Page 140 of Prickly Romance

He’s standing at the piano under the spotlights, looking at me with eyes that belong in the sky next to a full moon.

“Kimi no koto ga suki desu.”

I close my eyes. It’s my first time hearing him speak Japanese. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.

“I tried to fight my feelings,” Sazuki says, “but I have no desire to do so anymore.”

My brain implodes when he walks right up against me. His fingers brush my chin. His eyes drop to my lips.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

My heart is leaping, pounding, a powerful drum that refuses to stay quiet. It knows. A deep, primal part of me knows that this is a moment in my life that is about to change everything.

Because this is Sazuki.

Passionate.

Driven.

Larger than life.

I’m in the presence of a love that’s just as overwhelming as the man who offers it.

My heart beats faster and faster. I’ve had guys send me notes in school. Or send a message with their friends. Or text me at random asking if I wanted to ‘hang’.

But I’ve never had someone go out of their way to make me feel special.

Sazuki isn’t like the boys I’m used to because heisn’ta boy.

He’s a man.

A man with the world on his shoulders.

I breathe hard. “What about Niko?”

“Niko favors you just as much as I do.”

I tilt my neck back to stare into his eyes. It’s a stark reminder of just howtallhe is. My neck is going to break at this point.

“What about the foundation?”

“Nothing at the foundation will change because of us.”

“Everyone will think I got out of that scandal because we’re… because you…”

“Because we are now dating.”

My legs shake and lightning zaps from my stomach all the way down to my toes. “Are we dating now?”

“Do you know how much I spent on those roses?”

I burst out laughing.

His dimples wink at me.

And then they quickly disappear when he closes the distance between us. In the blink of an eye, he tilts my head and kisses me.

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