Wish by Scarlett Haven Read Free Book Online Page B

formed. And they
were close. Really, really close. While I was away at school, the
group found my parents and two of my siblings. They were
murdered.”
    I want to say something, but I’m
not sure what to
say. My dad is basically the reason his parents are dead. And I
know he changed. He’s working for the good guys now. But he’s
working to clean up a mess that he made.
    “ My other siblings all got as far
away from this as possible. But I wanted to finish what they
started,” he says. “They told me as long as I have this job, they
don’t want anything to do with me. I can’t blame them. Some of them
have kids of their own. And we’ve lost so much already. They don’t
want to lose more.”
    “ So you lost all of your family,”
I say.
    He nods.
    “ I’m sorry, Tristan.”
    “ My parents knew the risk,” he
says. “And so do I. I have given up everything to take down this
organization.”
    “ Which means that you definitely
aren’t going to let some random sixteen year old girl get in the
way,” I say. “Especially not considering it’s my dad’s fault your
parents and siblings are dead.”
    “ It’s not your fault,” Tristan
says. “It’s not even your dad’s fault. If it wouldn’t have been
this group, it would’ve been another. My parents knew the risk to
them and to their kids. They took the risk, because their job was
important. The world is a safer place because of what they
did.”
    Still…
    “ And you’re not just a random
sixteen year old girl. Not to me. Not anymore,” he says.
    I want to ask him what he means by that, but
I’m scared that it won’t mean what I want it to. I can’t get my
hopes up when it comes to him. This is the one guy on the planet
that could shatter my heart.
    “ I know that I should keep my
distance from you and that we should definitely wait until your
seventeenth birthday to make this official, but I don’t want to
wait,” he says. “Because I hate not talking to you. And even though
you’ve been right there the past couple days, I miss you. I can
tell you miss me too.”
    I do miss him.
    More than anything.
    “ You’re a distraction. I can’t
stop thinking about you,” he says, now looking me directly in the
eye. I feel like he’s gazing into my soul and seeing the inner most
parts of me. The good and the bad. But it doesn’t matter, because
he likes everything he sees. “And I thought keeping my distance
would be better. That I could keep you safer. But it doesn’t matter
how far away you are. I’m always thinking about you. Always. And I
don’t know how to handle this. I’ve never felt like this
before.”
    Me either.
    But I don’t say it out loud,
because I don’t want to ruin this moment. I want him to keep
talking. No, I need him to keep talking. This is the most honest he’s ever been
with me. I have to know how he feels.
    “ My job—taking down this group—it
has always been the most important thing in my life. Until you,” he
says. “Now, I would give it all up for you. But the thing is,
you’re in danger. I have to finish this. It’s no longer about
getting revenge for my family. It’s about protecting
you.”
    My heart beats hard. Because I realize now
that Tristan feels the same way about me as I do about him. It’s
not one sided. He hasn’t changed his mind. If anything, he has fell
more in love with me. Which equally excites and frightens
me.
    “ I want to finish this assignment
for you. And then I want to be with you. Not as Tristan Thomas. But
as the real me. Tristan Copeland. I want to do this properly. I
want to meet your family and I want you to meet mine. I want to
take you out on dates and do all the other romantic stuff that I’ll
have to Google, because I don’t know the first thing about
romance.”
    I giggle.
    It’s so girly, but I don’t care. This moment
is making me feel girly. I’ve never had somebody say what he’s
saying to me. It’s what I’ve been waiting a long time to
hear.
    “ I