Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
“You got one of my least desirable traits. It’s your turn,” Kaylan prodded.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I lifted my gaze to a tree that had stretched across the low ceiling of the room. This was my idea. However, I was now questioning my sanity. This was supposed to be fun. Not about sending Kaylan running away from me. “Um…I guess…I have a somewhat obsessive personality. I get in moods where I obsess over a single thing.”
Kaylan released my wrist as if he suddenly remembered that he was holding it and flashed me a crooked grin. He tucked that hand with the other holding his coat. “Obsessed, huh? Give me an example. You don’t get obsessive over the person you’re dating, do you?”
“No! No! Nothing like that!” My heart leaped into my throat and refused to climb down at that question. “I obsess over things or food. For example, for two months, I had to have a bowl of cereal before going to bed or I couldn’t sleep. After I got over that, I couldn’t stand to eat cereal for months. Or I binge a particular TV show or style of books. During that period, nothing else will interest me much.” I winced. “I’ve driven a couple of exes crazy with that trait.”
Kaylan shrugged and continued to amble among the cacti. “What kind of shows? Reality TV?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it. “Mostly anime and serial killer documentaries.”
The sexy man in front of me chuckled. “Everyone is hooked on serial killer documentaries.” He paused and looked over at me. “What kind of anime?”
There was something in his voice that left me thinking that despite his attempt to sound casual and indifferent, this was a very important question for him. Could he be an anime watcher as well?
“Probably not stuff that would interest you. It’s mostly the slice of life, romantic, BL—I mean boys love—anime.”
Kaylan turned around to face me and lifted one haughty eyebrow. “You’re standing here with a gay man. Do you think I don’t know what BL is?”
That was a good point. But I hadn’t expected him to know in relation to anime. Did that mean…?
“Some of my favorites are Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, Given, and Junjo Romantica—even with its very questionable first episode,” Kaylan proclaimed as he walked toward me.
“Because you’re hooked on Usagi’s domineering, possessive nature while being insecure over Misaki’s feelings for him,” I finished.
“Yessss!” he hissed, eyes wide and teeth clenched. “And then you get to watch Misaki’s slow realization that he’s so deeply in love with Usagi and would be lost without him. That entire scene at the train station on the phone—”
“Where he’s just wanting some little sign from Usagi that he wants Misaki to stay with him—”
“It kills me every freaking time I watch it. I want to cry while shaking Misaki.”
And now we were finishing each other’s sentences. At least with anime, we had some overlap in our interests, and we were doing a horrible job of scaring each other away.
“Have you watched Dakaichi?” I asked to keep from kissing him.
“That’s the one with the two actors who fall in love, right?” Kaylan tipped his head back and moaned softly as he closed his eyes. “So sexy.” His head popped up and his eyes snapped open. “And they made the older veteran actor the shou and the young guy the gong! I love it!”
Gong? Shou? Those were not Japanese terms for top and bottom. That was Chinese!
I grinned at him. “You don’t just watch anime. You read danmei, too.”
Kaylan’s mouth fell open and his eyes unfocused for a second, as if he were rewinding what he’d said to give that away. It took only another second before he was groaning and nodding. “Yes, yes. I watch yaoi anime, and I have read an obscene amount of Chinese BL. Now that you’ve pried my dark secret out of me and you know what danmei is, I can admit that when I saw your eyes for the first time, my initial thought was that you were Hua Cheng reincarnated.”
My breath caught in my throat and my heart stopped at his words. He was comparing me to the sexiest, most dangerous, most romantic ghost king that was ever written. I stood frozen as Kaylan cocked his head to one side and lifted his hand, covering my pale right eye without touching my face. He smiled as he stared at me. “Sexy, broken Hua Cheng, who tore out his own eye in a fit of madness and heartbreak over his sweet dianxia.”
“You’ve left me with no choice,” I whispered.
Kaylan lowered his hand back to his side. “What?”
“I have to kiss you now.”
3
KAYLAN
I had no words.
My tongue was tied with no hopes of untangling.
What was I supposed to say to that?
I mean other than “Yes, please.”