Page 53 of Kiss Me

I turn to see him standing, both arms in the air, cheering me on. Laughter bubbles up from my belly, and I cover my mouth with my hands to see him cheering so vigorously.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he cheers and claps.

His encouragement spurs me into another round of alley-oops and other tricks I’ve missed doing in the two weeks I’ve been off of my board. Though it’s only been a few weeks for me, it felt like a lifetime.

Especially before I met Taehyun and I had nothing but phone calls with sponsors, a photoshoot, and tons of video to study and analyze from my coaches to keep me busy.

Being here on a board now, though, feels like no time has passed. This is what true freedom feels like. This is the moment I realize that I truly needed this break. Yes, the way I went about it probably wasn’t the best, but I’ll be damned if I regret it right now.

“You’re fucking amazing,” Taehyun cheers as he skis down to the bottom of the hill to meet me.

“You think so?” I playfully ask, lifting the sunglasses from my eyes to the top of my head.

“Damn right I do.” He cups my face, kissing me.

“I can’t begin to explain to you how fun this was.”

“What was the name of that last trick?”

I shrug. “Honestly, it doesn’t have a name yet. It’s just something I’ve been testing out. This was the first time I landed it,” I tell him.

“The Casey,” he replies with a sparkle in his eyes. “Name it The Casey. You deserve to have it named after you.”

Smiling, I tuck my head. “It’s always been one of my secret goals to have at least one trick named after me before I retire from the sport.”

“You’ll have more than one,” he says. Then he pulls back, looking down at me, his eyebrows furrowing. “You’re having fun, right?”

He asks as if there’s any doubt.

“Are you kidding me? This is amazing.” I widen my arms, showcasing the beauty of our surroundings.

“I was concerned this might be a little smaller than what you’re used to and not fit the bill.”

Be still my freaking heart.

At this point, I have to wonder if Taehyun is intentionally trying to get me to fall in love with him or if he has no idea that’s what he’s doing.

Because it might just be the Christmas spirit, or the giddiness from being on a snowboard after so many days away, or the fact that for the past three days my diet has only consisted of hot cocoa, gingerbread cookies, and Taehyun’s kisses, but yeah, I think I’m starting to fall incredibly, ridiculously hard for this man.

“There is absolutely nothing that could make this moment any more perfect,” I confess.

His shoulders relax and the sparkle in his eyes grows, nearly matching the glare of the sun off of the snow around us.

He cups my face with a serious expression on his. I think he’s going to say something, but at the last second, he pulls me in for a kiss instead.

No words need to be exchanged in order to understand this kiss. He’s happy because he’s made me happy.

The realization overwhelms me a bit because I start to suspect that what I’d begun thinking earlier is true.

I’m falling in love with a man I met only a few days ago.

CHAPTER 14

Tania

“No, I can’t just walk around your place naked,” I laugh and say at the same time as I enter the code of the door to my suite.

Taehyun grumbles behind me in displeasure. With a roll of his eyes, he laments, “Fine, then you can just wear my T-shirts. Why the hell do we need to come back here for more clothes?”

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