28. Axel
Axel
“ E verything okay in there?” her father calls from the other side of the door.
His timing couldn’t be worse considering I’m still all the way inside his daughter.
There were a number of times this evening where I worried she was too loud and would surely wake him, but nothing ever came of it.
The bed breaking out from under us was a twist I didn’t see coming.
And the sound it made, as the wood frame cracked and likely shattered into pieces as I came inside her, was considerably louder than both of us combined.
We both froze as soon as he knocked, but her entire body is still shaking with laughter underneath me. “All good, Dad. I–uh–stubbed my toe. Ouch.”
Was that her attempt at acting like she’s in pain?
“You’re terrible at this,” I whisper.
She places a finger on my lips to silence me. I’ll have to remember to make her pay for that. “Sorry I woke you,” she shouts at the door. “I’m fine. You should be resting. Go back to bed.”
“Oh, I’m fine, dear.”
I move to pull out of her and don’t miss the twitch in her right eye as I do. My jaw clenches as the realization that I hurt her sets in.
“Don’t do that. I’m not some fragile little doll that you have to worry about breaking when you go hard.” Her brows are scrunched together as she angrily mouths the words.
“I’ll be right out, Dad. Think about what you want for dinner.”
“Hell, it’s damn near breakfast time.” We both grab our phones to look at the time. Shit. How long have we been laying here? “Make sure you bring your friend with you when you come out. Don’t let him sneak out the window like a goddamn sixteen-year-old.”
Her hands fly to her face with a heavy groan. “Oh my god. Call the coroner. I’m dead.”
“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“You don’t understand. I’ve never had a boy in this room. Ever.” She jumps off the bed, quickly running around the room to gather her clothes and pulling them on in a rush.
I do the same, watching her every move as she floats around the room, presumably looking for a hair tie.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Excuse me?”
“Why haven’t you had any boys in your room before? And for the record, I’m not a fucking boy, I’m very much a man.”
“Virgin, remember?” she sasses while hopping on one foot to slide it into her sock.
“I remember. You never had boyfriends?” I grab her arm to steady her. “You know there’s easier ways to do that, right?”
“I had a couple dates when I was in high school, but it’s like I caught a curse when I turned eighteen, because it’s been radio silence since then.
” With both feet now on the ground, she straightens and blows her bangs off her forehead with a puff of air.
“Really does wonders for a girl’s self-esteem, you know?
Then you came along and, well… you know the rest.”
I do know the rest. I also know what came before.
Well… what she thinks is before me. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen or when exactly my obsession with her really started, but hearing her talk about dating while I was in Spain, has me questioning if it started before I even realized.
My hands instinctively ball into fists with the need to find them and make them suffer for even looking at her.
Instead, I should probably punch the shit out of Dom for letting it happen. He was supposed to watch her for me.
“You ready?” she asks, pulling me back to the present.
Christ, she really is beautiful.
I nod and she surprises me yet again by reaching out with her right hand and taking my left in hers, pulling me in the direction of her bedroom door in a hurried attempt at escaping before her father can stop us.
“Where are you both going in such a hurry?”
I don’t know. Anywhere but here, maybe? I don’t say the words, but god do I want to. I need to get out of here. I’ve had about as much as I can handle of feelings and softness. And that bar is very low. I don’t do this and I most certainly don’t do parents .
Wrinley stops just before she’s able to pull the door open and turns to face her father, dropping my hand in the process. The resulting unfamiliar sensation has my fingers moving erratically against my palm like they aren’t sure what just happened. Like they’re processing this new feeling.
“Dad, Axel has to go. We’re sorry if we woke you,” she says in a voice that’s much too soft and sweet for her.
He’s perched in an old recliner across the room, regarding us with curiosity.
“You know I don’t sleep that great, dear.
” If that’s true, he sure got an earful.
Although, he seems to be taking it pretty well.
Better than I would be. If I had a daughter and heard what he just did, I’d have no choice but to relieve him of his head–both of them.
“You should come to Friday dinner, Axel. It’ll be nice to have an extra mouth to feed for a change. ”
I tip my head in acknowledgment, so I don’t come off rude. “That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t want to intrude on your family time with your daughter.”
He moves to stand and Wrinley hurries to his side to nudge him back down. “Dad, you should be resting. You had a procedure yesterday.”
“Wrinley, I swear to all things holy if you don’t leave me alone right now, I will send you home.
” His voice is firm, but not loud and it certainly does the trick because before the words are out of his mouth, her back stiffens and she takes a step back, looking like she wants to cry.
Fuck. “And it wasn’t a question or a suggestion.
You’ll both be there. If you can do what adults do in my home and break the bed in the process, you can sure as hell sit down for a meal with me. ”
“Yes, Sir,” I answer back. I clearly misread this man and despite being almost thirty, I feel like I’ve been chastised like I’m a teenager. “I’ll be there. We’ll be there.”
Wrinley’s head turns so fast, I’m surprised she doesn’t get whiplash. She doesn’t argue with me, but the surprise is written all over her face. Trust me trainwreck, I’m just as surprised as you are.
“Dad, I’m going to walk Axel out and then I’ll be back and fix some breakfast.”
She shoves me out the door without letting him respond, clearly trying to put some distance between her father and I. For once, we’re on the same fucking page. Get me the fuck out of here.
Once we’re at my truck, I spin us to cage her against the door.
“Get some sleep today,” I order. “Maybe put some ice on that wrecked cunt of yours and let me know when you’re ready to go home.
I’ll pick you up.” The smart thing to do after the last twenty-four hours would be to distance myself from her, but I’m not sure that’s in the cards anymore.
It feels like we’re playing with a whole new deck.
“Our little truce is over now,” she reminds me, although her tone is still light. “You can’t boss me around anymore, although your sister did say that frozen water diapers are good for a swollen pussy.”
I pinch my eyes closed in a futile attempt to remove that disgusting image from my brain.
“Trainwreck, the truce may be over, but you will still do as I say or pay the price.” I let out a sigh.
“I’m going to have to start making a list of punishments you’re owed because you can’t even help yourself, can you?
Bring up my sister’s sex life again and see what happens. ”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask, quirking a brow knowing she’s not going to like what I have to say next, but knowing it has to be said.
“You work at a job you hate, that you just started, by the way. You can barely stomach getting into a moving vehicle. And your only real friend is my sister. And that’s not even the half of it.
You’re almost twenty-four and what do you have to show for it? ”
Her eyes are a lighter green in the light of the morning sun. They go wide for a moment, just before she opens and closes them in a few long, slow blinks getting glassier with each pass. “Well… don’t hold back on me, asshole,” she retorts, her voice wavering as she tries to hold her shit together.
Leaning down so I can meet her gaze, I position myself right in front of her face so she doesn’t miss the next part.
“Sure seems like that’s the problem, if you ask me.
Too many people walk on eggshells around you, like you’re a broken little girl that’ll shatter the second things get too hard.
I’m not them, Wrinley. I never will be. So get used to it–or don’t.
The end result will always be the same.”
“And what would the end result be, Axel? Huh?” she shouts, shoving my chest almost hard enough to get past me.
I catch her around the throat with my hand against the door. “I guess you’ll have to stick around to find out, won’t you?”
“Fuck. You.” She pushes harder this time, but I let her go and watch her run into the house, slamming the door behind her. I guess the truce really is over now.
Before I pull out of the driveway, I shoot off a text to my best friend.
ME: On my way home. If your dick is out, I’m chopping it off.
ME: We need to talk.
D: Yeah, yeah. You know, the human body is an art form. There’s no need to be ashamed of your body or nudity in general.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Jesus fucking Christ. I’m not in the mood for his hippie, nudist bullshit.
ME: Nudity is not my problem, man. It’s you flaunting your dick and hairy balls everywhere. I’ve known you since you were five. I just don’t want to see your junk.
D: Fine, fine… boxers are on. Happy now? What do we need to talk about?
I leave him on ‘read’ and pocket my phone as I pull away from the house. I’ll let him stew on it a bit. It’s the least he deserves for letting me down.
Lucky for my best friend, by the time I’m home, my anger has lowered from a running boil to an aggressive simmer. I throw the door open to thankfully find Dom fully clothed. The woman tucked under his arm, however, is not.
“Get the fuck out,” I order, pointing over my shoulder to the door. She doesn’t hesitate to pull away from my best friend and grab her clothes, scurrying out the door before I have to say it again.
Smart girl.
“Seriously, Axel. I would have thought getting laid would have made you less of a dick, but I was wrong,” he scoffs, refusing to get up from his spot on the sofa.
I smack the back of his head. “Care to explain to me how Wrinley went on more than one date while I was out of the country when it was your job to watch her?” I yell, rounding the couch so he has to look me in the eyes.
“And then, apparently, she went on a girls trip with my sister sometime in the last few years and got a fucking piercing. That had to be when I was out of the country again. Also… on you!”
His eyes do meet mine, but within seconds they roll into the back of his skull, his irritation clear.
“Would you calm your ass down? Yeah, she went on some dates, but not one of them even got to first base with her. I made sure of it. I wouldn’t have let that happen.
You know that, brother. We may not always see eye to eye, but I’ve always got your back. ”
“What about the fucking piercing?”
“Dude. She’s a grown-ass independent woman. I remember her going out of town with Arabella, but it was your sister and I’m only one person. How was I supposed to know she was going to do that? You know you’re acting crazy, right?”
Now I feel like a dick. Dom and I fight like brothers, but at the end of the day, we know each other better than ourselves sometimes. I do know he’s always got my back, but for some reason, when it comes to Wrinley, all logic and reason flies out the fucking window. “Yeah, I know,” I sigh.
“She really did a number on you, didn’t she?” He shakes his head like this is news, but it isn’t. He’s the only one that’s ever had any clue about my little obsession. Hell, he probably knew before I did. “You’re different when you’ve been around her.”
I fall back on the cushion, groaning as I remove my glasses and rub my hand across my face in frustration. “She didn’t do anything to me, Dom. She just fucking exists.”
“That’s a tough one, man. Short of killing her, there’s not really a fix for it.”
“Yeah, I know.” I drop my head back and close my eyes. I need to get some sleep.
Just before I drift off, Dom speaks again. “Oh, the pharmacist called the land line last night looking for you. Didn’t say what he wanted, but I told him you’d call him back.”
I open my eyes and lift my head to regard him.
Dom is a good partner and an even better friend.
Suddenly I feel like shit for being such a dick.
“Thanks. I’ll call him later. Have you found a day job yet?
You can’t keep running around the loft with your dick out or plowing it into some unknown.
This works better if you have a day–or night–job as a cover. ”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll find something,” he reassures me with a nonchalant wave.
“Hey, I’m good at cooking. Maybe I should become one of those food influencers.
You know… the ones that do sexy things with their food?
I hear the ladies love that shit.” His eyebrows slide up and down suggestively at the crazy ass idea.
“I don’t really give a shit what you do, as long as it makes some money and isn’t suspicious. I’m going to sleep and then I’m going to get a tattoo if you wanna come with.”
“Yeah, I’ll go. I’m always down for new ink.” I knew he’d say yes. Not sure where he’s going to put it, though. The fucker is covered neck to knees in them. Not my problem, I suppose.
I sink into the leather beneath me, closing my eyes to try to sleep. I can’t find it in me to move from the couch, so I’ll doze where I sit, hoping to get a few rare hours where I’m not thinking of a certain brunette with hazel eyes and an attitude that could fill this entire building.