Page 2 of Anyone And You

The challenge became my goal for the evening. Even if this date was a total flop, and I ended up in worse shape over him than I was already in, I would get him to smile.

CHAPTER TWO - AXEL

I HADN’T BEEN on an actual date in months.

My fucking friends think they’re slick, setting me up like this. But I’d said yes simply to get them to shut up. I’d even picked up this sunflower on the way like they’d asked—a five-minute detour that made me late, and I hated being late.

I told myself if the woman I was meeting wasn’t there by the time I got there, I would leave, tell my friends she hadn’t shown, and maybe go inside the carnival to get a stiff drink.

I looked up the hill then to see if I saw my date. She was supposed to be wearing a grey sweater and boots, and I half hoped she would be a no-show or maybe see me and run away.

As I scanned the benches, I noted the families and the couples, and then I spotted someone familiar. Someone I definitely didn’t want to run into tonight,especiallynot tonight—

Fuck. Maybe she hadn’t seen me.

I looked away quickly and started to zag the other way to the sidewalk, but—

My stomach dropped, and I halted as I realizedshewas wearing a grey sweater.Shewas wearing boots, and she was staring at me like she knew exactly why I was there.

Not her.

Anyonebut her.

Her name was Desiree Allen, Des for short, and she lived across the hall from me.

“Axel Connors,” she called out to me.

Fucking hell. I wasn’t sure what I had prepared myself for, but I knew I hadn’t prepared myself for her. Her, I couldn’t avoid. Her, I couldn’t just run away from and think I’d never see her again. Her, I didn’t know what I would do if this date went badly.

But dammit, she was gorgeous.

She’d recently dyed her hair a dark purple-burgundy—mulberry, or so she’d told me when I’d seen her in the hallway—for the fall season. Her long layered hair fell in waves around her face. The color accentuated her golden skin and dark brows, the dark eye-makeup she’d chosen for tonight, and the pink lipstick.

I’d tried to keep my distance from her over the last year. She was so damn chipper, and that smile… that smile, her laugh… they drove me fucking insane.

My mouth dried at the sight of her watching me come up the hill, that smile on her face as she realized it was me she was waiting on. Her almond-tipped nails strummed once on her cheek as she held her face in her hand, and her doe eyes danced in amusement.

I threw the sunflower over my shoulder and turned around.

“Oh no—“ She stood off the bench and started toward me, and I couldn’t help stopping my exit to look her over in that black short skirt, the pantyhose covering her thick thighs, and the black boots that came all the way up over her knees. The dark grey sweater fell over one of her shoulders, exposing her collar, bra strap, and the pillow of her full breast. I stiffened at how sexy she looked and tried not to let it show on my face.

Fuck. There was no getting out of this.

I was doomed.

“You’re not getting out of this date,” she said, laughter in her tone. “Hi, Axel.”

A low grunt of frustration sounded in my throat. “Des,” I replied, looking her over again. “Did you know?” I asked, getting suspicious by the way she didn’t seem surprised.

She laughed. “Fuck, no,” she said. “I’m as baffled by this as you. But I think…” Her gaze darted over me, taking in every inch of my body and almost making me shift and stand up straighter. But her long lashes lifted, hitting her eyelids, and she bit her lip.

I really wished she wouldn’t do that.

“This will be so much fun,” she finally said.

“This is a bad idea.”

But she wrapped her arm into mine and tugged me forward. “Oh, sunshine… I think it’s a perfect idea,” she said, smiling up at me. My stomach knotted at that smile, at the way she was looking at me. The warmth of her arm wrapped into mine.

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