Page 357 of Faking the Goal

She rolls her eyes, though the smile she tries to suppress gives her away.

I nuzzle my nose along the curve of her jaw, letting it linger there before brushing lightly against the side of her neck. Her quiet giggle vibrates beneath my lips, and God... I don't think I'll ever get tired of being the reason she laughs.

"Don't get cocky," she mumbles, trying—and failing—to sound unimpressed.

"Oh?" I continue, breathing her in. "Then enlighten me, Trouble. What exactly am I?"

She lets out an exaggerated sigh as though I'm the most exhausting man on the planet.

"My ridiculously clingy boyfriend," she says, pinching my cheek between her fingers. "Happy now?"

I grin so hard my face hurts.

"Very."

She laughs, shaking her head.

"I swear, your ego grows another inch every day."

"My girlfriend just called me her boyfriend." I shrug, entirely unapologetic. "Can you really blame me?"

She opens her mouth to fire back another sarcastic remark, but I steal the opportunity by kissing the corner of her mouth, earning another soft laugh that settles somewhere permanently inside my chest.

The moment lingers for another few precious seconds before reality slowly finds its way back between us.

I tighten my hold around her waist.

"I still want to be there."

Her smile softens immediately. She eases back just enough to cradle my face between both hands, and the tenderness in her eyes nearly unravels me.

"I know you do," she whispers. "And if our roles were reversed, I'd be saying the exact same thing."

Her thumbs stroke gently across my skin." But you have to trust me the way I've trusted you all this time."

I close my eyes for a brief moment.

"I do trust you."

"Then trust that I'm not walking into that apartment alone." Her voice is steady now, filled with a quiet confidence that somehow calms the storm inside me. "Detective Matthews and his team will already be there. They'll know every entrance, every exit, every room before Conrad even arrives. This isn't me facing Charlie by myself anymore."

I wish that was enough.

God, I wish it was.

Because every rational part of me knows she's right.

Detective Matthews has spent days planning this operation. He's assigned surveillance teams, undercover officers, backup units. There are contingencies for contingencies.

None of it matters to the irrational part of me that only remembers Taylor unconscious in a hospital bed.

She must see the war playing out across my face because she slides one hand behind my neck and gently draws me closer until our foreheads touch.

"I want this to be over too, Ken-chan." Her smile trembles ever so slightly. "I want us to stop hiding. I want to hold your hand in public again. I want to kiss you without looking over my shoulder first."

She takes a slow breath. "I want our life back."

The words hit somewhere so deep inside me that they almost steal my breath.