by E. L. Todd
Please ask her out.
“How about you and I get a drink together sometime? That way you can take a break.”
Francesca stiffened at the question, her hand gripping the hand towel.
Shit, she was going to say no.
Don’t chicken out.
“Uh…” She fidgeted as she stared him down. “Yeah, that’d be fun.”
I wanted to break out into a dance right then and there.
“Cool.” He pulled out his phone. “Can I have your number?”
Francesca gave it to him.
“I’ll give you a call. What’s your name, by the way?”
“Frankie.”
“Cool. I’m Cameron.” He shook her hand. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Okay. See ya.”
“Bye.” He walked out and Jason followed behind him.
Jason was just about to reach the door when he turned back to the counter. “Hey, Marie?”
“What’s up?”
“You free Friday night?”
Was he asking me out? “I’m flattered but I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh.” He shrugged in disappointment. “What a bummer.”
“I’ll see you in class.”
He waved then joined Cameron outside.
I was so happy for Francesca I could scream. She actually gave her number to a guy and she was going on a date with him. This was the best day in a long time. I wanted to squeal and dance but I kept my cool. Knowing Francesca, if I made too much of a fuss about it she would freak out and retreat into her hole.
***
“Really?” Axel asked as we lay in bed together. “Some guy asked her out?”
“And he was cute.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I’m just saying.” Never knew he was the jealous type. “I’m so happy for her.”
“It’s a big step.” He kissed my bare shoulder, his kiss warm and soft.
“Hopefully they hit it off and spend some time together. When she’s with another guy it’ll help her move on.”
“I’m sure.” He pulled me to his chest, placing me on top of him. His hand rested on the small of my back and his lips were pressed to my hairline. He felt like a slab of concrete, but more comfortable. When he took a deep breath I felt my body rise with his chest. “I could lay here forever.”
“Yeah?” I sat up and looked down into his face.
“You’re like a stuffed animal or something.” His fingers moved through my hair. “You’re soft and warm.”
“Did you have sex with your stuffed animals?”
He shrugged and then gave a guilty grin. “Francesca did have this rabbit…”
“Gross.” I smacked him on the arm.
“What? I just hit puberty and I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Your hand wasn’t your first thought?”
“My hand isn’t soft. It’s all dry and calloused.” He kissed my shoulder again.
“That’s disgusting.” My words didn’t have much conviction because the kiss of his lips was too intoxicating.
“Oh yeah?” His lips traveled to my ear. “Would you like to be my new rabbit?”
“Not really.”
“Sure…” He gave my side a gentle tickle.
I swatted him away. “I’ll never be your sex toy.”
“Well, I’m yours.” He snuggled into my side, hugging me like a stuffed animal.
I eyed the clock and realized the time. Neither one of us had dinner because we were too comfortable to move. The thought made my stomach rumble loudly.
Axel moved his hand to my stomach and grinned. “Is my baby hungry?”
It was the second time he called me that. Every time he did, I paid attention to it. “A little.”
“What would you like?” His hand moved slowly up my arm, feeling every inch of my skin.
“I don’t care. What do you want?”
“Well, if you want to go out I’ll take you somewhere nice. But if you want to stick around, mainly in bed, I’ll order a cheesy pizza.”
“Hmm…I do like pizza.”
He smirked as he waited for my response.
“And I do like staying in bed…”
“Pizza it is.” He grabbed his phone and placed the order online. “I prefer eating naked anyway. And if we went to a nice restaurant we’d get kicked out.”
“I can imagine.”
He set his phone on the nightstand and turned back to me. His arms and chest were hard and defined, and I wondered if he pushed tractor tires around for exercise.
“When do you work out?”
“Usually in the morning,” he answered. “But lately I haven’t been working out at all—outside the bedroom.”
My hand ran over his thick arm, feeling the separation in his biceps and triceps.
“You like that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t hate it.”
“Whatever,” he said with a chuckle. “All the women love it.”
I gave him a threatening look.
He quickly realized his mistake. “I mean…what women?”
“That’s better.” I may not be jealous of famous people he was attracted to, but I was definitely jealous of the real women who shared this bed with him. With every passing day I was growing attached to him, realizing how lucky I was to be in this relationship. Axel didn’t do commitments. I was his first one. That had to mean something.
Despite Axel’s ignorance about a lot of things, the thoughtful side of him always emerged. It may be difficult for him to remain serious for any given amount of time, but when he was it was a beautiful thing. I was a witness to the way he looked after his sister, watching over her day after day. Without expecting anything in return he paid her bills and kept food on the table. He even took care of her school assignments so she would still graduate on time. He didn’t do that just because she was his sister.
He did it because he loved her.
I’d been watching Axel my whole life, from a distance, and I already knew all of his amazing attributes. He was honest, loyal, and caring. He might get his head lost in the clouds when it came to women and booze, but that didn’t make him a bad person.
Like all people, he was complicated. He wasn’t one-dimensional at all. But I liked him that way. Maybe no one else understood him, but I did.
“What?” Axel had been staring at me the entire time, noting the way I fell silent.
“Nothing.” I returned my head to the pillow and got comfortable.
“You were thinking about something.” His eyes lost their playful edge, and he stared at me with a different look. He was searching my face, trying to find the answer on his own.
I had too many thoughts to explain in a single sentence. “When’s that pizza going to get here?”
***
Francesca rapped her knuckles against my door. “Marie. I need your help.”
Axel immediately got off of me and took the sheets with him. Both panic and irritation crept into his features.
I kicked off the blankets and pulled my pajamas on.
Axel released a loud sigh. It practically came out as a growl.
I put my forefinger to my lips to hush him.
He growled again.
I fixed my hair then quickly opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind me so quickly that it made a loud thud. I didn’t want Francesca to get a peek of Axel inside. He and I weren’t hiding anything but I didn’t want to parade it in front of her. “What’s up, Frankie?” I walked into the kitchen and pretended I needed a glass of water.
She trailed behind me with her phone in her hand. “Cameron texted me and I don’t know what to do.” Like it was a disgusting bug she threw it at me.
I caught it before it hit the ground. “What do you mean you don’t know what to do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know…he asked me out.”
I unlocked the screen. If you’re free tomorrow night, let’s grab a drink. Coffee or cocktails, it’s your ca
ll.
He seemed nice. He wasn’t too forward but he wasn’t too docile either. “Why don’t you write him back?”
“I don’t know what to say.” She crossed her arms over her chest, bundling her shirt in the front. Her clothes were still too big because she hadn’t gained back the weight she lost. Her dark hair was pulled into a high bun.
“Well, do you want to go out with him?”
She stared at the floor and shrugged.
I missed the old Francesca. She knew exactly what she wanted and when she wanted it. Nothing intimidated her, and we certainly never had these types of conversations. “Frankie?”
“Look, I don’t know.” She threw her arms down. “He was cute and nice…there’s nothing wrong with him.”
I wish Hawke’s shadow would just pass already. It’d been three months. That should be enough time for her to move on. But of course, I would never say that to her. “So, you’re saying there’s nothing wrong with Cameron?”
“I guess.”
“Then what’s holding you back?”
She didn’t answer my question. All she did was give me a look.
I knew what that meant. “If that’s the only reason, I think you should go out with him.”
“Do you think that’s fair to Cameron? I’m a hot mess over here.”
“Be honest about it. If he doesn’t like it he’ll never call you again. Problem solved.”
“I guess…”
I handed the phone back to her.
She eyed it without taking it. “Ugh…I hate this.”
“What?”
“I hate dating. I already found the person I want for the rest of my life. Now I have to do it all over again.” She took a deep breath that sounded painful. “It’s just so much work and heartache. Is it really worth it?”
“Don’t think about it like that.” Otherwise, she would go crazy. “Think of it as meeting someone new. There’s no pressure. Just have fun with it. If you like his company, see him again. If you don’t, then that’s it.”
She kept eyeing the phone.
“Frankie, come on.”
“What if we make it a double date?”
“A double date?” Frankie and I had never done that—not once.
“You and Axel can tag along.”
Wouldn’t that be weird?
“Come on,” she said. “It’ll make it less intimate. I don’t know if I can do a one-on-one thing right now.”
A double date didn’t sound appetizing at all, but I would do whatever my best friend wanted. “We can do that.” Axel wouldn’t like it one bit but I’d convince him to get on board…somehow.
“Okay.” She took the phone and typed a response to him.
“Make sure he knows it’s a double date so he isn’t caught off guard.”
“I will.” She hit the send button. “Now, I’ll just wait and see what he says…”
Did I have to wait too? “Well…I’m going back to bed.” Not to sleep, but that was beside the point.
Her phone lit up. “Wait. He said something.”
“What?” I hid my irritation as much as possible.
“He said he’s fine with the double date.” She locked the screen and looked up at me.
“That’s great. When are we going?”
“On Friday.”
“How exciting.” It wasn’t exciting in the least but Francesca didn’t need to know that. Once she was back in the game things would get easier.
“What am I going to wear?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her phone into her side. “Nothing fits anymore...”
“We’ll go on an emergency shopping spree.” I gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze before I turned back to the hallway. “Night.”
Francesca stayed in the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Night.”
I walked back into my bedroom and locked the door behind me.
“What the hell did that annoying piece of shit want?” When Axel was horny and unsatisfied his temper flared.
“Boy trouble.” I removed my clothes and got back to bed. “That’s why you shouldn’t stay here.”
“No. That’s why Francesca should just go to sleep and leave you alone like a normal person.” He pushed me on the bed the second I was near and crawled on top of me. Despite my absence he was still hard.
“Wow…” I glanced at his impressive size.
“I found your lotion in your drawer. I carried on without you.”
It should disgust me but it didn’t. “That’s pretty hot.”
“You know what I was thinking about?” He positioned himself on top of me then shoved himself inside me.
The second I felt him I stopped paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth.
He rocked into me and pressed his mouth to my ear. “This.”
***
Francesca was a total mess. “What do you think of this?” She wore a short black dress with a matching clutch. Her hair was straight with a slight curl at the ends. Her limited curves were highlighted in the fabric. Despite her lack of confidence she looked great.
“Hot as hell.”
“Really?” Francesca looked down at herself like she thought I was confused.
“Absolutely.”
Axel had a bored look on his face, like he couldn’t wait for this double date to be over and done with.
Francesca tucked her hair behind her ear. “Okay…I’ll wear this. You don’t think it’s too slutty?”
She used to wear stuff like that all the time. “No. My dress is the same length.”
Axel leaned toward my ear. “But you can pull it off.”
I elbowed him in the gut.
He bent at the waist slightly and groaned.
The doorbell rang.
“That’s him.” I grabbed my clutch from the table. “Let’s go.”
Francesca was pale in the face, like she’d been hoping he wouldn’t show up.
“It’ll be fine.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Remember, it’s your first date. It probably won’t be magical or even fun but you have to do it. After this, it’ll get easier.” That wasn’t the most consoling thing I could have said but at least it was the truth.
Francesca nodded. “Okay.”
***
Francesca and Cameron sat side-by-side across the table from Axel and I. Since none of us knew Cameron it was difficult to start a conversation. Francesca sat awkwardly beside him, hunched and practically a human ball.
I came to Francesca’s rescue. “Are you in my ethics class?” I didn’t recognize him but the class was pretty big.
“No. I have world lit with Jason. We study together sometimes. We’re both slackers so we rely on the buddy system to get things down.” He wore a gray t-shirt that showed off his nice arms. He had pretty eyes and a tall stature. There was no way Francesca wasn’t attracted to him—even if she wasn’t over Hawke.
“Cool,” I said. “Frankie and I have never had a class together—ironically.” I turned to her and silently commanded her to jump into the conversation.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah…we never have.”
I wanted to kick her under the table.
Cameron turned to Axel. “Where did you go to school?”
“Florida,” Axel answered. “I originally went there for all the parties and chicks…but then the humidity got old.”
Cameron chuckled. “I can see that.”
“I came back here to keep an eye on my sister.” Axel glanced at Francesca.
Cameron immediately stiffened. “You’re her brother…?”
I didn’t realize that might make the date awkward. “But they aren’t close. He’s only here because he’s my boyfriend. He’s not the annoying, protective type.” Well, he was. But Cameron didn’t need to know that.
“Good to know…” Cameron eyed his menu even though we already ordered.
I tapped my foot against Francesca’s.
She looked up at me, looking like a lost dog
.
I subtly nodded to Cameron, telling her to talk to him.
She eyed him before her face became paler. “So…you like cheese?”
What the hell is she doing?
Axel even raised an eyebrow.
I wanted to cover my face and die out of embarrassment.
“Uh…yeah.” Cameron watched her fair face. “I put it on my sandwiches and stuff.”
Axel turned to me with both eyebrows raised.
I shook my head slightly.
“Do you like cheese?” Cameron asked the question hesitantly, like he wasn’t sure if this was a serious conversation or not.
“Yeah,” Francesca answered. “But I try not to eat it too much otherwise I get backed up…” Her eyes lost their light when she realized what she just said.
Oh. My. God.
Cameron had the decency not to look revolted. “Yeah…you’ve got to watch out for that.”
Axel pressed his lips tightly together and tried not to laugh.
“Excuse me.” Cameron left the table and headed for the bathroom.
I immediately turned on Francesca. “What the hell?”
“I don’t know,” she blurted. “I don’t know how to talk to him.”
“But you do know how to talk to people, right?” I snapped.
“I’m just nervous.” She bunched her hands together. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…”
Axel took a long drink of his beer, needing to be drunk to get through this.
“Excuse me.” I threw my napkin down and headed to the bathroom. Cameron wasn’t outside so he must have already gone in. Without thinking twice about it I walked into the men’s restroom.
He was standing at the urinal and just flushed it.
“She’s super nervous. Please cut her some slack.”
He nearly jumped into the air when he spotted me in the reflection of the mirror. “What the hell?” He zipped up his fly and pulled down his t-shirt. “You know this is the men’s restroom, right?”
“Yes. I can see the urinal.” I stepped closer to him and crossed my arms over my chest. “Look, there are a few things you should know. She got out of a serious relationship not that long ago so she’s having a hard time adjusting to dating life.”
He washed his hands in the sink. “I picked up on that. How long ago did this relationship end?”
“Three months.”
He patted his hands dry with a paper towel. “I get it. I’ve been through a break up before.”
