Forever Burn Page 10

  “Hello,” she welcomed us, “are you looking for anything specific today?”

  “We’re just looking around, but thank you,” I responded kindly, knowing that I was not buying anything from this store. Everything was too expensive, and I was a broke ass college student.

  All the jewelry sparkled brightly in their cases, a clear sign that they were made from precious stones. I eyed the case of beautiful, gold and silver rings before moving onto the bracelets, and eventually the necklaces. A stunning pendant caught my eye. Made from pure silver and diamonds, the pendant glistened in the light, the same way Axel’s eyes always did. The two hearts on the pendant were connected, tiny diamond studs making up the shape of each one.

  I could feel Axe’s eyes on me as I studied the pendant. “Ready to go?” I asked, finally turning back to him.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Hmm, no.” He waved the worker lady over, pointing to the necklace as soon as she got there. “How much for this one?”

  She checked the price. “That one would be two-hundred and fifty.”

  Axe nodded. “We’ll take it,” he said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

  I widened my eyes at him. “Are you insane? No, I’m not letting you buy this.”

  “Would buying you this necklace categorize me as insane?”

  “Uh, yes!” I declared.

  His shoulders shrugged up and down. “Then I guess I’m crazy.” His grin appeared as he went over to the check-out counter.

  He leaned against the counter, winking as he looked back at me. I crossed my arms and shook my head, trying to convince him to stop making a mistake.

  “That’s too much money,” I sighed, making my way to where he stood as he handed money to the woman.

  “Nothing’s too much money if it’s for you.”

  “He’s a good one,” the white-haired woman stated. “Make sure you keep him.”

  I smiled at her, heat rushing to my cheeks. We thanked her as we exited.

  Axe pulled me aside as soon as we were out of the store.

  “Come here.” His wide frame towered over me as I stood in front of him. “Turn around,” he gently insisted.

  Once my back was facing him, I could feel his fingers graze the back of my neck as he moved my hair over to one side. The necklace rested on my chest as Axel guided it around my neck, securing the clasp. I glanced down at the beautiful piece of precious metal, smiling, in shock that Axe just spent over two-hundred dollars on me for no reason. I knew he had said he wanted to ‘make it up to me,’ but I didn’t need material things in order for him to do that. All I needed was his time and affection. I wasn’t used to people buying things for me randomly and it felt good to know I was cared about enough to do so, but I also felt guilty. The necklace was too much.

  I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, standing on my tippy toes to hug him. Axe rested his chin on my shoulder, holding me tight. He didn’t let go until I did.

  “I feel bad.” I twisted the pendant around in between my fingers, examining it.

  Axe lifted my chin with the tips of his fingers. “Don’t. It’s the least I could do.” I tilted my head over and pushed my lips to one side. “Seriously, stop feeling bad,” he chuckled. “Now do you wanna keep shopping or do you wanna go get dinner?”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “Neither! You just spent so much money on me unnecessarily. You are not buying me anything else ever.” His dimples appeared at my reluctance. “I’m serious!”

  He bit his bottom lip before giving me a quick kiss. “Alright fine, then we can go back to the apartment and I’ll make something there.”

  “Fine,” I agreed.

  He observed the area around us. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick before we go. I’ll go to the one right down there. Be right back, okay? Just stay right here,” he placed one hand on my hip and kissed my forehead before making his way down a side hallway.

  I remained in the same spot, waiting for Axe, but I felt like I was being watched. I glanced around, trying to pinpoint where my worry was coming from. The mall was fairly empty, since most people were currently in the process of getting ready to go out tonight. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was lingering around.

  “You okay?”

  I jumped at Axe’s voice coming from behind me.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I scratched my head, still glancing around.

  Axe’s thumb rubbed the back of my hand. “Okay, let’s go.”

  I took a deep breath as Axe led the way out, trying to shake off the uneasiness of feeling watched.

  But I knew I had nothing to worry about. Axel was with me, which meant I was safe.

  Chapter Nine

  The Doubt

  I played with Axe’s hair as we laid on the couch, watching a movie. We had spent the whole day together, being lazy. I dreaded the fact that tomorrow was Monday, because we each had class, which meant I wouldn’t be able to see Axe until tomorrow night.

  Axe rested up on his elbow, looking down at me. His green eyes lingered on me, seeming as if he wanted to speak, but still not saying a single word.

  “What?” I asked.

  His grin came into view, along with his adorable dimples. “You’re beautiful.”

  I snickered at his remark. My messy bun and smudged mascara was definitely not a sexy look. I covered my face with my hands, embarrassed.

  He laughed, trying to move my hands out of my face. “Stop that. Let me see your pretty face.” He tickled my sides, causing me to kick the air.

  My hands moved from my face to my sides, trying my best to swat away the tickling. I was laughing hysterically, shifting around.

  I stopped whipping my head back and forth when Axe began to kiss every part of my face. He started at my forehead, slowly pecking his way all the way down to the corner of my mouth. I turned, joining our lips together.

  Axel’s hands stopped tickling me and instead, they started to glide up and down my sides. My palm drifted across the stubble on his face, eventually resting behind his neck. His lips parted as one hand traveled up my shirt, fiddling at my bra clasp.

  It only took him a couple seconds to unclip it. Axe lifted my shirt up and over my head, then slid my unhooked bra off directly after. I tugged at the hem of his white t-shirt, signaling that I wanted it off. I lifted it a little until Axe did the rest, smoothly pulling it off and dropping it onto the ground, where he had placed my shirt as well.

  His lips trailed down my jawline, delicately placing kisses onto my neck. I was once again surprised by how gentle he was with me. When people heard the name Axel Burne, they imagined someone who was wild, especially with the women he hooked up with. And even though I didn’t know if he was this loving with anyone or just me, his softness made me more attracted to him.

  I hummed as his mouth made its way down to my chest. I wondered if he could feel my heart starting to beat faster from his touch. His left hand grabbed at my ass while his right kept him in position. Lips stayed against my skin, finding a home on my left breast. I sighed as he began to suck. A love bite formed, marking his territory upon my skin. His free hand slowly slipped into my pants as his mouth connected back onto mine.

  Axel launched himself on top of me as the apartment door jiggled open, trying his best to hide my bare chest as Ash trotted in. I giggled at the fact that we had just been caught like two young teenagers, even if we hadn’t been actually having sex.

  Axe’s chest rubbed against mine, vibrating as he quietly laughed too.

  “What’s goin’ on over here?” Ash chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

  “Get the hell outta here Ash,” Axe ordered.

  “Alright, alright, fine. But if it was some random bitch and not Tate, I’d so cock block your ass.”

  Axe waited until Ash was all the way in his room to get off of me.

  “Do you wanna move into my room?” he asked, one hand placed calmly on my stomach.

  I started to get slightly nervous, not kn
owing how Axel would react to me not wanting to go to his room with him. Like I had told him on Halloween night, I wanted to be in an official relationship before I slept with him, but I wasn’t ready for an official relationship yet. Things needed to be taken slow in order for my brain to process what was happening around me. C-PTSD didn’t just simply make it difficult to trust people, but it made my brain perceive everything as an emotional threat. The more time I spent with Axe and the more he went out of his way to show he cared, the easier it was becoming to open up to him. But those were just baby steps. I was making progress, but I wasn’t at the finish line yet.

  “Axe… I want to, but I’m not ready to.”

  “Don’t worry. I can wait,” he said, before leaning down and kissing my forehead.

  I walked through Perry Hall after finishing my last class of the day. My fingers twirled around my necklace, music blasting through my headphones.

  A hand tapped my shoulder. I took a headphone out of one ear as I spun around at the feeling, utterly and hopelessly disappointed at the sight of Lucas. I was unsure as to why he was still bothering trying to talk to me. I had denied him more times than I could count at this point and even he knew that I was hanging out with Axel, so I didn’t know why he had motivation left.

  “Hey,” he smiled, as if no bad blood had ever been shed between us before.

  “Hello,” I said uncomfortably as I continued to walk.

  “You look really good today, by the way.” The compliment coming from his mouth made me shiver. He struggled to keep up with my quickening pace. “I mean, you look good every day,” he added with a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his neck.

  “Thanks.”

  “So, listen, I know things between us have been kinda rocky lately and I just want things to go back to how they were before.”

  As annoying as he was, his best friend was still dating one of mine and the last thing I wanted was for Jason to take things out on Claire because I was being a bitch to his friend. On top of that, I wasn’t usually the type of person that hated anyone. Sure, I disliked certain people, but the only people I could genuinely say I hated were Connor and Nicole.

  “Yeah, sure, same,” I aimlessly replied.

  “Alright, cool,” he said, “so maybe we can grab lunch or something then?”

  I abruptly stopped, pulling him over to the side to make sure we weren’t standing in anyone’s walkway. “Listen, Lucas, you’re a sweet guy and all, but I just want to make it clear that we can only be friends.”

  He slowly nodded his head, trying to make it seem like he was understanding everything I was saying. “Okay, yeah, um, no worries.”

  “Thanks for understanding,” I adjusted my backpack. “I’ll see you around then.” I timidly smiled, retreating to the exit doors.

  As I made the journey to the dining center to meet Axe for lunch, a peculiar set of bright blue eyes caught mine. The same set of eyes that I saw on the night I met Axe. The same set that belonged to the guy who groaned and sighed when his friend group wasn’t allowed into Sig Omega’s party. He stopped when we made eye contact and I quickly looked away, trying to brush off the fact that I had been caught staring at him. He was attractive for sure, but I already had a guy waiting for me. One whom I genuinely enjoyed being around. One whom made me feel almost whole again.

  “Hey,” the kid called out in my direction.

  Damnit. He caught me.

  “Hi,” I turned, trying to nonchalantly keep walking as I brought my red lips into a hard line.

  “I feel like I’ve seen you before,” he furrowed his brows, beginning to walk beside me.

  “Oh, really?” I tried playing it off as if I had never seen him, but I was a terrible liar.

  “Yeah,” he grinned, “maybe it’s the red lipstick that made you memorable.”

  He was clearly flirting, but he was lucky that Axel wasn’t around to hear it. He would’ve ripped the kids head off.

  I kept my gaze ahead, making it evident that I didn’t feel like talking to him.

  “So, um, what’s your name?”

  “Tatum,” I responded shortly.

  “Oh, that’s a cool name. I’m Nick.”

  I didn’t want to be rude, but if this kid followed me all the way to the dining center, Axe would probably have a heart attack before nearly kicking the shit out of him.

  “Nick, um, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I’m supposed to be meeting my boyfriend for lunch right now, so I have to go.”

  Was Axel actually my boyfriend? No. But was I hoping that saying he was would make this kid go away? Hell yeah.

  “Boyfriend?”

  I nodded, not stopping my stroll.

  “Oh, okay. Sorry if I overstepped any boundaries, but I’ll see you around then,” he innocently said, pivoting around and continuing to walk in the direction he was originally going in.

  I was relieved by how polite and understanding Nick was. It kind of pissed me off that Lucas couldn’t be that way. I would have absolutely no problem with Lucas if he just kept his distance and understood my denial for what it actually was.

  Axe was waiting outside the dining center for me, leaning against the brick wall. A grin extended across his face as I approached.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” he wrapped his arms around me, picking my feet up off the ground. “I’ve missed you all day,” he said, playing with my French braid.

  “I missed you too.”

  We found an open table and sat down with our food. I carefully took each bite, doing my best to keep my lipstick intact.

  “Why are you eating like that?” Axe laughed.

  “Cause I can’t mess up my lipstick, duh.”

  “Well can I mess it up later?” he winked.

  I playfully hit his arm, taking another bite of my food.

  “Why do you always wear that lipstick anyways?”

  “Because it’s my look. So, pop off.”

  Axe brought his hands up in front of him in a defensive manner. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” he laughed. “I’m gonna go refill my root beer. Do you need anything?”

  I took a glance at my empty glass. “Could you get me some more lemonade please?”

  He nodded, planting a quick kiss on my forehead before grabbing both glasses and heading over to refill them.

  I continued to eat, becoming uneasy when I noticed a group of girls staring at me from a table across the cafeteria. I didn’t know how long they had been watching, but it made me shift around in my seat. Any time eyes were on me for unknown reasons made me nervous. They talked amongst themselves after each glance in my direction, which only ensured my suspicions that they were talking about me.

  “What’s wrong?” Axel asked as he sat back down.

  I pressed my lips over to one side. “Those girls over there have been staring at me the whole time you were gone.”

  Axe turned to look, but immediately zipped back around to face me.

  “What?” I wondered.

  He stared down at his plate, thinking of how to answer. He nervously chuckled. “Funny story, actually.”

  “What?” I asked again, this time firmer.

  “Well,” he scratched the back of his head, “I’ve kind of, sort of… slept with all of them before.”

  My eyes widened. I scanned the table again. “Axel! There’s five of them over there. You’ve slept with all five?”

  He winced at my reaction, nodding. Knowing that Axel’s hands have been on those girls made me cringe. No wonder why they were watching me. They all assumed I was next on Axel’s hit list.

  “They were all before I met you though,” Axe commented.

  “There was one that was after you met me,” I raised my brows, referring to Brooke as I took a sip of my refilled lemonade.

  Axe winced again. “If it makes you feel better,” he said, stabbing his fork into his food, “I was thinking of you the whole time.”

  Axe’s comment did make me feel slightly more reassured, bu
t my eyes were still peeled.

  Chapter Ten

  The Redhead

  I had spent a lot of time with Axel over the past few weeks. Each day, I found that my feelings for him were growing. And each day, my fear grew with it. I had been trying my absolute best to ignore the anxiety bubbling up inside of me, but it was hard to shake the thoughts that were engrained within my head. I was used to being used and accustomed to being left. I was waiting for the moment that Axel would leave.

  Every couple of days or so, when I would be out with Axel, girls glanced in our direction, only making me more concerned about the situation. The girls would eye me curiously, disapproving me, making me feel self-conscious. It reminded me of the way Nicole used to study me in disgust.

  On top of my anxiety regarding Axel and my complicated chemistry, I was even more anxious with the fact that Thanksgiving was right around the corner. My family celebrated every year, usually inviting all of our relatives over for dinner. I missed my family dearly, but the idea of going back to Wilmot was unsettling. I wasn’t ready. Every single thing in that town reminded me of Connor and Nicole. Since it was such a small town, each specific place held a tainted memory of them, a nightmare. I hadn’t had a flashback since Halloween night, but I knew that going to Wilmot would cause me to have plenty.

  I planned on calling my mom later that night to get her advice about the situation. But I worried that she would guilt trip me into going home.

  While Axel was in class, I decided to get some homework done at the library. I sat at a table all the way in the back, doing my best to avoid people, as usual.

  I jumped, glancing up when a textbook slammed down on the table. A redhead sat in the seat across from me, accompanied by two blondes standing behind her. I recognized the redhead as the one from the fancy restaurant that Axel and I had eaten at the first night we went out. The same restaurant that Brooke worked at. Fuck Brooke.

  “Hey,” the redhead spoke.

  “Hey,” I slowly said with furrowed brows.

  “I’m Olivia, and this is Emma and Ryleigh,” she gestured to the blondes.