Page 384 of Faking the Goal

Luke bows his head solemnly. "Another brother has fallen."

"Gone but never forgotten," Cody adds.

"I'm standing right fucking here."

"Physically," Liam says. "Spiritually, you've been claimed."

I snort.

Kentaro gives them the finger.

Cody laughs, then studies him for a second, his teasing expression shifting into something almost genuinely curious. "So how does it feel, Kent?"

"What?"

"Being in love."

That shuts everybody up for approximately two seconds.

Kentaro glances down at me.

And there it is again.

That smile.

Small at first, pulling slowly at one corner of his mouth before spreading into something so unexpectedly boyish that my poor heart immediately starts preparing its last will and testament.

"Good," he says.

Cody snorts. "Wow. Profound."

"Shut the fuck up. I'm thinking."

Kentaro's gaze stays on mine, and the humor in his expression softens.

"It feels like..." He pauses, his thumb moving absently against my waist. "Like I spent most of my life with everything locked up tight because that was easier. Then Trouble came along with a fucking crowbar."

I burst out laughing.

His grin widens.

"And now somehow she's everywhere. In my room. In my head. In all the plans I make without even realizing I'm making them around her." He gives me a little squeeze. "It's fucking terrifying sometimes."

My smile softens.

"But I wouldn't lock any of it back up."

Oh.

Oh, fuck him.

My heart doesn't flutter. Fluttering is for butterflies and Disney princesses. Mine launches itself directly against my rib cage like an emotionally compromised bird hitting a freshly cleaned window.

This bastard.

One minute he's whispering filthy things into my mouth, and the next he's casually cracking open my chest in front of his teammates like he has no respect whatsoever for my emotional stability.

My eyes burn.