Page 58 of Wallflower No More

He laughs but quickly turns serious. His wavy dark raven hair falls into his eyes when he shakes his head. "Is it serious?"

I nod with a cheesy grin. "I'm going to marry him one day, Blaze."

Blaze takes my hand in his. "I'm so happy for you, baby girl. He treats you right?"

My face beams up into his. "Axel's amazing, Blaze. He thinks he's not worthy of me, but he's wrong."

Blaze smiles. "Scarlett, nobody is worthy of you, and the fact that he knows that has me in his corner."

I clap my hands. Hopefully, Axel will feel the same way about him. One day, he will realize that Blaze isn't going anywhere. "Okay, enough about me! What's up with you? Any love interests?"

He laughs. "How about one in every zip code? I do have something to tell you, though."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Blaze Atwater, we might not talk every day or every month, but we don't keep secrets. What is it?"

He bites his lips. "Do you remember Leslie Jackson?"

I don't like where this is going. She was my tormentor in elementary school. That is until Blaze found out and put a stop to it. "Yes." I give him the death stare.

He rubs the back of his neck. His tell-tell sign that he's nervous and I'm definitely not going to like what he's about to say. "Well, we're dating."

I place my hand on my hips. The server saves his ass by delivering our food at that exact moment. "Exclusively?"

He nods. "Blaze, you could have any other girl. Why her? You know she's a skank. Ugh, Leslie used to be so mean to me."

Blaze rolls his eyes. "That was in the third grade, Scar. Listen, she's been through so much, okay? Things that no one should have to. She's damaged, and you know I have a thing for the damaged ones."

I nod in defeat. "Yes, all your girlfriends have always been charity cases. If you say she is a good person, I will reluctantly believe it."

His boyish grin makes an appearance. "Good, because I'm hungrier than two whores fighting over a cock."

I laugh. "You're an idiot."

We eat our food in companionable silence. Blaze is the first to speak. "This is the best food I have ever put in my mouth. I almost hate you for taking me here, because it's not like I'll be in Texas anytime soon."

I give him a smug look. "Told ya, you picked the wrong school."

He gives me a look. "How do you think your boyfriend would have taken to me being on his team? You told him about our summer, right?"

"You've got a point." I laugh because, with his crazy ass stalker self, Blaze would have ended up in the hospital from just being around me.

My phone buzzes.

Rabies: B seems okay, but I still hate that motherfucker.

Lord help me, I laugh.

Me: Is something wrong with me that I'm wet over the simple fact that you've been listening to our entire conversation? I love that you're so obsessed with me.

He types another message.

Look to your left.

I shake my head with a goofy ass grin on my face. When I look around, I see that he's seated on the other side of the restaurant with his earbuds plugged in. With my heart in my stomach, I wave him over. Maybe Axel will behave. He walks up to the table with that confident swag I love. He holds out his hand and shakes Blaze's hand. It would have been sweet had Axel not been so firm with it. His smile was positively evil when he saw Blaze wince under the pressure. My caveman.

***

It doesn't bother me that Scarlett has a past. It bothers me that she's still friends with her past. I never cared anything about any of the girls I slept with, and as I listened to their conversation, it was apparent they were only ever friends. Honestly, though, if he was on fire, I'm not sure I would dial 911. - Axel