Page 28 of Wallflower No More

Axel

Scarlett's beautiful. Her hair is messy, and her pajamas don't match, but I can't stop staring at her. She's getting to me, and my heads a clusterfuck. “Want to work on our homework together?”

“I do, actually. After our conversation.” Her smile brightens when she sees my answering wince.

“Okay.” A distraction is in order. Taking her foot in my hand, I begin to massage her heels. She moans, making me smile.

Smiling was not the most intelligent decision. She takes her foot back. “Distracting me is out of the question. We will talk first. Then I do deserve a foot rub. My day was very stressful.”

Rolling my eyes but loving the fact that she just called me out on my shit. “Okay. Fire away.”

“You skated around my question. Why did you tell Brody that lie? And remember only complete honesty.” She's cute when she's being bossy and thinks she's in charge.

My signature smirk is firmly on display. “Well, I don't like him sniffing around you. He said no and hurt you, but I think he's changed his mind.”

Her brows furrow. “What makes you think that?”

My pulse races with worry, but I won't lie to her. “He told me this morning that he decided not to transfer out of here because of you.”

“He what? Why?” She shakes her head in confusion.

I growl. “I don't know. Do you want him? If you do, let me know now.”

She takes her time answering while I hold my breath. “No. Not anymore. And I know we started this whole fake dating fiasco to teach him a lesson, and I'm still for that, but at the end of the day, he's still my friend, Axel.” We're no longer participating in the fake trope thing. If there is a real dating trope, then we're there. She's not ready to believe that, but all in due time. I don’t say anything in return.

“Scarlett, I don't always do the right thing. I'm hot-headed, and I will stop at nothing to protect what's mine. You said you didn't want him. If you had, I would have walked away. It's settled.”

“You do realize we have an expiration date? Don't you think you're taking it too far for something that won't last forever?” She's flabbergasted and it's cute. I grin but don’t say anything else, so she continues. “You know, today we reached a new trope in our relationship.”

Intriguing. “I'm all ears.” Maybe I need to read some more of her books on that shelf over there.

“Me not knowing what was happening while I was at work with the Fearless Insta because of your big mouth is called the miscommunication trope, and nobody likes that one.” She mouths nobody again. Very dramatically. Scarlett really does need that spanking.

“No miscommunication, sweetie, we are living together.” Surprisingly, that doesn't make me want to throw up.

She throws a pillow at my head and doesn't miss it. I never saw it coming. “You're infuriating. By the way, did you make any return phone calls?”

I throw the pillow back at her, making her laugh. “No, I did not.” My face turns sheepish. “I honestly can't remember who they are or if I've slept with them.”

She laughs even louder than before. “That is so rude.”

Picking my phone back up, I pretend to scroll. “Do you want me to text them and find out?”

She gives me a go-to-hell look. Jealousy looks good on her. Nice to know it's not just one-sided. “You do you.” Calling her bluff, I click the call button and put it on speaker. She jumps up, walks out of her bedroom, and slams the door. Damn. She is pissed. It's time she's honest about how she feels, so running after her with my phone still on speaker is confronting the problem. Toby answers and I see Scarlett come to a standstill.

“Rabies, why are you calling me? We are literally in the same place.”

My smile is big when I say, “I just needed to prove something to Scarlett.”

He answers in a good to your point way, “Okay?”

“Thanks for helping. Talk to you later.” I hang up because my point has been made.

Scarlett turns on me, her pretty face red with anger. She raises her hands up in the air due to her frustration. “What the hell were you trying to prove to me, Axel? That you're an asshole?! Honey, I already knew that.”

Leaning against the wall, staring back at her in awe, I give as good as I get. “Scarlett, honey, your jealousy's showing.”

If I thought she was mad before, let's just say that wasn't the case. “Get. Out.”