Page 31 of Wicked Lord

When Axel finally pulled away, a long minute later, I heaved in a breath and pressed my back against the red cushioned seat.

“Damn, brother, you left Lore breathless.” Slate wiggled his eyebrows.

“And silent for once,” Gage added.

I shot the two dickheads the middle-finger salute and leaned closer to Axel. “What can I say? My new boyfriend can kiss.”

Oh God, why did that word sound so fake coming out of my mouth?

Killian glared at me, pointing a fry between the two of us. “I’m still not buying this. Why her out of every female on this campus?”

Axel shrugged. “I kind of blame this on you. She kept coming around and when you weren’t there, sometimes we’d get to talking.”

“And before we knew it, one thing turned into another,” I added.

Kill’s eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “Lorelei, if you’re fucking with my friend, I’ll wring your scrawny neck.”

“Hey,” Axel’s voice deepened to a growl, the angry rumble sending my pulse skyrocketing. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

Now I was certain my eyes would pop right out of my head. Had Axel really just defended me against Killian, his scary as fuck best friend?

Killian’s eyes flashed, and the light line between his brows deepened as he stared between Axel and me, incredulously. “What the?—”

Gage jumped up and slapped his arm across Kill’s chest. “You know what I was thinking? We should go join the ladies at the movies.”

Killian whipped his murderous gaze at his friend. “Since when do you like romcoms?”

He flicked his lip ring and lifted his shoulders in a lazy shrug. “I’m trying to broaden my horizons.”

“You better hurry if you don’t want to miss those previews.” Slate smirked, tossing out Gage’s words from earlier. “They’ll be the best part of that movie.”

Killian slid out from the booth after a gentle shove from Gage. His piercing emerald irises drilled into me and then Axel. “I just don’t get it…”

Axel kept his gaze pinned to the plate of French fries.

“Have fun at the movie.” I threw Killian my best attempt at a genuine smile. “And say hi to Lexi for me.”

Killian grunted. “Right.”

Gage nudged him toward the door and the moment the bell jingled behind them, I released the breath I’d been holding.

“Phew, now that they’re gone, who wants pie?” Slate asked, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

“You can’t freeze up like that,” I whispered to Axel as he walked me to my car.

Slate was already across the diner’s parking lot headed toward his Lambo, but you couldn’t be too sure with secrets around here. Betty’s was a favorite hangout for Stonewall U., and you never knew who could be listening.

“I know, all right. I just didn’t expect to have to tell them so soon.” He dragged his hand through his tousled hair.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we got that PDA out of the way because the Zetas are holding a charity function this weekend. Did you add it to your calendar? It’ll be our first public outing as an official couple.”

“Shit, this weekend? Already?”

“Ax… didn’t you see the spreadsheet with all the events?”

He groaned and leaned against my sporty Mercedes coupe, the one my dad’s creditors were itching to get their grubby little hands on. “There were so many tabs, Lore, I couldn’t get past the first few since I didn’t get back to the house until after midnight.”

“But if we hadn’t done the questionnaire, we never would’ve done so well with your friends.”