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“Soon. I want you all to myself for now.”

“Thank God! Me too.”

I laugh and lean back. “I need you to make me one more promise, Twinkle.”

“Anything,” she replies without a second thought.

“No more running from me.”

“I’ll be attached at your hip, will that satisfy you?”

“Yes. Very much.”

Her face goes somber as she thinks.

“What?” I ask.

“We still have a lot to figure out, King. We live in different countries. I hate the thought of being apart from you.”

I kiss the frown between her eyebrows and assure her. “We’ll decide together.”

The tension melts away. “Okay.”

“So, a part of you did find my gestures romantic?” I joke.

“Well… if you could go to such lengths after only meeting me once, I needed to be brave and take a risk too. Because, you, Kingston, are worth it.”

A rush of warmth spreads through me, making me feel ten feet taller. Winning championships didn’t bring as much bliss as hearing her say this.

“I love you, Twinkle.” I can’t stop myself from saying it again and again. I’ve been holding it in for too long and the freedom is a heady drug.

“I’m the luckiest girl,” she whispers, looping her arms around my shoulders. After a beat, a deep thought flickers in her gaze and she begins to worry her lip and tilt her head. “King?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you feel like we’re moving too fast?

“So what if we are?” I say with a shrug. “Yes, we fell hard and fast for each other. But that doesn’t mean we won’t work out, Twinkle.”

“You’re right.”

“Every up and down, every challenge, we’ll face together. I won’t let anything or anyone rip us apart.”

“Me neither,” she promises. A grin teases the corner of her pouty mouth. “So, does this mean we’re in a relationship?”

“In my head, we have been for a very long time. I was just waiting for you to catch up.”

A sultry laugh slips from her and she bites her bottom lip. “But you haven’t officially asked me to be your girlfriend.”

“Oh, you want me to make it official?”

“Yes. It’s a ritual just like kissing at the end of a date.”

She squeals when I lift and put her on her feet. Blush blooms on her cheekbones as she watches me get down on one knee. Taking her hand, I pop the question, “Will you give me the honor of being my girlfriend, Twinkle Seth?”

“Yes,” she cries out. “A thousand times yes.”

She throws herself into my arms as I rise, and I whisper in her ear, “As my first act of being your boyfriend, tell me how to make it up to you for hiding the truth from you, darling.”