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Nadia

When I walk outof my bedroom the next morning, Reese is sitting next to a shirtless Axel on the couch. “Hey,” I say to Reese, “I didn’t know you spent the night.”

“I came over late,” he says, picking up the box of Sugar Bomb cereal off the coffee table and refilling his bowl. He’s in a pair of sports shorts and one of Twyler’s oversized, threadbare New Kings T-shirts. He tilts the box at Axel. “Want more?”

“No, thanks. I think I’ve hit my sugar quota for the day.” Axel’s long arm swipes out and hooks around the back of my thighs, pulling me onto his lap. His chest is hard–warm–and I smooth out the edges of the adhesive covering his new tattoo. When he’d told me the real significance behind the number 110–about me trusting him–something unwound around my heart. “Sleep okay?”

“Really good.” After the emotional talk Axel and I had, then the ‘I love yous’ and sex, we stayed up for a while, eating dinner and watching Springfield. Then I crashed.Hard. Not waking up again until my alarm went off.

“Excellent.” He steals a kiss, brushing his lips over mine. He tastes like the sugar from the cereal. Sweet and delicious. God, I love this man.

Across the room, Twyler stands at the kitchen table, organizing her backpack for the day. She glances over at Axel and rolls her eyes, most likely annoyed at his bare chest. I have no doubt half the reason he’s foregoing the shirt is just to get under her skin.

“What’s that look for, TG?” Axel asks, running his hand up and down my back.

She doesn’t have to answer for me to know. Sitting out here like this, with our boyfriends is a little surreal. A few months ago, Twyler didn’t dateanyone, much less the captain of the hockey team. My hook-ups usually consisted of me sneaking out of the house for a three AM hook-up.

“This,” she says, waving her hand in our direction. “It’s weird.”

“You should be happy your best friend and your boyfriend’s best friend are in love.” Axel grins while tilting his bowl back and taking a loud slurp of milk. That earns him another annoyed glare. “Hey, now we can double-date.”

“Love?” Her big blue eyes bulge and she looks at me and then Reese. “That escalated fast.”

“Leave them alone, Sunshine,” Reese says, grabbing his empty bowl and carrying it over to the sink. He presses a kiss to the back of her neck. “They’re happy.”

Everything in my life is upside down. And not in a bad way. It’s a very very good way. I mean, Axel Rakestraw, a notorious fuck-boy, told me he loves me. It’s this unnatural shift in the force that brings me to announce, “I’ve made a decision.” Inhale, exhale. “I’m ready to go to the police.”

Axel sets his bowl on the coffee table and exchanges a look with Twyler and Reese. “To make a report?”

I nod, tucking my hands into the sleeves of Axel’s hoodie. “It’s time. Past time,” I admit. “Yesterday proves it.”

“Did something happen?” Twyler asks, walking across the room. “Is that why you were upset last night?”

“Nothinghappened,” I say, emphasizing the word, “but I did run into him yesterday and he’s just–”

“A fucking douchebag,” Axel supplies, squeezing my thigh.

Reese stretches his arm around Twyler’s shoulder and says, “Nadia, you know we’ve always wanted this to be your decision. Whatever you want to do, we’ve got your back.”

I look at Axel. “You’re okay with it?”

“This has nothing to do with me, T. I support you no matter what.”

“It’s probably too late to do anything, and they’ll just say I was a willing participant, but I think it’s important to have something on the record.” I swallow and a wave of anxiety threatens to strike. “Otherwise he’ll never stop.”

“I sent a copy of the video to Ruby when it happened,” Twyler says. “For safe keeping.”

Ruby is Twyler’s sister who is a few years older and works down in Tennessee as a teacher. She’s the one that alerted Twyler to the fact the video had been recorded and shown live online.

“If you can get it from her that would be good.”

Axel’s fingers link with mine. “When do you want to go?”

“Soon, before I chicken out.”

“You’re not chicken,” Twyler says.

“She’s right,” he says, then lifts his chin at Reese. “Tell Coach I won’t be there today.”