Chapter 30 – Bonnie and Clyde #3
Thinking about my dad’s words reminded me of the last time I was at the zoo.
It was right after the kiss thief first struck.
My heart had been in pieces. Because I’d wanted to give my first kiss to Axel and I’d thought I’d given it to a stranger.
I’d thought I’d messed everything up. It felt like my life was over.
And now? It felt like my life was finally beginning. I wasn’t sure how I’d ever existed without knowing he was mine and I was his.
I took another deep breath and pressed the side of my face against Axel’s chest. I stared back at the red pandas.
The last time I was here, I’d related to one of the red pandas faceplanting a branch.
But none of the red pandas seemed full of despair today.
They all seemed perfectly content. I wondered which one it had been.
Either way, the little guy had made a full recovery just like me. I smiled to myself.
Axel put his fingers under my chin so I’d look up at him. “Let me get that picture of you.”
I handed him my phone and stepped onto the bottom of a lamp post.
He took the picture and stared down at the screen. “Perfection.”
I smiled. Perfection. Axel thought I was perfection! I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. Instead, I started to twirl around the lamp post. I twirled around it a few times and then Axel stepped forward, catching me in his arms.
My heart was racing even faster now.
“You know, I had this idea when I was little that I’d propose to you here one day. It kind of all came out in a rush today. The next time I do it, it’ll be perfect.”
“It already was perfect.”
“But you didn’t say yes.”
I swallowed hard. “I wanted to finally be your girlfriend. For at least a day.”
“Hm.”
If he got down on one knee right now, I’d say yes. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. But he didn’t. Instead he lowered his lips to mine.
And for the first time he kissed me slowly. Like we had all the time in the world instead of just a few minutes in a dark closet. I loved all his kisses. But this one did something to my whole body. It was like I could feel the effect everywhere. I tilted my hips toward him and he groaned.
I was so worried I’d lost myself over the years. But how could I have? Axel knew every side of me. And loved every side. I was never invisible. Axel had seen me. He knew me better than I even knew myself.
He stepped forward, making my back press against the lamp post. I’d always loved the red panda exhibit. But I’d never thought of it as the sexiest place on earth. My opinion was quickly changing.
But then there was a crashing noise. I stood on my tiptoes to look over Axel’s shoulder. I couldn’t see anyone, but I was worried someone had seen us. “We have to get out of here,” I hissed. I started running.
“What happened to not running in heels?!” Axel yelled as he caught up to me.
“Shhh!!!”
“Scarlett, slow down!”
Why was he yelling?! “There’s no time. I’m not spending the best night of my life in prison.”
Axel laughed and lifted me over his shoulder.
The upside down view of his butt might be the last thing I saw before I was in handcuffs.
I smiled, remembering him carrying me like this on the first day of classes.
He’d been so mad at me. And I hadn’t understood why.
But now I did. He’d wanted me all to himself. If only he’d known I wanted the same.
I was very distracted, but I quickly realized that Axel wasn’t running. “Axel! Hurry.” I slapped his butt.
He laughed and picked up his pace.
“Run! We’re going to get caught.”
“We’re not going to get caught,” he said as he set me down by one of the fences.
“A security guard must have seen us!” I got myself over the fence. “Hurry!”
Axel just laughed and jumped over the fence.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him farther into Central Park. A few turns and I calmed down a bit. It didn’t seem like anyone was following us. “Why the heck weren’t you freaking out?”
“I may have paid off a security guard for the night.”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. “Axel Stevens! I thought we were going to prison.”
“And I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“Well that was very unspecific!” But I couldn’t help but laugh. “We were breaking the law. I was worried. I didn’t realize that dating you would turn us into Bonnie and Clyde.”
Axel’s hands slid to my ass. “Bonnie and Clyde?” He smiled. “I think we’re a few decades off of that. We’re in the 50s, baby.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet, you’re going to be taking my last name soon.”
Butterflies erupted in my stomach. How many times had I written Scarlett Stevens in the margins of my notes? And then I remembered one of the kiss thief’s texts. About how he was playing the long game. He’d said he was going to make me his wife. I smiled up at Axel.
“You ready to head home, Bonnie?”
I laughed. The smile on my face was so big. Axel called my place home. This whole year I’d felt so unlucky. But I was the luckiest girl in the world. It had just taken a little extra time for me to figure it out.