Page 67 of I Don't Need Your Romance

He smiles again. “No problem. Rain check, then?”

“Okay.”

“Cool. Can I text you?”

“I’d love that.”

“Cool.”

He smiles and I smile and we just stand there. Are we supposed to hug or something? It would be romantic if we did, but maybe he’s not ready for that.

“Let me walk you to the parking lot,” he says.

As I trail him, I’m a little disappointed. This guy is sweet, but he’s not as romantic as William King. Ugh. Why am I comparing a real guy to a fake one? Sure, maybe Axel doesn’t make me feel the way William does, but this is real. This could lead somewhere. William vanishes when I close the book.

We parked on different ends of the lot. He offers to walk me to my car, but we’re going in opposite directions, so it doesn’t make sense for him to walk all the way to my car.

“Okay. I’ll text you.”

“Bye.”

I’m still waiting for that hug, and again, I’m disappointed when he doesn’t give it. But then his arms come around me and he holds me close. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable with this,” he whispers in my ear. “But I couldn’t say goodbye without giving you one.” He draws back, searching my eyes. “Is that okay?”

It’s more than okay. It’s the best feeling in the world. I want to hug him again and again and again. But not to sound too desperate and eager, I say, “Yes, it’s okay.”

He smiles. “Good night, Sophie.”

I wave with a goofy smile on my face. “Good night, Axel.”

We separate to our ends of the parking lot. I try to hold back from squealing. He hugged me, he hugged me, he hugged me! And it was the most spectacular hug in the world. I can’t wait to return to the dorm and tell my friends everything.

At a red light, I text Raven to gather Carly and Addie in our room. As soon as I get there and burst in through the door, I dance around saying, “He hugged me, he hugged me, he hugged me!”

And I spend most of the evening telling my friends each and every detail of my date.

Chapter Twenty-One

Damian

“Today we’ll be conducting some experiments,” Mrs. Sullivan says on Wednesday during chem class. “You and your partner are both responsible for participating in the experiments. I want it written down in clear detail which partner contributed what. No longer is anyone going to scrape by while their partner does all the work.”

She was pretty ticked off a few days ago when she found out some kids were slacking off and dumping their work on the more studious kids.

Sophie, my partner, bends forward. “Tough luck.”

I frown. “Was banking on dumping all the school crap on you and heading out for a smoke.”

She playfully rolls her eyes at me, not taking a word of my BS. We’ve only known each other for two weeks, but she can read right through me.

“But you’re taking the lead,” I tell her.

“Nope. You take the lead in one and I’ll take the lead in the other.”

I frown. “Darn it.”

“No cutting corners, Mr. Non Bad Boy.”

I stare at her, then burst out laughing. “I think that’s the lamest thing you’ve ever said.” And that’s not all. I noticed since she walked into class that she’s radiant. Glowing. Silly as that might sound, it’s true. I bet it’s all because of that Axel guy.