Page 385 of Faking the Goal

Absolutely not.

We are not crying.

We are hot, sexually frustrated, championship-winning-goalie girlfriends tonight. We do not have feelings.

Unfortunately, my feelings have unionized and stopped taking orders.

"Aww," Liam says.

I look over.

All three of them are staring at Kentaro.

Then, simultaneously, their faces crumple in exaggerated horror.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Luke groans.

Cody mock-shivers. "That may be the cringiest thing you've ever said."

"I actually preferred him emotionally unavailable," Liam says. "Can we put him back?"

Kentaro's expression immediately returns to its usual scowl. "Fuck all three of you."

They howl with laughter.

And somehow that only makes me happier, because underneath all the relentless teasing, I can see it on their faces.

They're fucking thrilled for him.

Of course, they're his friends, which means they would rather chew through their own hockey sticks than actually say that out loud.

So instead, Cody slaps Kentaro hard between the shoulders as they start walking away.

"Come on, Simp. We've got a championship to celebrate."

Kentaro flips him off without releasing me.

And I bury my smile against my national champion's shoulder, wondering how the hell my heart is supposed to survive loving this man for the rest of my life.

CHAPTER 49

KENTARO

I've been waiting for such a long time to take Taylor on a date.

A real one.

This is our first real date, and I want to get it right. I want it to be something she'll remember, because after everything it took for us to finally get here, taking her to dinner and calling it special doesn't feel like enough.

Especially when Taylor once told me exactly what her perfect date would be.

She probably doesn't even remember saying it.

We'd been sitting in Sakura Café months ago, arguing over some romance manga she insisted I needed to read, when she'd shown me a panel of the couple having a picnic beneath blooming cherry trees. She'd stared at it for a second too long before sighing and saying she wanted to do that someday. A proper Japanese picnic beneath the sakura, complete with all the cute food she kept seeing in manga. Dango. Onigiri. Bento boxes. The whole thing.

So tonight, I brought the manga to life.

The second I open the door to my family's manga lounge, Taylor stops dead beside me.