Page 160 of Prickly Romance

My heart roaring, I ease back.

He looks down at me with eyes that smolder like twin storms in an endless universe. I brush my hand over his cheeks and sculpted jawline. My heart knows something isn’t right and I lean into it rather than shy away.

“Did something happen?” I search his eyes. Watch the way they cloud over defensively before he sighs and the walls go down.

Sazuki takes my hand and leads me away from the bookshelves. He sits in the booth and pulls me into his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck, watching him intently. Holding my breath. Waiting.

The fan above spins in a steady circle, pushing breeze into the hot pocket of the library. My leg dangles over his, the toe of my sneakers barely scraping the wooden floor.

Sazuki’s throat bobs. A line etches between his thick eyebrows. Beneath the surface, desire cools and is replaced with a foreboding feeling. A boot is dangling above my head and any minute now, it’ll descend, crushing me like a cockroach.

I slide my fingers over the back of his neck as he sighs. “Sazuki.”

“I wrestled with whether I should tell you this or not.” His eyes meet mine. I’m shocked to see the turmoil. Maybe it’s because we’re close now or maybe he’s letting me see the real him, but I never expected that he would wear his emotions so close to the surface.

His fingers grasp mine intently. “I do not want you to misunderstand or feel anxiety in any way.”

“You’re making me anxious right now,” I warn him. “Spit it out.”

He glances aside. “Yesterday, while you were putting Niko to bed, I received a call from Akira. She informed me that my mother and Ashanti were coming to visit.”

Twin bombs.

Boom.

Boom.

I almost totter off his lap. Sazuki gathers me close, his eyes boring into mine. “Dejonae.”

“When are they coming?”

His Adam’s apple bobs. “They are here.”

My soul cracks in half. “Why didn’t you tell me the moment you found out?”

“I did not want to upset you.”

The cool, crisp feel of his hand on my back turns to ice in an instant. I feel the blood drain from my face and wonder if I can handle this.

I knew there would be challenges. Before I started this, I knew he had an ex-wife. Not just that. He has a good relationship with her. For Niko’s sake, I respected that. Applauded it even.

But Ashanti hasn’t been around lately, and it was easier to pretend she didn’t exist. Even if I knew she was a part of Sazuki’s family and always would be, she was nothing but a phantom. Haunting just the edges of my reality, but never floating close enough to do any real damage.

Now she’s here.

I didn’t expect to have to face her so soon.

Sazuki and I have been dating for such a short time. We’re not ready for a big obstacle.

I’mnot ready.

“Dejonae.” Sazuki takes my wrists and draws my attention back to him. “I went to the airport this morning. I met with them.” He clears his throat. “My mother insisted on having Ashanti stay at the house.”

This time, it’s not an explosion that rocks my heart.

It’s a sharp and poisonous arrow.

He and his ex-wife are staying under the same roof?

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