Page 283 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

“Great,” Axel said. But he wasn’t looking at Sophie. He was looking at me.

Yeah, he knew his words hurt. And I think he liked it. He liked hurting me.

And I didn’t care that my mom said my dad had hurt her heart. I didn’t think love was supposed to hurt like this.

I wish I’d never told Axel I’d saved my first kiss for him. It was better when he didn’t know I liked him. I used to be able to brush everything he did under the rug because he didn’t know how I felt. He hadn’t known he was hurting me. So it was easy to forgive. But now he knew. I used to think he was kind. But I knew the truth now. Axel Stevens was cruel. And I didn’t know how to forgive him for all this hurt. Not that he was asking for my forgiveness.

“This’ll be fun,” Sophie said. “All of us going together.”

It actually sounded like a nightmare.

Sophie lightly kicked my foot again. “Right?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. So much fun.”

Jacob squeezed my shoulder.

And that guilt wrapped around my chest again. Here I was, bitter that Axel was asking Sophie to the dance. When I should have been excited that Jacob had asked me. I looked up at him. I focused on his brown eyes and breathed easier than I had all night.

My dad’s words swirled around in my head. How he knew he was in love with my mom because it had been easier to breathe when he was with her. And I had that with Jacob. Thinking back on it, I always had. The world had somehow turned Axel cruel. But Jacob was still Jacob. The only thing that had changed about him was that he’d finally told me the truth. That he liked me. And I liked him. I smiled up at him, letting everything else fade away. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Does that offer for dinner still stand? I’m kind of jonesing for one of your mom’s cupcakes.”

“Yeah. How about Monday night?”

“It’s a date.”

“We should get back to the party,” Axel said.

Sophie scooted toward the door in the floor. “Yeah, Scar and I have some meetings we need to get to.”

“Meetings?” Jacob asked.

“Yup.” She winked at me.

Meetings? Really?Was that how we were referring to me kissing football players now? Why did this have to be so awkward?

I sighed and followed her out of the treehouse. But I did think I’d found what I was looking for.

The four of us would be friends.

Always.

They’d all promised.

And I knew where my head was. I leaned down to put my sneakers back on. But as I laced up the last one, Jacob picked me up in his arms.

I laughed the whole way back to the woods.

Yeah, my head was with Jacob.

Sophie squealed as we approached the closest bonfire. “Are guys playing spin the bottle?”

And just like that...my head was a mess again. I hated spin the bottle. Loathed it. I was pretty sure a game of spin the bottle had ruined my freaking life.

I forced myself not to look over at Axel as Jacob set me down in front of an empty log.