Page 59 of No Mistakes

“Like it’s your fantasy come true.”

He closes the door behind us, tossing the keycard onto the nightstand. The room is dim, the lamp by the end casting a golden glow over the single double mattress that sits dead centre like the final nail in the coffin.

I don’t move, but neither does he as we stare at it.

“Relax,” he says, moving to take off his shoes. “I told you I’ll take the chair.”

“You better.”

“Unless you beg.”

“Axel.”

He chuckles, pulling out the creaky wooden chair and dragging it towards the far side of the room. “Jesus, I missed this.”

I sit on the bed, watching him. “What, me threatening your life?”

His grin is slow, unapologetic. “No. You being in my space. Mad as hell. Looking likethat.”

I roll my eyes, but I can feel the heat crawling up my neck. I look behind me, cursing internally about getting myself into this situation.

Two pillows. One blanket.

One bed.

CHAPTER 25

AXEL

I grabmy hoodie off the floor and throw it over myself like a makeshift blanket. The chair groans under my weight, the hard, uncomfortable wood digging into my back like it’s punishing me for every fuck-up I’ve ever made. My thighs hang over the sides, legs spread wide, and I already know I’m going to end up on the floor like a goddamn idiot halfway through the night.

Eva shifts on the bed, watching me intensely. “You’rereallygoing to sleep on that thing?”

“No,” I admit. “I’ll say I will. Then I’ll wait until you’re asleep and steal the bed like a raccoon in the night.”

Her mouth twitches. Just a little, but enough that I catch it.

“I hate that you’re funny,” she mutters, throwing her jacket onto the floor.

“I know. It’sexhaustingbeing this charming.” I lean back, settling deeper into the torture device. “You should try being me sometime. Terrible burden.”

She scoffs. “You think cracking jokes makes this easier?”

“No,” I say, more serious now. “I just don’t know how else to talk to you without making it worse.”

That gets her. Her eyes flicker to mine before returning to the mattress, her mouth pressing into a thin line. I stare up at theceiling, trying to will my blood to stay where it should instead of pooling low every time she breathes.

My cock hardens under my trousers, but I doubt she can see it against the shadows.

“You ever think about what we’d be?” I murmur, trying to distract myself. “If I hadn’t blown it?”

She doesn’t answer straight away. Just breathes deeply before sighing. “I think about what we were… for those few days. And how none of it mattered.”

“It mattered,” I sit forward, voice low. “You mattered. You still do.”

She lets out this soft, bitter laugh and tips her head back against the headboard. “Don’t”

“I mean it.” I shift, placing my elbows on my knees, every muscle tight. “I was scared. Of needing you. Of what it meant to want something that fucking much. So I lied to you, to myself. And it wrecked you in the process. I know that.”