Page 72 of You Started It

Diesel grins. “You don’t have to tell us your sexual orientation.”

“Right. Because I’m with Axel.”

“No.” Diesel straightens. “Because you don’t owe that information to anyone. For the record, you could be with Axel and be bisexual. Or ace. Or many other things. But I appreciate you feeling comfortable enough to share all of that within thirty seconds of meeting me.”

I smile back at Diesel, trying to hide the blush I feel taking over my cheeks. “So, you’re Axel’s dancing friends?”

They all laugh at my not-so-discreet attempt at changing the subject. “Yes, we’re Axel’s dancing friends,” Finn says. He’s super tall and lanky. His nails are painted bright pink and black. They match Diesel’s.

“I’m surprised you’ve heard of us,” Diesel says. “We figured Axel forgot about his old life once he moved to the suburbs. Seems to have benefited him though. His TikToks are getting a lot more views since he went solo.”

Finn grabs Diesel’s arm dramatically. “I told you it was the right decision to let him go.”

Diesel nods, painting on a frown. “You were right. But it’s been hard. Hold me.”

Finn and Diesel fake-cry into each other’s arms, then pull apart, laughing.

I lean in to Axel. “So, are these two my second surprise?”

“They are.” Axel nods. “I figured in order to get to know the real me, you needed to know a bit more about my other family. Finn and Diesel took me under their wings in ninth-grade gym. They saw I was as hopeless at most team sports as they were andconvinced our teacher to let us ‘dance’ our way to an A. The only catch was we had to perform for the class at the end of the semester.”

“That’s when some unevolved jerks posted it on TikTok thinking it would go viral, for all the wrong reasons, but instead we went viral for all the right ones,” Finn says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Is that when you decided to film dances together and post them?” I ask.

“Eventually,” Diesel says. “It took a while to convince Axel. He was a bit more reserved back then. He still is compared to me and Finn.”

Axel? Reserved? Not a word I would use to describe him.

“Jamie, are you much of a singer?” Finn asks, nodding to the stage.

“No. This was Axel’s idea. Do you enjoy singing in front of strange adults?”

Diesel laughs. “Yeah. We like to sing. Some of us are better at it than others.”

I glance over at Axel, who keeps checking his phone. He types something quickly into it, then excuses himself.

“That was weird,” I say out loud, without realizing.

“What was?” Finn asks, his blue eyes peering into mine like an old soul.

“Axel’s barely ever on his phone, but he’s been checking it constantly tonight. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be worried he was texting his sidepiece.” I laugh but the others don’t join.

“Axel wouldn’t do that,” Diesel says, shaking their head slightly.

“You’re his friends. You have to say that,” I respond, almost defensively.

“No,” Finn interjects. “His last girlfriend, Sky, cheated and it nearly broke him.”

“Axel’s never spoken about Sky before,” I say.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t. Once someone breaks his trust, that person is pretty much dead to him.” Diesel’s eyes bore into mine. I nod to let them know I get their message. Loud and clear.

“I’m the same way, so I get it,” I reply. Axel returns and takes a seat next to me. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just wanted to make sure your third surprise was still on track,” he says with a wink.

“You know, I don’t really love being surprised,” I say, before biting on my lower lip.

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