Page 35 of I Am Salvation

“Absolutely. Rice and beans?”

“Just rice,” I say. “No cheese on top of the enchiladas.”

She makes notes. “Got it.”

“No cheese?” Dragon says.

“I’m a little lactose intolerant,” I say. “I can handle a little dairy. I had two slices of pizza the other night at Teddy’s party. I was fine. But it’s best not to tempt fate, and personally I think enchiladas are just as delicious without cheese.”

“That depends on the sauce,” he says.

“Yeah, you’re right about that. Hopefully the sauce here is good.” I take a chip, dip it in the salsa, and eat it, savoring the crunch. “You should try this,” I say with my mouth still full. “Amazing. The perfect amount of spice.”

“Really? That depends on how you like your spice.”

“Medium to hot,” I say. “I mean, I don’t like my ears to melt off or anything.”

He chuckles. “I do.”

I grab another chip. “You should still try the salsa. The flavor is out of this world.”

He nods, takes a chip, dips it, chews, swallows.

We’ve been living together for nearly a week now and have been to bed twice, so how is it that we’ve run out of things to talk about? We didn’t talk much on the drive, which was fine with me. So why does the silence between us now hang so heavily?

I take another sip of my margarita. “Just so you know, Dragon, you don’t have to tell me anything about why we’re here. But if you choose to, I will listen, I will not judge, and I will take whatever you say to me to the grave.”

He simply nods without meeting my gaze as he dips another chip into the salsa.

I suppose that’s my answer.

I’ll deal with it. This is a guy who is an island. Kind of a recluse in his own way. I know he’s close to Jesse, but no one else really knows him.

So when he opens his mouth to speak, I’m surprised as hell.

“I’m looking for my parents,” he says.

His parents?

Funny.

I never thought of Dragon as having parents. Of course everyone has parents.

But he’s never said anything about them. And usually when people don’t talk about their parents, it’s not for any good reason. And Dragon has that air of darkness about him…

If they’re the reason he is the way he is, then why the hell would he be looking for them?

I try to play it cool, dipping another chip in the salsa. It cracks in half, of course.

I scoop another chip in to save the first and awkwardly bring it to my mouth, chew, and swallow.

I take a slow breath in. “I see. And you think they’re here in Taos?”

“Alayna seems to think they might be. She was going to come down and check it out, but I told her I wanted to do it myself.”

He wants to find them. But there must be a reason they’ve been so hard to track down.

I’ll tread carefully.

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