Page 7 of Wallflower No More

He places two fingers on his temples, and he hums, which makes me laugh. Jared is my soulmate bestie. Every person has one, and he is mine. He opens an eye when he hears me laugh. “Quiet girl, I'm channeling my inner psychic.”

I pinch him hard. “Stop lollygagging. Don't be nervous; you can win next month, but that money is mine tonight.” He pinches me back. “Ouch!”

He smiles in victory. “Okay. Okay. I say 45-60 before 5:00.”

I give him a look of disdain. “Hell, I hope not. It's the beginning of the semester. Our professors will already try to kill us this week. We don't need customers to do it, too.”

He grins like a Cheshire. My gaze follows him to the parking lot. A look of horror crosses my face and seconds later, a busload of high schoolers rush in. I forgot that today was when the local high school seniors visited our campus to see if the University of Texas was right for them. Shit. I give him a look that would make an average man squirm. That money was almost mine.

“Now, Scarlett, you behave, or I'll tell Mr. Hot Construction Worker Man you want to have his babies.” Jared chides.

My eyes widen. “You wouldn't?”

“Oh, I would, bestie. Besides, inquiring minds need to know. I can't get his vibe right. Is he gay? Straight? Bi? But for real, the first and third options work best for me.”

Rolling my eyes to the ceiling. “Shut up! Stop trying to get in my future baby daddy's pants.”

He waggles his perfect eyebrows at me, and we get to work. We're tired by the end of our shift. I can't tell you how many times we had to hold on because some stupid customer wanted to look up what they should order on TikTok first! I love and hate the app.

I change back into my clothes, and Jared walks me to Toby's. His apartment is right down the hall from theirs. Living this close to each other would be a dream come true. He kisses me on the forehead, and we wave goodbye to each other. I look back to laugh at something Jared says but slam into a wall instead. Damn. And said wall is fully loaded with abs and strong arms that have enough power to steady a curvy girl with ease. Mr. Hot Construction Worker Man, who? I swallow hard and chance a glance at the brick wall's face, and for the second time today, Axel Creed's beautiful caramel eyes have captivated me.

Chapter 5

Axel Creed Has Invaded My Life

Everything Fearless 24/7

Who is Scarlett Q? We've hit the archives, and there is absolutely no information on her. It's like she never existed until this moment. Axel Creed is taking four classes this semester, and I'll give you one guess as to whom he's sitting near in each one. She's NOT his usual type by at least 90 pounds, but that doesn't mean she's not beautiful. Is this a possible love connection or a disaster waiting to happen? What are you up to, Axel? #staytuned

Scarlett

After meeting with Sasha and Dani yesterday, I'm so excited about the new apartment. The vote was unanimous. Dani and The Jake Ryan are the cutest couple, and you can tell how much they love each other.

I inwardly cringe when the awkward situation from yesterday comes to the forefront of my mind. When Axel walked into the apartment behind me, everyone smiled. I'm going to kill Toby. He works fast. Axel didn't even message me or come by my apartment last night. Well, unless it was after I fell asleep. If you've never heard the term sleeps like the dead, but then you watched me sleep, you'd get it in no time.

Walking into Calculus, I sigh in relief—no Axel Creed. Today's a good day for a good day. Curling my hair this morning in case he hijacked another one of my classes was still a great decision. I thought it was better to look semi-fabulous if he was in this class so that he could witness just what he's been missing.

If last year taught me anything, it's that getting to class early the first few weeks of school has its perks, and sitting in the very back row is one of them. Taking out my phone, I begin researching my new blog topic for the online school paper that I'm Editor and Chief of. It's twenty minutes until class starts, so there's plenty of time. Next month, I'm doing a series on the influx of Cajun cuisine within the Austin city limits. Seven restaurants are up on my radar and will need to be tried before my deadline.

Tan fingertips gently brush my alabaster forearm, making me shiver. My body feels this weird energy when he's around, almost like my soul knows who he is and greedily wants him all to her whore self. That will never happen. He is Axel “Rabies” Creed, and he doesn't like you, Scarlett. He’s just playing games.

Slowly looking up, my hungry gaze swallows up every inch of him, from his tattooed sleeves to his knowing eyes. My inspection of his well-chiseled chest took longer than necessary, but you can't blame a girl when an Adonis is in front of her. I should be embarrassed or blushing, but a sudden bout of fatigue leaves me with no energy to summon any such emotion. Axel is the magnet, me the piece of steel. And we've no other option than to be drawn to each other. What the hell is happening to me? To us?

Both of us lean forward before good sense can stop the actions. He feels this strange connection, too; his breathing is shallow, and those smooth caramel eyes are boring intently into mine. He takes his knuckles and firmly rubs my cheek. He's not gentle, and I don't want him to be.

What are we doing? I shake my head because I need to leave this trance Axel has me under. My gaze slowly moves around the room, and thankfully, it appears everyone else is too engrossed in their phones to have witnessed this strange encounter. Ignoring him could be an answered prayer. Then maybe he will sit somewhere else. I take out my journal and start outlining points for the new cuisine blog, tensing up as soon as he jumps in the desk beside me.

“You just going to ignore me now?” He asks sweetly.

I press my lips tightly together. So much for hoping he would go away. “That was the plan.”

“And here I thought we were becoming best friends.” He smiles lazily.

“Umm...more like mutual acquaintances, maybe.” Moving my desk further away from his has become urgent because Axel smells too damn good, life is not fair, and he is stupid!

He gives me a smirk. “You always play this hard to get?”

My heart skips a beat. Is Axel flirting with me? I roll my eyes at him. “Do you always send mixed signals? I only play hard to get with guys that have the nickname of Rabies.”