Page 80 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“You have kissed him on the rooftop!”

Heat sliced through the cold pinching my cheeks. “He didn’t kiss me there. He just showed me.”

I might have heard Kareem scoff in disbelief, but I was too focused on trying to remember the route Kai had taken me. Considering I only took one wrong turn, I’d say my memory served me damn well.

“Fuck, I hate running.” Kareem huffed behind me as we rushed up a narrow staircase to the metal door at the top.

I giggled breathlessly and grabbed the long door handle, shoving the door open. I squeaked as I stumbled out, almost tripping face first onto the ground. A hand on my arm jerked me back upright.

“Careful,” Kareem warned.

“Where is it?” I quickly scanned the cream-tiled rooftop with a matching columned balustrade wrapping around the entire area.

Kareem pointed ahead of us at the same time I noticed a bright yellow teapot sitting on a small stool in front of the building with Touma’s crest on it. “There! That’s it.”

“I’ll get it.” With a burst of excitement, I ran right for it.

“Wait, Esmeralda!”

A loud bang stopped me in my tracks. My attention snapped ahead to the left where the second door that led up to the terrace had flown open.

Kai stepped onto the rooftop, his thick, raven black hair gorgeously messy, his parka coat pulled up to his chin. He spotted me as Pierre and Adam came out from the doorway behind him.

My gaze flicked to the plastic children’s teapot and back to him. Kai’s eyes moved behind me then settled back on me, narrowing just a bit. I felt my mouth stretch into a big, giddy grin.

“You’re too late. It’s ours,” I declared loudly.

Next to Kai, Pierre chuckled. “I don’t think so, Princess. That prize is ours.”

Shaking my head, I looked to the teapot. I was closer to it than they were, but they were all taller and had bigger strides, could probably run faster too. But I was overdosed on excitement and adrenaline, and there was something about knowing I was up against Kai that made me feel even more competitive. Nothing was keeping me from getting the teapot before them.

Without a second thought, I pushed off into a run.

“Kai, run,” Adam shouted.

Shit, shit, shit. Kai was fast. But I couldn’t, wouldn’t let him get it first. I had to get it—I had to.

A jump was possible. The stool wasn’t taller than my waist, so the possibility of diving over it was there. I would probably hurt myself and it was technically just a game, but—

Apparently, the prospects of getting injured didn’t scare me, because before I knew it, I was throwing myself up and forward through the air as if I was trying to tackle someone to the ground. My hands clapped around the teapot, gripping hard and tugging it to my chest. But then the hard tiles were in my face and my mind screamed at me to tuck and roll too late.

I crashed into the ground, only just breaking my fall with one hand. Something made a painful cracking sound, and something slammed into my chest, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

“Esmeralda,” two voices shouted out. One louder. One closer.

I gasped and wheezed for air I couldn’t seem to find as I rolled onto my back. My head spun, my ears rang, and my gaze was a disorientated blur. I felt a thud next to me before someone bent above me, their frantic hands hovering over my aching body.

“Esmeralda. Esmeralda.” Kai’s voice whispered over the noise in my ears. “Shit, Esmeralda.”

I blinked rapidly to refocus my gaze and I slowly found Kai’s wide, worried eyes right over my face. Gosh, he was so gorgeous it hurt more than the fall. I smiled up at him, or at least I tried to. “Hi, handsome,” I croaked.

His mouth opened and closed once, twice. “Dammit, Esmeralda.” He sighed heavily, and his brows furrowed. “Are you okay? What were you thinking?”

Before I could answer, Pierre and Adam appeared behind Kai and someone else crashed down to the floor next to me.

Kareem.

My brother’s eyes were huge and round as they darted all over me. “Are you—are you okay? Are you hurt? Can you move? Does anything hurt?”

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