Page 4 of Sweet Hate (If You Dare #1)

AXEL

Y ou know what they say about the best laid plans?

Well, my plans to avoid Haven have already gone to shit.

I just needed a few groceries, and of course, there she was, climbing the shelves to grab a jar of sauce.

It was as cute as it was maddening. She could have been hurt a hell of a lot worse than a small cut on her finger.

The woman has no sense of self-preservation.

I stare down as I flex my hand, wishing I could still see the little half-moon indents of her nails. It’s been hours, but I still feel them on my skin. I still feel her .

My palms burn, yearning to hold her again, even if it’s just for another few seconds. She let me touch her. Sure, I probably surprised the shit out of her, but she didn’t pull away.

I needed her to. I sure as shit couldn’t.

Jesus fuck, I even tossed all my EMT training in the trash sucking the blood off her finger like a starved vampire.

Who am I?

“Fuck.” I toss my head back on the couch and groan, dragging my hand down my face. What the hell is wrong with me?

I can’t keep touching her. Every time I do, it fucks with my head, and I can’t trust myself to stick to the rules I made for myself years ago. No contact. Her life was her business, I wouldn’t get involved.

So, why do I want to ask her why she's back in Sweet Haven? Why do I want to know how she's been? What she's been doing? If she's still dating that guy?

None of my fucking business.

I close my eyes, but the sight of her in the store swims into my mind, haunting me.

Her bright aqua eyes staring up at me in surprise, her cleavage and face covered in specks of that damn white Alfredo sauce.

My cock was rock hard in seconds, leaving me dizzy.

I barely managed to keep even a shred of self-control.

The visual reminder of the countless times I marked her as mine in the most primal way possible. She used to love it when I decorated her in my cum.

The first time she let me do that damn near blew my mind. To see ropes of my load, circling her neck like a dirty necklace, and watch as she swiped a finger through it, sucking it off with a moan. Devouring it while she looked up at me with those crystal clear eyes.

She is—was—mine.

No.

Not yours, asshole. She never belonged to you.

I can’t afford to get entangled with her. Not again.

Hurricane Haven isn’t just a nickname—it’s a warning. She’s a force of nature. She doesn’t just pass through your life; she leaves wreckage. You can’t help but be pulled in by her electric energy, but try to hold her down and she’ll tear you apart.

Trust me. I know.

I barely survived her last time.

Still, hard as I try, I can’t help but think back to that day years ago, after Graduation, when our friendship changed forever, and I got caught in the eye of the storm.

“Axel, you have seven minutes to make out with…”

The anticipation is killing me as Lucas sends the bottle spinning wildly again. I didn’t want to play this stupid game. Who in their right mind would want to go make out with someone selected totally at random in the dark? I don’t get it at all.

Well, unless it lands on ? —

My eyes connect with Haven’s as she sits across from me, laughing with our friends at my dismay.

Glad she’s finding this so hilarious.

The bottle slows, and I hold my breath, closing my eyes and internally chanting. ‘Please not a dude, please not a dude,’.

“HAVEN!” Lucas practically screams out, and my eyes snap open, locking onto Haven's shocked aquamarine gaze, while the group erupts in cheers and hollers around us.

Oh shit.

Is it a bad idea to play seven minutes in heaven with your best friend? The same one who already unknowingly stars in all your wet dreams?

Asking for a friend.

Screw it.

Trying to ignore the erratic beating of my heart, I take in her face, her teeth digging into her plump bottom lip, her flushed cheeks, the rapid rise and fall of her big tits. Thirteen years of friendship means I can read her like a book. I flash her an easy grin, and she immediately relaxes.

“I double dare you to come into the closet with me.” I quirk a brow her way, sending our group into a fresh wave of laughter.

They’re used to our crazy dares, and, more often than not, they join in. Her eyes widen even more, leaving her looking like an adorable Disney princess, but I know my girl never backs down from a dare.

She runs her hands down her bare thighs, drawing my gaze to her tiny pink denim shorts as she stands up and saunters into the darkened utility closet—or heaven for the purpose of this game.

Seconds later, her voice rings out.

“Coming, Axeman?”

If I’m not careful, I might.

Haven has always been gorgeous, but to me she’s more than that.

She's electric. She makes me come alive in ways I can’t describe, and I know I could spend twenty-four hours a day with her, seven days a week, and I wouldn’t get bored.

She's the only person who fully sees me and who lets me see the real her.

And I’m pretty sure she owns a part of my soul, and she doesn’t even know it.

Jumping up to follow her, my heart hammers and my palms sweat. I slide them into my pockets because no one likes wet, slimy fish hands.

I don’t know why I’m nervous. It’s not like they’ll know if we do anything, right? We can just stand in there and talk for seven minutes. The closer I get to the closet, the further my heart sinks to my stomach.

What if this is my one chance to know what it’s like to be with her before she leaves town for good in a few months, without risking everything we have?

To kiss her properly? Will she like it? Will I like it? Hell, who am I kidding? Obviously I will. I’ve found myself staring at her lips a lot more than a friend should over the last two years.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s been making them look all plump and shiny or if it’s because I saw Lucas crowding her, trying to get her to go on a date with him .

That was the first and only time I wanted to punch him in the face. Just thinking about it has my blood boiling and my hands fisting at my sides.

Let’s be real…I’ve been desperate to kiss her since we played Spin the Bottle on her sixteenth birthday—another of Lucas’s stupid party games—two years ago.

Her spin landed on me—for the first and only time—and she missed my cheek, kissing the corner of my mouth instead. It wasn’t even a proper kiss, but that quick touch sent my blood pumping like I’d run track for three hours straight.

Since then the idea of any other dude kissing her has me feeling some kinda way.

I’m jealous, that’s all there is to it. At some point, I started to see my best friend as mine.

Mine to protect.

Mine to support.

Mine to kiss—okay, I’ve only imagined that part, but that’s beside the point.

Mine.

We can still be best friends. One little kiss won’t mess that up. I won’t let it.

But the intense need flooding my system right now tells me I have to know what her lips feel like pressed to mine. Just once. Then, we go back to being best friends. Totally normal. Just like nothing ever happened. We’ve got this.

“Seven minutes start when the door shuts, and we’ll turn the light back on and knock when your time is up. Happy kissing, you two.” Lucas calls out as I get to the door.

I nod in acknowledgement before walking in and shutting it behind me.

“Sprinks?” I whisper into the dark as my eyes adjust to the dim lighting.

“Here.” Her soft hand circles my forearm and I spin around to face her. She's leaning against the wall in silence. Her rapid breaths somehow louder in the dark as she bites her lip while staring up at me.

Like she’s waiting.

Is she expecting me to make a move?

Leaning my arm above her, I step in closer, and shit, now her tits are suddenly pressing against my chest, sending my blood rushing south at a dizzying speed.

So much for keeping my cool.

Trying to be a gentleman, I tilt my hips backwards. Especially since I don’t know if I’d be able to explain why my boner is pressed into her or why she’s making me hard in the first place.

She shivers when I duck my head, my lips grazing her ear.

“We don’t have to do anything, Sprinks. You know that, right? I won’t tell.”

I want her to want this. To want me. The ball’s in her court now.

“You double dared me, Axel. I don’t intend to lose.”

She tilts her chin toward me defiantly, a sexy smirk lining her face. Maybe she does want this. Fuck.

Is this really going to happen?

Closing the tiny gap between us, my lips grazing her cheek, and she sucks in a breath. “Sure?”

“Nothing changes, right?” Her hands slide up my chest.

The wild beat of my racing heart hammers against her palm. “Nothing will ever change, Sprinks. You and me—best friends for life. I’ll always have your back no matter what.”

She slams her lips to mine before I can even process what’s happening, but it doesn’t take me long to catch up. On instinct, I lift her up, my hands gripping her perfect round butt, the tips of my fingers grazing the skin below her tiny shorts.

Legs wrapping around my waist, her arms circle my neck, and damn, this feels right. She groans and sinks a hand into my hair, gripping and pulling it tight as I drive my tongue into her mouth, sliding it against hers .

I can’t think. I’m consumed by her.

Guided by this insane need, I press her body into the wall, my cock pinning her in place. There is no way in hell she can miss how hard I am for her now. I need her like I need my next breath.

She breaks away with a gasp, her wide eyes seeking mine.

I cup her face in my hand, my thumb stroking her chin before reaching down to adjust myself. “Sorry.”

“Don’t, Axel.”

She shifts in my arms so that her pussy makes direct contact with every inch of my achingly hard cock. Her heat seeps through the denim, and damn if my cock isn’t channeling a heat seeking missile with the desperate need to be inside her. It only gets worse when she starts to slowly grind on me.

Jesus fuck. Am I dreaming?