Page 26 of Kiss Me

The next thing I know, she’s throwing her arms around me for a second time. The force is so unexpected that I stumble a bit and start to lean on the crutch under my right arm.

However, the brick wall behind me keeps me from falling.

It’s not a brick wall, though. It’s Taehyun, using his body behind mine to aid in maintaining my balance.

I throw him a grateful look over my shoulder. What’s odd is that he doesn’t remove his hands from around my waist. Not even when Eve pulls away from me.

“Eve, be careful. Remember Tania’s injured ankle,” her aunt, Riley, comments.

“I’m so sorry,” Eve gasps and apologizes.

Guilt spurs me to tell her it’s okay and that it’s no big deal.

“I just wanted to say thank you again for giving us the tickets you won.”

Turns out, that was the grand prize for winning this year’s gingerbread house competition. A trip to the upcoming X Games in a few weeks.

“Right?” Stasi says as she comes to stand next to Eve. “How ironic that the one person in the room who didn’t need tickets is the one who wins them?”

She laughs.

“And thanks, Uncle Taehyun, for giving up your ticket too so we could go together.” Stasi wraps her arm around Eve. “We’re going to have so much fun watching Tania win gold.”

My stomach tightens.

“That’s if her ankle heals in time,” Stasi corrects.

“It will. I just know it,” Eve speaks up before looking at me. “Don’t worry. My dad says you probably have the best trainers and physical therapists and staff working with you. You’ll be healed in no time.”

I clear my throat.

“That I do.” I hope like hell she doesn’t pick up on the wobbliness in my voice.

“I knew it. And when you win gold, can we get another autograph?”

“Stasi, that’s enough,” the girl’s mother says, coming up between the two girls. “Why don’t we let Taehyun and Tania rest while we clean up?”

She nods at us, smiling before steering the girls back toward the room we’ve just exited.

The rest of the family began to disperse about a half an hour ago to head to their respective cabins. That’s when I convinced Taehyun to give our tickets to Eve and Stasi, who both are fans of the X Games.

It’s not until we’re alone again that Taehyun slowly slides his hands from my waist as he comes around to stand in front of me.

“I still can’t believe you became that competitive and didn’t even know there was a prize involved.”

I snort. “You better believe it. There’s absolutely no point in entering a competition without giving it your all.Anycompetition,” I emphasize.

He chuckles, making something spark in the pit of my stomach. “I knew you were competitive … anyone who’s seen you on a board would know how competitive you are. But I didn’t realize it applied to gingerbread houses.”

“Gingerbread houses, pool, darts, Go! Fish and any other competitive game you can think of.”

“Go! Fish?” he questions with a raised eyebrow.

“Damn straight.” I nod dramatically, making a few of my braids spill over my face.

Taehyun is the one to push them behind my ear. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want anything obstructing his view from my face. Then I realize how silly that sounds, and I push the thought away.

“It makes me wonder …” He trails off and a glint enters those shrewd eyes.

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