Chapter 13 #2
Someone’s completely rearranged his face. His skin’s a nauseating palette of purple, yellow, and green, and his nose is wrapped in what looks like a makeshift cast. He looks like a grotesque, walking bruise.
Axel’s posture shifts subtly, his body angling, shielding me without even thinking.
“What do you want, Darren?” he asks, voice cool, calm. Suddenly, he’s back to the Axel I met on my first day here. Distant. Mean. Dangerous.
Darren smirks. Or tries to. It looks painful.
“I just wanted to say hi to my friend. Luscious Lina.”
I pale even further at the nickname. My fingers instinctively reach behind Axel and clutch a fistful of his shirt, grounding myself against his steady warmth. I lean into him slightly, pulling comfort from his scent, from the firm presence of his body between me and Darren.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Axel says flatly. “I thought you’d learned your lesson, but maybe I need to help remind you how to forget about her. Again.”
My eyes widen. Wait. Axel did that to him?
Darren raises both hands, the twisted version of a peace offering. “Nah, man. We’re cool. I’m just being friendly or whatever.”
Friendly, my ass.
“You’re not a friendly guy, Darren,” Axel says, voice low and dark. “Now fuck off before I make you.”
Darren mutters something under his breath, something about incestuous whores, but finally turns and slinks away. Axel doesn’t so much as blink until Darren’s completely out of sight. When he finally turns to face me, I’m forced to release my grip on him.
“You did that?” I whisper.
Maybe I should be horrified. But I’m not. I’m in awe.
Axel’s gone out of his way to defend me, again. Is it healthy to feel safe around someone who uses violence as retribution? Probably not. But right now, I do.
“Yes,” Axel says, unapologetic. “And I’d do it again. Darren needs to learn how to treat women with respect. Unfortunately, I think it’ll take a few more lessons before that sinks in. Is that okay with you?”
I pause. Considering.
“Yeah,” I say. “It is.”
Because if Darren acted that way with me, a girl he’d just met, God knows how many others he’s hurt. I was lucky. I had Axel. Not everyone does.
We head back inside without another word. Our friends shoot us nosy glances, but neither of us offers an explanation. They don’t need to know. Apparently, Axel doesn’t feel the same about keeping things quiet.
“Rachel,” he says evenly, sitting down across from her. “Can you explain why people think we’re dating?”
Her fork freezes halfway to her mouth. Jessie’s brow furrows. Nik leans forward with barely concealed interest, amusement twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Rachel finally sets her fork down and lets out a high-pitched, fake laugh.
“I mean… everyone knows we’re sleeping together, babe.”
My stomach hurts. The image of them together burns into my brain, and I hate how it makes me feel.
Axel’s tone doesn’t change. “Slept. Past tense. The last time was well over two months ago. You know that. So again, why do people think we’re still together? Because I know I sure as shit haven’t told anyone that.”
Rachel looks like she wants to crawl under the table and die. I almost feel bad for her. Almost.
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “Ask the people who’re saying it.”
“Funny thing,” Axel replies. “I did. They said Jessie told them I was off-limits.”
Jessie shoots me a knowing look, and now, I want to crawl under the table and die. Maybe Rachel and I have something in common after all. We can start a club.
“I can’t control what Jessie says,” Rachel snaps.
Jessie’s jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
Without another word, Rachel stands and storms off. Jessie follows, fuming. That’s one conversation I’m happy not to be part of.
Axel scoots back his chair, standing. “I need a minute,” he says, walking off.
Nik whistles low beside me. “Damn.”
He leans back, arms folding across his chest as he studies me.
There’s something new in his gaze. Curiosity? Interest?
“You’re gonna be trouble, aren’t you?”
I bite my lip. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
A lazy smile plays on his face, and I feel my pulse tick up a notch. There’s a boldness in the way he watches me, like he’s trying to solve a puzzle, or maybe like he’s already solved it and just enjoys watching me squirm.
“You want to get some air?” he asks.
I nod, relieved.
We carry our trays out into the courtyard, finding a shady bench tucked away. My eyes dart back and forth searching for Darren, but he’s long gone. I settle, knowing Nik is with me. Something about him puts me at ease.
Nik stretches out one long leg and leans back like he owns the world. I sit with my tray in my lap, picking at my pizza.
“Do you always stir up drama wherever you go?” he asks after a beat, one brow raised.
I huff out a laugh. “Only on Tuesdays. And apparently, every other day since I got here.”
He grins. “You know, I didn’t think you were gonna be fun.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You had that tight-shouldered, deer-in-the-headlights new girl look.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“But I was wrong,” he says, angling toward me slightly. “You’ve got fire.”
I glance sideways at him. “Is that your line?”
“No,” he says, tone quieter now. “My line is usually something way smoother. But you’d see through it, wouldn’t you?”
That takes me by surprise. Not the flirty banter—I’ve come to expect that from Nik—but the insight. The way he said it like he already knows I’ve got walls a mile high.
“I don’t like games,” I say.
“Then good thing I’m being honest.”
We fall into a lull again, but it’s not awkward. There’s something kind of nice about sitting next to someone who sees you but isn’t demanding anything.
“Rachel’s a lot,” he says eventually.
I snort. “Understatement.”
“She’s always been kind of intense. But when you showed up, it was like she flipped a switch. I think she thought she had dibs on Axel or something. It’s dumb.”
I wish I could tell him she doesn’t have anything to worry about, but I can’t bring myself to lie.
“Axel and I… it’s complicated.”
Nik glances at me. “Complicated like… you’re into him?”
I don’t answer right away. “Complicated like… I’m not not into him.”
He nods slowly. “Fair.”
Another moment of silence passes between us.
“He’s not the only one who noticed you.”
I look up. Nik’s watching me, head tilted.
“I mean, you’re hot. That’s obvious. But it’s more than that. You’ve got this vibe. Like… you’ve been through some shit and survived it. It’s magnetic.”
I stare at him. “You don’t even know me.”
“I’d like to.”
He says it with no pressure, no lean-in, no smirk. Just honesty. It doesn’t feel threatening.
I’m not sure how to respond. I shift my legs, suddenly very aware of my body and how close it is to his.
“I don’t really do… this,” I admit.
Nik nods. “You mean eating lunch with ridiculously attractive bad boys?”
I let out a laugh, unexpected and real. “No. I mean… opening up. Talking. Trusting people.”
“Cool,” he says easily. “Then we don’t have to do any of that right now. We can just sit here and share oxygen until you feel like doing more.”
I glance over at him again. His eyes are half-lidded, lashes long. There’s something calm about him, even though I can feel the intensity just beneath the surface.
“Okay,” I agree. “Let’s share oxygen.”
He grins and tips his head back against the tree behind us.
And so, we do.
We sit side-by-side in the shade, saying nothing. The breeze rustles the trees, and somewhere a whistle blows from the distant field. For now, the world is quiet.
But with Nik, I don’t feel alone.