Page 314 of Faking the Goal

For the first time in what feels like forever, I'd allowed myself to believe that maybe... just maybe... life was finally giving me something good.

I had barely managed to wrap my hands around that happiness before someone tore it away from me.

"Ken-chan," I whisper again, though the parking lot remains empty.

The light above me flickers.

Darkness swallows me for half a second before the bulb sputters back to life.

"Someone...please." My voice dissolves into the night.

No one answers.

I remain curled on the freezing pavement, blood drying against my skin and Kirk's threat echoing louder than the pain.

If I don't leave Kentaro, he will hurt him next.

And he will make sure Kentaro is gone for good.

CHAPTER 39

KENTARO

I pull up in front of Sakura Café, my gaze instinctively drifting to the passenger seat where the bouquet rests, the colorful blooms taking up nearly the entire thing. I picked them up less than an hour ago after the team bus dropped us off at the arena. There happened to be a flower shop on the way here, and since this is technically our first real date, showing up empty-handed felt... wrong.

I must've looked completely out of place standing in the middle of that shop still wearing my team travel clothes while trying to decide between three different bouquets like my life depended on it. In the end, I went with white lilies, blush roses, pale blue hydrangeas, and baby's breath because the colors reminded me of Taylor.

I can already picture the way her face will light up when she sees them, the way her nose will wrinkle before she buries it in the flowers to smell them. Just imagining it is enough to make me smile.

I've been looking forward to tonight all weekend.

Not just because it's our first real date, but because by the end of it, I finally want to make us official and get rid of that stupid word fake that's been tying us together for months now. I want to call her what she's become to me a long time ago.

My girlfriend.

Soon.

I just need to find out what Mom wants, then I'll get back to my girl.

I make my way upstairs to the apartment above the café. I take the stairs two at a time. The key sticks in the lock the way it always does. I have to jiggle it left, then right, mutter a curse under my breath, and only then does the damn thing finally give.

"Ma—"

Something small and solid slams into my chest. Hard. The air leaves my lungs in one surprised "oomph" and I stagger back a step, the flowers crushed between us. But before I can even process what's happening, her scent hits me—that vanilla and jasmine shampoo she's used since she was twelve—and my arms are wrapping around her on instinct.

"Miho?"

"Oni-chan!"

Her voice breaks into a delighted laugh as she throws both arms around my waist, squeezing me with every ounce of strength she has.

"I missed you!"

God...

I tighten my hold around her so quickly I almost forget to breathe. It's been over a year since I last saw my little sister, and somehow she'd managed to come home without telling me. I shut my eyes for the briefest moment, swallowing against the sting threatening the back of them.

"I missed you too."