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“All the rules seem super random,” I said.

“Still. They’re set in stone.”

“If you say so.”

She smiled. “I do.” She laughed again. “I can’t believe you skipped hanging out at my place for the Giants’ game yesterday because of this.”

“You’re acting like it’s not a big deal. But it’s a huge deal!”

“It’s not. And speaking of your fantasies, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you to see Axel after imagining blowing him?”

“Zero.”

“Then don’t look behind you.”

Oh no.

I felt Axel put his arm around me.

He pulled me into a hug. “Hey,” he said as he tucked my head under his chin. He ran his hand up and down my back. “How are you holding up?”

What exactly was he talking about here? He couldn’t know about my dream. I’d only told Sophie. And that was only like five minutes ago. “I’m...great.”

“Yeah?” He pulled back to look at me.

And I looked up at him. My dream had seemed so real. Just thinking about it made me feel all sweaty.

“Your face is a little red, but you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Don’t worry about what people are saying.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Why would I be embarrassed? What are people saying?”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t be embarrassed. I honestly don’t know why anyone is embarrassed after a breakup. People gossip about everything, just ignore them.”

That was easy for him to say. He was always the one breaking up with people. But how did this have anything to do with me?

“I’m so confused,” Sophie said. “Are you saying that you broke up with Gigi? Because that would make my day.”

“No, I’m talking about Scarlett and Jacob,” Axel said.

“We didn’t break up,” I said.

Axel lowered his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about? What are you talking about? Who told you that Jacob and I broke up?”

“Everyone basically saw it happen on Saturday,” Axel said.

“We had an argument, but...”

“And then you guys left all angry at each other. I just assumed...”

“We talked it out.”

He just stared at me. “Really? You talked out cheating on him?”

“I didn’t cheat on him!”

Axel laughed. “You went on a date with your...what did you call it? Your kiss thief?”