Page 88 of Double Standards

When Lexie finally appears from her room, hair thrown into a messy bun and a tub of ice cream in one hand, the smirk on her face is locked and loaded. She takes one look at me—a blanket burrito with wild eyes and phone clenched in a death grip—and doesn’t even try to hide her amusement.

I beat her to the punch. “Lexie, I’m not going to call him.” I sigh, groaning dramatically into the couch cushions like they might swallow me whole and spare me from this torment. I grab the nearest pillow and smash it over my face, hoping to suffocate both her inevitable lecture and the buzzing chaos in my head.

But nothing drowns out the truth I’m trying to ignore: I had the best date of my life last night.

Not because of the food or the sleek elegance of ElevenMadison Park or the bottle of wine I still can’t pronounce. It was Axel. Just Axel.

He was different—normal, in a way I didn’t expect. He didn’t bark commands or throw his power around. He asked questions. Helistened. He touched me like I was breakable, like he wanted to know everything I’d never said out loud. There was a softness in him I didn’t know existed. A kind of vulnerability that made me ache. And now I’m stuck in this horrible limbo—unsure of what to do next, terrified to ruin something that already feels like too much, too fast.

Lexie plops down beside me, cool as ever, like she’s watching the season finale of my emotional breakdown. “So… does he know about you and Cooper?” she asks, casually spooning ice cream into her mouth.

Shit.

The question punches the air right out of my lungs. I sit up halfway, pillow still half-smashed over my head. That hadn’t even crossed my mind. I’d justassumedAxel knew things with Cooper were over. I mean, I turned up at his place like a woman possessed and practically crawled into his lap. That should’ve been enough of a message… right?

“I’m not sure,” I mutter, shrugging like the weight of that confession isn’t suddenly pressing down on my chest like a goddamn freight train.

Lexie raises one perfectly sculpted brow. “You mean you didn’t tell him?”

“Not in so many words,” I groan, voice muffled as I collapse back into the couch. “I didn’t think‘Hey, my situationship with my cheating ex is technically over’was appropriate first-date dinner talk.”

She snorts, unbothered. “Cass, you’ve already fucked him. We’re way past polite conversation territory.”

I grab the pillow and throw it at her face. “Jesus. Give it a rest, will you?”

She catches it effortlessly and grins, way too smug forsomeone not in the middle of a romantic identity crisis. “What? I’m just saying. You caught feelings. Don’t act like I’m the enemy.”

I groan again, dragging a hand down my face.

The worst part is, she’s not wrong. Ihavecaught feelings. Somewhere between the way he looked at me across the table in the precinct and the way looked at me over candlelight, I lost the ability to pretend this is just sex or strategy.

And this isn’t justanyman.

It’s Axel. The man who doesn’t share. The man who doesn’tbend. The man who claimed me from day one like I already belonged to him.

Lexie opens her mouth, probably to say something snarky, but my phone suddenly lights up in my hand, buzzing against my palm like it’s on fire.

My heart lurches. I blink at the screen, my stomach doing an Olympic-level somersault. Lexie leans over to peek, eyes widening.

“Well, well,” she smirks, dragging out the words with a grin. “Speak of the devil—and he shall appear.”

I glare at her, pulse hammering in my throat as I swipe to answer. “Hello?”

His voice is low, steady, and way too calm for what it does to me. “Come outside.”

I sit up straighter, blanket forgotten. “What?”

“I’m outside.”

There’s a pause, barely a beat, but it carries weight. The kind of weight that says he’s not sure where he stands with me, and that realization hits harder than I expect.

Lexie’s eyes are huge now, mouthingGOat me like a stage mom.

I ignore her and swallow hard, forcing my voice to steady. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

I hang up and launch off the couch like it burned me, scrambling for my shoes.

Lexie follows me to the door, arms crossed, a knowing smile on her face. “You going to tell him this time? About Cooper?”