Page 60 of Kiss Me

“It’s your phone,” he says, reaching for my phone that sits on his nightstand.

I blink my eyes open and peer up at the screen he holds over my face for me to see.

A gasp bursts from my lips as I snatch the phone from Taehyun and sit up.

“Dad!” I say a little too eagerly.

“Ace?” he asks. “You sound strange. Is everything alright?”

I clear my throat. “Great. Everything’s great. It’s just super early and I was still sleeping.”

“Sleeping?” He sounds stunned. “It’s almost eight o’clock in California. You should’ve been up hours ago.”

I pull the phone from my ear to look at the time. Yup, it’s 7:58. Ordinarily, I would’ve been up two hours ago but, then I remind my dad, “I must need a little more sleep to heal,” I lie.

“Oh, right. How’s the ankle?”

My shoulders deflate, and I unconsciously wiggle my ankle underneath the blanket.

“It’s on the mend.”

“That’s excellent news. I was thinking we’d get you out on the slopes training again on the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh. I might even be able to schedule that video documentary I told you about sometime before January first. That way they should have the video edited in time for the X Games.

“It’ll be perfect to go along with the story of your ankle injury. We can showcase how you came back from it just in time to compete. You know how audiences love to root for the underdog.”

He launches into a conversation about training, sponsors, documentaries, and inevitably how we can leverage all of the publicity as a lead up to the X Games.

“I know my Ace is taking home the gold this year. You were at the top of your conditioning right before spraining your ankle. I bet you’re going to come back stronger than before.”

I don’t even have time to get two words in between my father’s planning and strategizing. He was already one of the top sports agents in the industry before I turned pro. Since he became my manager, it’s like he’s taken his workaholism to the next level.

I wish I could be as excited as he is for all of these deals. The thing is, though, I just miss my dad. Not the manager or the agent that’s just landed my latest deal.

My dad.

“What was that?”

My eyes bulge, and I cover the bottom of my phone with my free hand as I look over at Taehyun who’s just loudly cleared his throat.

I put my finger to my lips giving him the “sh” signal.

The frown already present on his face deepens. I can’t imagine what he’s not happy about. It’s not like I’m going to willingly confess to my father that I’m lying naked next to the man who blackmailed me into spending time with him this week.

He couldn’t possibly want me to tell my father that.

When he clears his throat again, I snatch away from the bed, pulling one of the bedsheets with me to cover my body.

“Sorry, Dad, I fell asleep with the TV on.” I shut myself inside of the bathroom.

“TV? Since when do you watch television?”

Ordinarily, I don’t. This is the one time of year where I crave spending hours in front of a TV screen, reminiscing on the films that brought me so much joy as a kid.

“I stayed up late watching holiday movies,” I tell him. It’s mostly true. Of course, I don’t say I missed a lot of the movies because I had a certain man distracting me.

“Hey, Dad,” I say with a certain courage rising inside of me. “It’s Christmas in two days. I know you’re busy but why don’t you take a couple of days off and come out to California to spend the holiday here?”

This isn’t the first time I’ve proposed the idea to him, but all of a sudden I think of introducing my dad to Taehyun in person. Something about that feels right even if I can’t explain it.

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