Page 101 of Prickly Romance

“I’ll drive,” Sazuki says.

Yaya and Niko hold hands and skip toward the parking lot.

Sazuki falls into step beside me. “What happened?”

“Niko’s balloon slipped off and she went into the road for it,” I say, trying hard not to limp. If I show any signs of pain, I know Sazuki will cut this ice cream venture short and Niko will be heartbroken again.

“I’ll talk to her,” Sazuki says darkly. “Niko should know better.”

“It’s not her fault.”

“You could have both gotten hurt tonight.”

“Yes, but we didn’t.” I look at his clenching jaw. “I’d hate it if she blamed herself for what happened tonight.”

He looks like he’s gearing up to argue with me.

I speak first. “This road doesn’t have much traffic and I’m sure she looked both ways before she crossed. In her mind, she probably did her best to be responsible and someone got hurt.” I lower my voice. “There will be many times when being deaf puts her life in danger, but I never want her to think that being deaf makes her a burden or a liability. Especially not to me.”

He stops walking.

I turn to him.

Large hands rise and cup my cheeks. He brushes sand from my face softly.

My heart starts leaping inside my chest, pounding like a war drum gone berserk. I lift my head, looking up at Sazuki.

He moves in.

I’m uncontrollably aware of how close his lips are.

“This does not change anything. I will still demand my pound of flesh,” he says dryly.

My eyes narrow.

Breathless awe turns to striking hate.

His lips twitch at my reactions and I know he’s laughing at me. I stomp ahead and catch up with Niko and Yaya. It’s my fault for assuming that Ryotaro Sazuki has a heart.

CHAPTER10

A QUIET CHORD

SAZUKI

“You do realizethat my background is in martial arts? I am not a spy, Ryotaro.”

I adjust my ear buds and respond to Akira, “I will take this to mean you have not found the owner of the car yet.”

“You gave me a partial license plate number,” she hisses.

I thought I had memorized it all. Perhaps Dejonae was right. I am getting old.

Akira sighs on the other end of the line. “Why am I looking for the driver of that car anyway?”

I glance at Niko in the backseat. She is drilling a hole into the screen behind my chair, watching every movement of my lips.

“I will tell you later.”

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