Page 296 of Faking the Goal

I lean into his palm before I can stop myself. "Probably something terrible for your already oversized ego."

The corner of his mouth lifts, but his eyes remain painfully serious.

"That's not what I meant." His thumb brushes over my cheek again, slower this time, and something in his expression makes the air catch in my lungs. "Taylor, I've been trying to tell you that I like you."

For one suspended second, I forget how to breathe.

I like you.

Three stupidly simple words, and they're the exact three I've been desperate to hear.

Joy bursts through me so quickly I can't contain the smile spreading across my face.

"Ken-chan, I—"

"Really? This is what you two are up to?"

We both jerk our heads toward the voice.

Liam stands just outside the glass with his duffel slung over one shoulder, staring at us with such exaggerated horror that anyone else might think he's stumbled upon an active crime scene instead of Kentaro hovering over me on the ice.

He presses one hand dramatically to his chest. "You're defiling the sanctity of this sacred rink. This ice is for hockey, not dry-humping your girlfriend before practice."

"Oh my God." I squeeze my eyes shut.

"My eyes," Liam continues, recoiling as though the sight has physically injured him. "I can't unsee this. Kent, I didn't know you had this kind of wild side."

"Shut up," Kentaro grunts.

Liam ignores him entirely. "T, what have you done to our sweet, innocent goalie?"

Kentaro's head snaps toward him. "I might be quiet, but I've never been innocent. So fuck off, will you?"

That only makes Liam's eyebrows shoot higher.

"I fear Taylor is turning you into a depraved man." He shakes his head slowly, his expression caught somewhere between devastation and pride. "I'm not sure whether I should cry or congratulate her."

"Go away, Liam."

"I'm going." He starts toward the locker room, then glances back over his shoulder. "But only because I respect young love. And because whatever was happening down there looked like it was about to require privacy and possibly a parental advisory."

Kentaro mutters something in Japanese that I'm almost certain isn't complimentary as Liam disappears through the doors.

"Oh God." I slap both palms over my face. "This is so embarrassing."

Kentaro's low, husky chuckle vibrates through the narrow space between us.

His fingers curl around my wrists, gently pulling my hands away. "Stop hiding your face, Trouble."

"No. I can't." I try to cover myself again, but he keeps hold of my hands. "I look like a freaking tomato."

His gaze drifts over my face, unhurried and far too warm. "I happen to like you this flushed."

The heat already burning beneath my skin somehow intensifies.

Excellent. Apparently there are shades beyond beet red. I'm discovering colors previously unknown to science.

I lie there beneath him, surrounded by freezing air and colder ice, yet somehow convinced I'm seconds away from melting straight through the rink. At this rate, practice will have to be canceled because Kentaro Azuma has created a Taylor-shaped sinkhole near the goal crease.