Page 40 of You Started It

“Yeah. Anyway, we went over this already.”

“Where’s your red pen?” Axel asks.

I reach for it on my nightstand. “Here. Why?”

“We went to Wonderland. Give yourself a check mark. You know you want to.”

“But I was supposed to go with Ben.”

He takes the pen from me and crosses Ben’s name out of the title, changing it fromBen and Jamie’s Bucket ListtoAxel and Jamie’s. “I’m going to take you to all these places,” he says. Before Ican protest, he flips back to the contract and adds a fourth item:Take Jamie to all the locations on her our bucket list.

“Axel.” I shake my head. “That’s going way above and beyond.”

“Nah. These dates will benefit me too. Some of them would be the perfect backdrop for TikToks. And you agreed to film me, so it works out for both of us. We’ll pick a place, post pictures to the gram, which will drive Ben crazy—item number three onmylist—and then you’ll film TikToks for me, item number three onyourlist.”

“I put a lot of places on the bucket list. There’s no way we can do them all before the formal. Plus, some of them are seasonal. Like an outdoor concert at Budweiser Stage. They’re probably closing soon.”

Axel pulls out his phone and googles the concert venue. “We’re in luck. Next weekend is their last concert. Some band called Blue Rodeo.”

“Who’s that? Country singers? Anyway,” I say, pointing to the screen, “the show is sold out.”

“Minor details. Next Saturday don’t make any plans. I am taking you to an outdoor concert at Budweiser Stage to watch Blue Rainbow.”

“Rodeo,” I correct him.

“Whatever. Now go ahead and give yourself a check mark for the Wonderland date. You earned it.”

I did earn it. I take the pen from Axel and give myself a nice red check mark next to the photo of Wonderland. My heart aches slightly seeing Ben’s name crossed out, but when my eyes land on Axel’s name in its place, I’m filled with a rush of excitement and anticipation.

“No CN Tower though,” I say. “I’m not ready for that.” I go to mark a giant red X over the photo but Axel grabs my hand before I can.

“Let’s work our way through the list first. Then we can revisit.”

“Fine. Does this mean you’ll finally sign the contract?”

Axel flips through my notebook in search of the contract. He reaches for the pen in my hand, his fingers grazing mine. We both freeze up at the unexpected contact as our eyes lock. “Does signing this make you legally bound to me?” he asks.

“Would it be so bad if it did?” Clearly, my inner flirt escaped and betrayed me.

Axel tips his forehead to mine. “Sometimes being bad feels good.” He licks his lips and my heart pulses against my rib cage. I want to throw the notebook on the floor and kiss him while running my hands through his curls and…

A knock at my door.

“I’m opening this door in three seconds, so you better be decent,” Mom says.

I bolt up and clumsily sit on my desk chair while Axel chuckles to himself.

Mom opens the door. “I said no boys in your room, Jamie.”

“We were just doing homework,” I say.

“Then leave the door open.”

“Hi, Mrs. Foster,” Axel says, waving from his spot on my bed.

“It’s Ms. Taher.” Mom turns and walks away, leaving an icy chill in her wake.

“Sorry about her,” I say.

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