanted something from her.
    But Teo actually cared what she thought about things. When she spoke, he hung on her every word. Daisy reached over and ran a hand through his hair, which looked perfect as always. It was almost long enough to put in a ponytail. “I’m going to braid your hair tonight.”
    “The hell you are!” he said, looking mortified.
    She laughed. “I think you’d look cute with a braid.”
    “I look enough like a girl already,” he muttered, a shadow flickering across his face.
    “Hey,” she protested. “Don’t talk smack about my guy.”
    Teo blushed, which made him even more adorable. He stretched an arm across the front seat and she snuggled into it, trying to ignore the gearstick digging into her thigh. Closing her eyes, she let out a happy sigh. He had gorgeous dark skin, courtesy of his Latino parents. Dark eyes, glossy black hair. Sure, he was skinny, but she liked that. And he had the most amazing lips, so incredibly full. Her mom would have said they were wasted on a boy, but Daisy knew better. It would only have been a waste if she didn’t get to kiss them.
    She leaned over and did just that, pressing her lips firmly to his.
    “Whoa!” he said. “Careful. You’re going to make me get in an accident.”
    “You are a pretty terrible driver,” she agreed solemnly.
    “I’m not that bad.”
    “You’re getting better, but still. Hell on wheels.”
    “Well, it’s not like I get much practice outside of grocery runs,” he muttered.
    “It’s easier to cuddle in the backseat.”
    “Yeah, but I still feel like ‘the kids’ sometimes. Don’t you?”
    Daisy ran her fingernails along his forearm the way he liked. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
    “What do you mean?” His eyes flicked to her.
    “I mean . . . I don’t know.” She sighed. “When I first joined up, I thought it would be different, you know? There was a whole group of us, and we were really doing something, saving kids. But now—”
    “Now we’re just running for our lives,” Teo said.
    “Exactly. And I just keep wondering what the point is. Remo and Janiqua and the rest of them are probably dead. If we get caught, we’re dead, too. And we won’t have stopped anything. Maybe we should just go off on our own.”
    There was a long pause. Daisy held her breath, wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut. They’d complained to each other before, late at night in the dark, but what she was proposing was practically treason.
    “So you want to ditch Noa and Peter?” Teo asked.
    Daisy bit her lip; his tone was impossible to read. “This guy Pike doesn’t care about us, he’s after Noa. If we’re not with her—”
    “He’ll probably leave us alone,” Teo said. “I know. I’ve thought the same thing.”
    The fact that he wasn’t judging her, or calling her a coward, made her weak with relief. “So you don’t think I’m totally awful?”
    “What? No, of course not. Come here.” He pulled her over and planted a kiss on her forehead. Daisy squealed as he inadvertently turned the steering wheel at the same time, almost driving them into a line of parked cars. “Let me talk to them about it, okay?”
    “Sure,” Daisy said. She felt light, like a burden had been lifted.
    “So where do you want to go?”
    “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I didn’t really think you’d go for it.”
    “California,” Teo said decisively, hitting the turn signal. “Los Angeles. It’ll be warm there.”
    “Maybe we’ll become movie stars,” she teased.
    “Maybe,” he agreed with a grin.
    Daisy grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, Teddy.”
    He looked abashed. “I’d do anything for