Page 2 of Always, Axel

“That would be great.”

“Not a problem. We love our Hillside supporters.” Axel gazed down at me with a smirk on his face. “I can hook you up with some tickets, too.”

“That won’t be necessary. I don’t take bribes.”

His eyes widened slightly in surprise before he smiled widely. “Bribes. That’s cute.”

“Miss Pradhan, why don’t you find the book I asked for instead of badgering our patrons? Or do I need to hold your hand and show you where it is?”

Patron my ass. If it had been anyone else besides this six-foot-two-inch athlete in front of me, they would’ve been tossed out of here. Regardless, I said between clenched teeth, “Of course.” Stepping around them, I went to the shelf and plucked the stupid memoir from the shelf.

Passing by me, Axel winked smugly, while his girlfriend continued to peer down at me like I was a bug she wanted to lance with her stiletto heel.

I averted my gaze and walked over to Mr. Wilson and handed him the book. So much for another boring day at the library.

The next day, I made it to my Genetics class and parked in a seat in the front row. I set down my things and cautiously glanced over my shoulder to the back section of the auditorium to see if Axel was there. However, I didn’t see him. Of course, he wasn’t. There were still five minutes before class began, and he usually showed up late.

Scrolling through my notes on my laptop, I absently clicked the top of my gel pen. Why did I feel a sense of anxiousness? Shaking my head, I shifted in my seat, wishing, for once, Dr. Longley would start class on time.

“Hey, man, can you scoot down a seat?” I heard a familiar male voice say in the row behind me.

Without thinking, I glanced over my shoulder to find Axel sitting in the seat directly behind me. He had that infuriating grin on his face as if expecting me to notice him and gave me a two-finger salute.

I quickly faced the front, fighting the racing of my pulse. Luckily, our professor began his lecture. I tried not to read too much into why he chose the seat behind me since he normally sat in the back row. Besides seeing him say a few words to students who were fans of the team before and after class, Axel never participated in class discussions. But today, he seemed more than eager to answer questions, even asking Dr. Longley questions for clarification on genetic code sequencing.

I rolled my eyes and twirled my pen in my hand, checking my phone for the time. Only a few more minutes. I sighed in relief. As soon as class ended, I quickly shoved my things into my backpack and rushed out of the auditorium.

The next time I had that class, I arrived a few minutes early like always. Pulling up a PDF of an article for class, I aimlessly scanned over it when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This time, I didn’t turn around to look, but I knew he was there. Although class had begun, my mind was preoccupied.

Why did my pulse speed up when he took the seat behind me? Why would I even think he was deliberately trying to get my attention? Maybe I was just overreacting.

Stupid imagination. What could I say? I loved to lose myself in a book and escape. It wasn’t unusual for me to get caught up in the fictitious world of my favorite romance books, so maybe I was reading too much into this whole scenario.I really needed to get a life.

As I absently stared at our professor, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Glancing behind me, I jerked in surprise at seeing Axel’s perfectly symmetrical face so close to mine. I could smell the cinnamon scent from the gum he was chewing. The insolent tug of his full lips showcased a flash of white teeth and two dimples that were perfect indentations. The dark scruff of shadow grazed his jaw. I could see how people could fall under his spell.

“Better pay attention because I certainly am.” His words were low, thrumming against my skin in a tempting warning.

Before I could respond, I heard, “What is your opinion, front and center?” Dr. Longley posed a question. Turning as if in a daze, it dawned on me that our professor had his attention on me, tapping his toe impatiently. He never called us by our name—there were over two hundred students in this class. But he normally called out the location of where we were seated, and after several classes, we were used to it.Front and center, left side, outer aisle, third row to the right. He was a pompous professor, yet we, the ones who cared about our GPAs, eagerly accepted his assholelishness and answered his questions with extra zeal.

However, right now, I had no zeal. I sat frozen, trying to rack my brain over what he asked, hoping I didn’t screw up my chances. Honestly, I couldn’t remember the last fifteen minutes of his lecture. My mind had drifted once again.

“I can answer that, Dr. Longley,” Axel said from behind me.

Blinking my eyes rapidly, not believing what was happening, I completely took back what I said about our professor knowing none of our names because he did knowhis. “Yes, go ahead, Mr. Thomas.”

At the urging of our professor, he went on a five-minute explanation on chromosomal mutations, while I stewed in stunned silence, feeling like an idiot because I could’ve very easily answered if I’d paid attention to the question. I couldn’t help but turn around and scowl at him, while he gave me an innocent look with an unapologetic shrug.

When class wrapped up, I started packing my things and felt another tap on my shoulder. This time, I ignored him, but I could feel him ghosting over my shoulder, regardless. “It’s okay. You’ll get it next time.” With that, he gave me a consoling pat on the back, and by the time I did turn around, he was walking up the aisle, out of the auditorium.

Axel Thomas

—Age 21

Nobody said life would be easy. Who was I kidding? For me, life was pretty sweet. It was the end of the spring semester and my junior year at Hillside, and our football team was the reigning national champs. In most circles, I was considered one of the top prospects for the NFL and could’ve declared for the draft this year, foregoing my senior year at Hillside.

However, my best friends, Roman, Nick, and Dmitri, decided that we weren’t leaving Hillside after our junior year for the draft. Like me, they were all pegged to forego their last season of college eligibility and enter the draft, but one night, several months ago,saidbest friends got together and changed their minds, dragging me into this decision with them. Honestly, it wasn’t that difficult of a decision. We all wanted a shot at a back-to-back title. And I’d made a promise to my mother long ago that I would graduate from college. If only she could see me now…

“Axel, what’s up, my man?” Joel, one of my fraternity brothers called out and loped over to me. I’d just finished my last class of the day and was going to grab something to eat before I hit the gym.

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