Kicks hates it when I let her win at games, so I don't let her.

I still hold back, though, because Kira loves to cheat, and if I use force to wrench my rods from her hands when she tries to undermine me in Foosball, I could hurt her.

It's disturbing how easy it is to free them from her grip when she tries to stop my players from moving.

I love and hate being so much bigger and stronger than her.

I love it because it means I can protect her from physical dangers that could overcome her. I hate it because physical dangers could overcome her.

She might be dainty and physically not that strong, but Kicks is one of the toughest people I know. I see the admirable way she deals with life without her mother and the way she takes care of her dad. I don't think I would've been able to cope like her if my mom died. I would fall apart permanently.

She rises to every challenge life throws at her.

Kicks is extremely capable and doesn't need me in her life to take care of her, which is part of the reason I'm glad I'm bigger and stronger than her. It gives me some use, even if it is just to grab things for her from high shelves, open bottles or carry her on my back when she's hurt.

"Yeah!" I shout, letting go of the foosball rods when I score the final goal, winning yet another game. I laugh when Kicks blows me a raspberry, pretending to be mad. She's not; her eyes are sparkling, and her cheeks are flushed with excitement.

She's having fun.

We always have fun playing here at Game Galaxy together. Earlier, her face brightened, and she relaxed the minute I suggested coming here. We hardly ever do it, and usually, it is as part of a group, but we still end up playing against each other a lot, and I know she enjoys it as much as I do.

Every two minutes, I regret my chivalrous outburst at the bench when I took pity on Kira and her confusion and promised that I wouldn't initiate any more kissing. If she wants to kiss me, she's welcome to any time, but I won't do it again.

Yeah, I lost half my brain cells during that seriously hot make-out session we had on the bench. We've never kissed like that before, and I didn't expect it to happen. It just did, and it blew my mind!

Afterwards, looking into her eyes, I saw so many things in there I'd never seen before, and it scared me. I think Kicks is really starting to see me as Ethan, her real boyfriend and not Ethy, the dude who steals her freshly baked muffins before they've even cooled off and puts his hands over her eyes at the best parts in movies.

I didn't want her to be scared and run away.

I figured it would be good to put the kissing ball in her court, but, damn, do I regret it?! Each time I look at her, and she pouts her lips at me in that cheeky way, or she smiles sweetly or... she exists, I want to kiss her.

Well, I was wise enough to double down on hugging and holding hands, so I get to at least grab her every now and then and just hold her a bit. That is going pretty well. She hasn't called me an oaf and told me to get off her even once... so far...

The night is still young, though.

I feel bad about beating her three games in a row with foosball, so I suggest we play the racing car game next. It's one of those where each rider has their own console, steering wheel and pedals, and Kicks is disturbingly good at it. She puts me in my place with that one every time, and I'm not even sure how she manages it since, in real life, she's too scared to learn to drive.

Probably because of the spectacular accidents she causes her opponents in this game.

She gives me a look, grinning and bobbing her eyebrows. "Yes," she says. "Your ego is over-inflated after playing with the little dolls. Let's go beat it back into place."

"It's not little dolls, Kicks!" I exclaim, laughing. "They're football players!"

"Ethy," she scoffs, giving me a cheeky look. "They're little plastic people... we call them dolls."

"Shut up!" I chuckle, picking her up and tossing her over my shoulder to carry her to the racing game. I unceremoniously drop her into her seat and take the other one. I'm ready to get my butt kicked by the queen of crashing chaos.

The place is buzzing tonight with students from both the high and primary schools and some from the boarding school in Silverview. It is soon going to become too crowded to have fun because all the machines will have kids waiting for turns. For now, people are not getting in each other's way too much.

Except that Kira is getting in my way big time. This time, she's not physically trying to wrestle me away from the Pacman machine because I'm about to beat her high score. Her red car is causing my blue one to roll and shatter and catch on fire. No matter how many rounds we play, I cannot make it to the finish line.

How does she do it?

Even when I'm playing with the guys, we never manage to make each other crash this spectacularly, and we play it a lot more often than Kira does. It's worth it, though, because I get to hear her giggle happily and call me names like Blondie and Grandma Cutie Pie. I swear, Kicks becomes another person when she's here at Game Galaxy. She becomes someone highly competitive and almost as good at trash-talk as her dad.

I love it!

We're gaining some spectators, and they seem to enjoy seeing me getting my butt kicked by the girl who usually is so quiet at school. I join them when they applaud her and Kira gracefully accepts it, suddenly looking all shy again.

After we've played various games, the place is really filling up, and the previously pleasant buzz is starting to feel oppressive. It's becoming harder to find open machines, and I'm friggin' hungry now.

"Kicks, wanna go get some food?" I ask hopefully, and because of the wideness of her eyes and the rise in her colour, I'm sure she's relieved by the suggestion. Kira is not fond of crowds and the one in Game Galaxy is definitely crossing into the range that usually freaks her out. She happily takes my hand when I hold it out to her, and we leave the noisy gaming location behind to hurry along the sidewalk to Rafaello's.

I'm glad we get to grab a table on the balcony overlooking the sea when the previous occupants leave just as we arrive. Getting a table out here on weekends and holidays is usually hard. Today might be Thursday, but it is technically Friday since everybody has the day off tomorrow. The place is packed, but it's not that intense out here on the balcony.

From here, I can hear the ocean having fun crashing into the rocks, and a cool, salty breeze stirs my hair, blowing away any residual heat. I look across the table at Kira's face, glowing in the moonlight, and my heart sings a happy chorus in my chest.

This is perfect.

She seems fine being alone here with me. We don't normally hang out without Delia in the mix; some of my friends are usually with us too. I was afraid she might start squirming and long to go home once we were seated at a candle-lit table with a romantic backdrop, but she is taking it in her stride. She even smiles at me.

We order our usual favourites when Bella - our waitress again - stops by. She's not glaring at me tonight. I guess she'd made peace with the fact that I have a girlfriend now... or the fat tip I left her last time did the trick. To prove that the cold war is over, our drinks don't take long to arrive, and I'm confident I won't get any unwanted mushrooms tonight. 

I thank her, grateful for the drinks since I'm pretty thirsty after all the wild action - on and off-screen - Kicks and I got up to in Game Galaxy.

Kira is achingly beautiful, sipping her mocktail and gazing at the view. She suddenly seems so young and vulnerable, and I get why my dad and Uncle Joe want to send her to a convent and chain me in the basement. Well, they never said they wanted to do any of those things, but it seems like a good idea to me. We'll have to build a basement first, though.

I might even suggest it to them.

The wind gently plays with tendrils of Kira's hair, making them float around her face, and I can imagine her as a mythical being lying on a cloud, sipping the pink slushy substance in her glass. Her cherry lips are gripping the straw, and her eyes glitter as if they are lit from the inside. She would make an awesome water nymph. One of those who lure men into dark pools and...

No! No way! If she's gonna lure anybody anywhere, it had better be me, or I'm draining that pool and freeing the fish!

"What?" Kira suddenly asks, turning her attention from the stunning view to frown at me. Seeing her cock her head in a challenge, I smile, shaking my head, abandoning all my plans for sword fights, murder and mayhem... for now.

"I like looking at you," I tell her honestly and chuckle when she glares at me suspiciously.

"Why?!" she demands, touching her hair and rubbing at her cheek. I can completely understand why she would think that I stuck price tags on her cheeks or tangled sweet wrappers in her hair... again. I didn't! I've been very well-behaved tonight, and it is clearly freaking her out. I would feel bad if it wasn't so damn cute to see her all flustered.

"Well, you're my girlfriend, so it's only natural, isn't it?"

"No, it's not!" she says, aghast, and if her aggression increases any more, she's going to remove her entire face and not have any hair left.

I chuckle, swirl the ice in my glass and take a sip of my dry lemon and tonic water to stop myself from leaning over the table and kissing her. This non-kissing thing is so much harder than the manual said it was going to be. I hate it. I would love nothing more right now than to be back on that bench, sucking on Kira's sweet lips.

I am not Sir Gallahad or Prince friggin' Valiant! I should've remembered that!

Maybe I misread her earlier. Perhaps she's not opening her heart at all. I'm sure she kissed me back just as passionately as I'd kissed her. I'm 100% sure... 80%... I'm pretty sure.

She ended the kiss, but not quickly. It was a loooooong kiss and so friggin' good. She couldn't have missed it. I know she felt it just as much as I did.

I put my glass down and smile at her, wondering how I'm going to get us back to where we were emotionally before, during and just after that kiss. I liked that place.

"Hey!"

I choke on my heart and nearly fall off my chair when I'm slapped on the back. Only one person I know has a habit of trying to launch me into orbit each time he says hi to me. I guess I can't complain about it because I'm probably the only person he knows who does it to him too.

Where did Jet come from so suddenly?

What the hell is he wearing?! He looks like he's on his way to audition for the next James Bond movie. Black suit, black tie and a white shirt. He's not going to get the role, though, because his shirt is untucked, the top buttons of his shirt are open, his tie is pulled half loose, and his hair looks like he'd been in a wrestling match.

I narrow my eyes and look at his companion - standing awkwardly by his side - for clues, and try as I might, I cannot imagine Akari Yamashita getting involved in any kind of wrestling with the dude. She's way too classy for him. Sure, Jet's family might match hers in wealth... or outstrip them, but the guy is a friggin' rogue with the moral compass of a cane rat.

Akari is really pretty in a silver dress that looks like it was made of sheet metal. No, she'd definitely not been tangling with my friend because her sleek black hair is twisted and curled and draped in the complicated kind of hairstyle seen in some of Deli's fashion magazines. She looks like she'd just stepped off one of those glossy pages.

How on Earth did she end up with a savage like Jet?

Akari is in some of my classes at school. She started at Corbin High at the beginning of this year, and I haven't been able to figure her out yet. Sure, I haven't really tried, but she has a way of lowering her lids while looking around her that makes it seem as though she's trying to shut out the world. I've let her shut me out.

She seemed cold and distant, and at first, I thought she didn't understand much English and was suffering from culture shock, but her English is perfect. I don't think she was born in Japan because she sounds like a local.

She could just be shy, but I'm not sure that is all it is. Kicks is shy, but she exudes warmth. Akari is ice. I've come to the conclusion that she just feels way superior to the rest of us, mere mortals.

My eyes widen with shock when I remember Jet telling us the other day that he's going to get married. His parents were planning some kind of business merger that would be solidified through marriage as if they were living in the friggin' middle ages.

Surely that didn't happen tonight?!

That dress could be a very fancy, modern wedding dress. Deli likes drawing designs for her and Kicks' wedding dresses. Many of her designs are just above the knee in length, and some of them look a bit like the one Akari is wearing.

Kira always frowns at the shorter designs, saying that she wants to look like a medieval princess in her wedding dress, not like an actress on her way to the Oscars. Akari could be an actress on her way to the Oscars. She's even wearing spiky shoes that make the top of her head reach Jet's chin tonight.

I'm pissed off that I was not invited to their wedding, and I glare at Jet to make sure he sees that I'm not happy about this at all. I don't mind that I wasn't his best man; he has four best buddies - five if I count Wendy - to choose from, and he can do what he wants, but I wanted to be invited, dammit! 

Getting married is a big deal!

"Good evening," Kira says politely, giving me an uneasy look.

"Sit here," Jet says, plucking the chair on one of the sides between Kira and me out for Akari before he rounds the table and sits down opposite her.

I don't like this; there are now too many things between Kira and me on all sides. A table and two people who may or may not be married. Jet had better start telling me he's sorry for not inviting me to his wedding, or I'm chucking him off the balcony.

He ignores me when I growl at him, so I tell him straight out that Kicks and I are on a date. See? He didn't invite me to his wedding, and I didn't invite him on our date. After informing Jet about the date, I feel bad when I see Akari squirm uncomfortably, and Kira gives me a horrified look.

She's right, that was probably rude, but she only thinks that because she doesn't know that we're about to have dinner with Mr and Mrs Tremain and weren't invited to their wedding... or maybe it's Mr and Mrs Yamashita... Yamashita-Tremain...

"I'm so sorry," Akari mutters, pushing back the chair she just sat down on. She's about to get to her feet, and now I feel like a dog. I lean over and put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place, and she gives me a startled look. I'm probably still glaring, and I really don't mean to.

"It's okay; you can stay," I tell her. "I'm pretty sure you'll behave and eat your food and not muck up our date."

It's not hard to turn my frown into a smile since she's never done anything to me and probably doesn't realise that I'm hurt that one of my best friends didn't want me at his wedding. Well, it could be Jet's parents' fault. They never remember our names and seem to think we're a bad influence on their wild son.

For the record, they are the bad influence on Jet. We keep the guy from going completely over the edge. Still, he never does what they tell him to do, so if he wanted to invite us, he would've. I'm pretty sure he didn't invite Lurch, Barn. Wendy or Burlap, either. They would've told me.

That makes it even worse!

He can leave me out if he wants to, but Barn is his best of the best buddies. How could he not invite him, at least? Barn is going to be completely crushed.

"You can go sit over there," I tell Jet. I've forgiven him enough not to launch him into the ocean but to let him eat in peace. I've not forgiven him enough to have him sit with us.

Does Barn know yet? I need to call him and make sure he's okay, but if he doesn't know and I call... Grunting, I glare at Jet again, mad at him for placing me in this position... and for mucking up my date by pissing me off.

I need to calm down!

"You can have the chair," I say benevolently. "Eat on your lap."

"You are making no sense," Kira giggles, shaking her head, and Jet snorts, looking amused. The guy has no remorse. He grabs my glass, takes a sip, and hastily slams it down again, giving me a horrified look. Ah, dry lemon with tonic water is bitter, but revenge is sweet.

"Damn, Ethe, what the hell is that shit?" he complains, but he already knows what it is since I often drink it. "No wonder you're being such a grouch."

"The corner," I tell him, nodding in the direction I want him to disappear.

"There's an open table inside..." Akari points out reasonably, trying to rise again, but I once again stop her flight. I don't want her to go. I want to get to know my ex-friend's wife; besides, she looks frail and hungry; she should have something nice to eat before she faints.

"Nope, you stay right here," I reassure her. "Trust me; Jet belongs in the corner."

"F#ck off," Jet grumbles, helping himself to Kira's glass. He apparently likes her drink a lot more, taking huge gulps of the stuff until Kira physically stops him, fighting him for the glass.

"What can I get the two of you?" Bella appears at our table to ask Jet and Akari.

"He would like a glass of piss-off with a side order of get-stuffed," I tell her and am about to add that for dessert, he would like some over-the-counter meds for diarrhoea, since I'm going to beat the shit out of him, but I stop mid-sentence when Kira kicks me in the shin.

She's right, I'm walking on a tight line here with a fine balance between being mad at Jet without making Akari any more uncomfortable and ruining my date with Kira.

Jet and I have one of our legendary glaring contests when Bella leaves with their order and a fresh drinks order for Kicks and me. I'm trying to send him mental messages, asking for details about his marriage. Like, why the hell did he get married now and not wait until the end of the year? He said the plans were for when he graduates high school. The year isn't even halfway done yet.

We were going to save him from being a zero on a contract!

I honestly didn't even know Jet knew Akari! They don't have any classes together. He definitely would've mentioned her if she were in any of his classes. Jet always mentions the pretty girls who cross his path.

"I think you should both go sit in the corner," Kira puts an end to our impressive glaring, intercepting my mental messages. "That way, Akari and I can have a nice, peaceful dinner."

"I'll happily hang out in any corner, as long as you're in that corner with me, Kicks," I tell her with a grin, really liking the idea, as I ignore Jet and focus on her instead. She's so friggin' pretty when she blushes, blinking her large eyes. Oh, yeah! I really want to go sit in that corner now.

"So, just to clarify," Jet destroys the tension but makes my blood pressure rise with his next words. "The three of us are going to hang out together in a dark corner? Kinky!" His speech ends with a grunt when I poke him in the ribs. He is a married man, and Kicks is my girlfriend!

"Get your own corner!"

"Akari," Kira says, giving her a gentle smile. "Let's swap places."

Oh, yeah! Now, she's talking! Why didn't I think of that? Our current seating arrangement makes it seem like I'm with Jet and she's with Akari... or worse, I'm with Akari, and Kira is with Jet!

I don't want Kicks to be with other guys... especially not Jet... even if he is married.

"Are you sure?" Akari smiles nervously, rising with Kira and trading places with her. Watching the girl, I'm starting to think that I really didn't have her summed up correctly. She might seem cold merely because she's nervous around strangers. I feel bad for not trying harder to get to know her before tonight.

"Yeah," I grin, pulling Kicks' chair closer to mine the second she's in it. I can't look at her as comfortably when she's on a 90-degree angle to me as I could when she was sitting across from me, but I get to put my arm around her shoulders. Feeling her is even nicer than seeing her.

"I'd still prefer it if Jet went and sat in the corner, but this is better," I grin, happily nuzzling Kira's neck. Hey, I said I wouldn't kiss her again unless she started it. That was all I promised. Kira plucks her glass from the table, where she'd placed it during her relocation and thirstily drinks from it.

"If the two of you are going to make me nauseous, I'm going to go sit in that corner," Jet says, but he grins, pulling Akari's chair towards his too. She lets him but looks a little uncomfortable, which doesn't leave much room for confidence in their married life. I really need to speak to Jet; this cannot be good. The last time he talked about it, he didn't want to be an object in a business merger.

"Promise?" I smirk, pulling Kira even closer, and then it happens!

"Get off me, you big oaf!"

There we finally have it, folks! She called me an oaf and told me to get off her.

♂♀