Page 14 of Always, Axel

“Let me worry about that.” Studying my face, he lightly touched the diamond stud piercing in my nose. “I like this.”

“Thanks.” My cheeks warmed. Seriously? It was just a small compliment.

He reached behind me and pulled out the hair tie, which was holding my messy bun together. My hair spilled down over my shoulders and lower back. I felt my heart speed up.

“Now.” He spread his fingers through my hair, arranging it until he seemed satisfied. “Leave your hair down.” Then he smirked as he trailed his finger down my arm and tugged on the short sleeve of my tee. “I like this dress on you. Wear it for the formal. But next time, lose the shirt,Hardcore.”

Natalie

“You look gorgeous, Nat.” Lizzie set the curling wand down on the counter and gave my hair a final toss.

“Thank you.” I ran my hands over my dress, smoothing out the wrinkles. I tried to keep from wobbling in the silver high heels I was wearing, courtesy of Axel. They weren’t cheap either. “I hope I don’t fall on my ass and ruin this dress. It was super expensive.”

“Yes. Everything from Danielle’s is.”

I stopped smoothing the soft material of my dress. “How did you know I bought it there?” She never asked me where the dress came from. In fact, I found it odd that she didn’t question me about it at all, considering she knew I didn’t have a fancy dress of my own.

“Ummm.” She looked away, and before she said more, a knock sounded at the door. “That must be Axel.” She rushed out and left me in the bathroom. I exhaled slowly and grabbed my makeup bag, double-checking that I had my necessary toiletries and contact case and solution, hoping I could manage with contacts tonight since they sometimes irritated my eyes. Normally, I wore glasses.

When I stepped into the room, their backs were to me, and I heard, “You really went all out for her dress.” Lizzie’s voice. Wait. Lizzie did know?

“Thanks for giving me her dress size.”

She was in on this, too? “Excuse me? You were in on this?”

Both of them turned and looked at me. Lizzie looked like a child who’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Faint pink spots marred her porcelain skin as she wrung her hands in front of her.

“For convenience purposes,” he said. Axel swiped a thumb over his jaw and leisurely studied me. “Not bad.” He stepped toward me. “You ready, Hardcore?” He nodded over my shoulder. “Is that your suitcase?”

I was convinced Axel’s way of answering questions was to do a rapid-fire change of subject and annoy me in the process. Regardless, I nodded.

He moved past me and grabbed my carry-on. Lizzie shrugged helplessly and mouthed,“Sorry.”

Soon, a hand was at my back, nudging me forward.

“Have fun,” my friend said lamely.

“Oh, we will.” Axel winked at her and led me out the door.

“What was that about?” I asked as we passed through the doors of Agnes Hall.

“What was what about?” he countered as he strode beside me.

“You coerced my best friend into helping you find a dress for me?”

“Coerced? That’s a bold statement.” He smiled wryly. “So far you’ve accused me of bribery, blackmail, and coercion. Do I look like a member of the mob or something?”

My lips twitched, and I looked away. He nudged me on the arm. “I don’t have to coerce someone to do anything.” Then his eyes swept down my dress. “Most of the time, I don’t, anyway.”

“Are you always this blasé?”

“Uh-oh, pulling out the big words, aren’t you? Blasé?” He glanced at me as if offended before veering off to the trunk of his car. “That’s a lazy word to describe me.” He popped the trunk and slung my suitcase inside. “I’m actually impressed by a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “You look pretty damn impressive in that dress, Hardcore. Nothing blasé about it, that’s for damn sure.”

My face heated as my head warned me against his bullshit. He closed the trunk and walked over to open my door like a perfect gentleman. When I stepped in, he bent down behind me, and his nose grazed the back of my neck. My breath caught, and he said, “You smell good, too.”

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