Page 53 of Shrouded in the Dark
“We’ll be back soon. Okay?” He placed a chaste kiss on my forehead before he rushed out the door following Jasper.
“He makes me so dizzy.” My lips curved up as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Such a dork.”
“Mmm. He is.” Now it was Seth’s turn as he walked up to me before he left. “Axel will be out in a few minutes. Call us if you need anything,” he repeated himself. “We should only be gone for a few hours. Do you feel like some takeout for later?”
“Yeah.” I was hoping he’d hug me.
If I only had this summer to be close to them, I decided I wanted to take full advantage.
He didn’t disappoint. I was pulled tightly into his arms, surrounded by his warm body and scent. He pressed his lips to the top of my head for several moments. My limbs were becoming puddy just as he stepped back.
“Can’t wait to see what you create today!” The door shut behind him.
“Lock door.” The voice command worked right away as I heard the snick of the door lock. That was pretty neat.
A yawn came out of nowhere while I started to work on the sandwiches again. I was making two for Axel now, with several for later. I wanted to have a picnic at Dad’s spot. The sandwiches got wrapped up and placed in the fridge. Potato salad from lunch yesterday would go in too. I had bought a can of honey mustard Pringles, Dad’s favorite, for the occasion too. I’d hidden it in the cooler that was hidden in the island's lower cabinets when the guys had said they were coming to stay with me. It was a good thing, too. These guys ate more than I did.
I was trying to pull the cooler out, as it’d somehow managed to get stuck in just the right position that made it hard to maneuver. My arms strained as a grunt came out.
“What are you doing?” Axel’s roughened voice came from the other side of the island. His steps came around the corner.
Just as he came around, I’d given one last tug that achieved moving the cooler out but sent me flying backwards. My head smacked against the cabinets under the sink.
“Ow.” My head spun for a second in a daze.
“Becca!” Huge calloused hands framed my face as my eyes came back into focus. “What the heck are you doing, you crazy cub?”
Oh. My mouth went dry as I looked up into Axel’s warm chocolatey eyes. His brows were furrowed in concern. He hadn’t shaved again this morning, his scruff was looking more filled in, it just highlighted his sharp cheekbones more clearly. He was shirtless, the heat that he produced was coming out in waves. Not to mention as I looked lower, the pants he was wearing looked like they could fall off at any second. I’d drawn him shirtless, but being this close was overwhelming.
“Cub?” His tone roughened as he tipped my chin up to look at his face again. His eyes were bouncing between both of mine. “How hard did you hit your head?”
“Not that hard?” I swallowed a few times to get rid of my dry mouth. “I’m good.”
He narrowed his eyes at me but backed up a little. His hands fell from my face, leaving me feeling a little lost for a few brief seconds.
I REALLY needed to do that research as soon as I could. I reminded myself firmly that he was Felicity’s. He was off limits! Even if she was taking forever to talk to him. Second thing to do tonight, tell Felicity to talk to him.
“You’re not dressed.”
Axel grabbed my hand to help me get on my feet. “No, I’m not.” He noticed the cooler that was haphazardly on the ground in front of us and picked it up. “Going somewhere?”
Perfect distraction! He handed it over to me as he eyed it warily.
“I was thinking a picnic. Would you be up for that?” I moved to the fridge, pulling out the food for him to eat here. “Here. Seth said you’d be hungry when you woke up.” I handed him the plate. “Do you want anything to drink? Milk?”
He’d taken the plate gingerly while still watching me. One of the sandwiches was half gone with his first bite. “Where?” He finished the first one.
I’d started to fidget under his stare. “About a two mile hike up the mountain at a small clearing along the creek.”
He didn’t look away from me as he finished the food. He placed the plate in the sink before he crossed his arms. “Why?”
“Why?”
“Why do you want to go for a picnic into the forest that could potentially put you in danger?”
Curling my shoulders inward, I rubbed my arms. “Today is special. It’s really one of the two reasons I came up here on my own.”
Axel’s stance softened along with his voice. “What’s the occasion?”
