Page 35 of True Blue

Layla smiles too, bouncing in her seat while Axel stares me down. “You don’t have to do this, Axe. I can handle them on my own.”

“Oh, I know you can, Blue. I’ll just be there for my own amusement, don’t worry.” He winks at me, still smirking and my heart lurches, remembering the kiss with Bentley randomly. “Dress code?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s business casual,” I whisper, eyes still locked with Axel’s. “But my mom’s assistant is dropping off a dress for me in the morning, so I don’t know what exactly I’m wearing yet.”

“You should show up in matching outfits,” Layla says, giggling.

I give her a blank stare, shaking my head. “I think just showing up together will be enough to piss Mom off. No need to give her an aneurysm trying to maintain a fake smile while steam comes out her ears.”

“Don’t worry, Blue. I’ll make sure we have a great time.” Axel leans back, snuggling further into the fuzzy grey chair, still smirking.

16

Mom’s alumni event is in a huge ballroom at some fancy hotel an hour away. She offered to send me a car, but Axel said he’d rather drive so I told her I have a ride and she didn’t ask any follow-up questions.

Sitting in Axel’s car, my hands grip the gauzy skirt of the mint green dress Pietro handed off to me this morning. We park, Axel shutting the car off and letting the noise of the city drift in around us. I sigh.

“Want to make a run for it? There’s still time.” Axel gives me a toothy grin, reaching across the center to squeeze my exposed knee. I suppress the shudder his touch causes.

“It’d only make things worse.” I showed him the text from my mom yesterday, so he knew what we were walking into together, and he clenched his jaw so hard I worried for the structural integrity of his molars.

“It’ll be fine, Janette. I won’t leave your side the entire time.” He squeezes me again and I nod, psyching myself up before opening the door and getting out.

A few people walk in ahead of us, dressed in suits and nice dresses and we follow. Axel places his hand on my lower back aswe walk across the swanky lobby. I can’t help but focus on the tingly heat soaking through my dress at the contact, distracting myself from the walk of doom we seem to be on.

We enter the ballroom under aWelcome Alums!banner and balloon arch, the room decorated in the Coast’s black and white color scheme. Multi-sized star shaped sculptures wrapped in sparkly gold tinsel sit haphazardly throughout the room, creating a walking path through the standing tables that leads to the lacquered dance floor, currently filled with people mingling and sipping champagne. A table covered in baskets and random paraphernalia sits against the wall, serving as the silent auction space where a few people meander, reading the cards on the table. We continue to follow the couple from the lobby into the room, greeted by wait staff with drinks and appetizer trays. I take a flute of sparkling grape juice from the waiter with the nonalcoholic drinks and Axel waves him off when he offers. We walk onto the dance floor, but turn and head to the corner, standing together on our own by the food tables. Axel looks around, hands in his pockets and surprisingly quiet.

I find Mom standing near the front of the room, smiling, and speaking animatedly with a bald man sipping champagne. I watch her look over and notice us, her smile becoming a bit tighter as she takes in and recognizes Axel. She nods to the man a few more times before excusing herself and walking straight toward us.

“Incoming,” I whisper, twisting the silver ring on my right hand at the same pace as her steps. I take a sip of my juice, suddenly wishing I grabbed a champagne flute instead.

Axel rubs my back and I lean into him, realizing how much I need him here right now. Christopher walks in with his father at that moment, seeing me and Axel immediately and glaring at the two of us. My eyes toggle between him and Mom, stomach churning as it tries to eat itself.

“Breathe, Blue,” Axel whispers as Mom clears the crowd and Christopher and his father start heading toward the dance floor.

“Janette,” Mom hisses, a smile still on her face as she waves to someone nearby. “What is he doing here?”

“Good to see you again too, Aunt Sandra,” Axel drawls, still rubbing my back lightly.

“You need to leave, Axel.” Mom looks over her guests as she speaks. “Why are you trying to embarrass me, Janette?”

Christopher and his father make it to the dance floor, immediately stepping off to the side at a table near the edge only a few feet away from the three of us. “Come say hi to Chris and Paul with me,” Mom says, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly at me.

“No, Mom. I think I’ll go mingle with Axel. But feel free to pass on my well wishes to the Tonkins.” I pull out the smile Pietro had me practice for days leading up to every photo shoot and grab Axel’s hand, pulling him into the crowd and away from Chris and his father.

“That was hot,” Axel whispers in my ear, his breath on my neck making me shudder, but I keep my fake smile in place. We walk between people, stopping to make small talk with the handful of people who recognize me as The Senator’s daughter. They all ask me the same thing, how I’m liking the Coast, and I gush about classes and West Tower, joking about the food not changing since they attended, while Axel stands beside me, still holding my hand.

Finally on our own again, he lets go of my hand, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and kissing the side of my head. “That was amazing to watch. You’re a natural at this.”

I snort, grabbing another sparkling grape juice as a waiter passes by. “Hardly. All of that was pre-planned talking points drilled into me by Pietro and Belinda from Mom’s team. I’m rarely allowed to have my own thoughts at public events.” Idown the juice, ignoring the sting of the bubbles in my nose. “If I could drink at these things, they would be so much easier.” I place the empty flute onto a nearby table and cross my arms.

“Janette,” Christopher says, suddenly appearing out of the crowd and eyeing Axel up and down. The hairs on the back of my neck instantly go up at the angry look in his eyes. He smiles though, keeping up the outward façade everyone here is wearing. “This the reason you decided to end things between us? Or was it the other guy?” He turns toward Axel. “You tell your newest guy why we broke up? Are you aware she hooked up with someone else while we were out on a date together?”

My heart sinks as he hisses the words and I close my eyes, feeling my hands start to shake.

Axel shrugs beside me. “Probably the same guy I hooked up with a few weeks ago,” he says, squeezing my shoulder and pulling me closer. I look up at him, eyes popping wide as he waggles his eyebrows at Christopher.

Christopher reels back, face turning red as his façade drops and a look of disgust takes over. Then he shakes his head in disbelief before locking back in on me. “Oh my god, you brought a gay guy as your beard. Could you get any more pathetic, Jan?” He laughs, hand on his stomach.

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