Page 50 of Sweet Hate (If You Dare #1)

AXEL

A pparently, misery loves company. I wake up this morning bleary eyed with my chest scratched to all hell after sinking one too many beers last night.

Groaning, I shove the stupid sequin blanket onto the floor. What does she like about that thing? It’s so stabby.

New goddamn low, Verona. Not only did you open your big mouth too soon, but you also spooned the motherfucking blanket so you could smell her all night like a damn simp.

I would love nothing more than to nurse my hangover with a greasy breakfast, but I don’t deserve that.

My bullshit is self-inflicted and while I might want to wallow in the epic shitstorm of how my night ended, I’m not going to allow myself to.

I promised to finish the bakery, and I always do what needs to be done.

Rolling out of bed, I pick up the she-devil blanket from where I tossed it, allowing my sorry ass one last sniff of the sweet scent that still lingers on it. Christ, I really am pathetic. If my crew saw me now, they would be convinced I’d had a lobotomy or some shit.

After taking a practically arctic shower to make sure Woody takes a hike, I head down to the bakery, and I can already hear movement inside. Well shit, I was hoping to have a bit of breathing room before Lucas arrived this morning.

A piercing whistle sounds as I walk in, practically bursting my eardrums.

“Damn, Axeman, you look like shit. What the hell happened to you last night and where was my invite?”

The shit eating grin on his face is too much while I’m battling to keep down a wave of nausea. He is way too fucking chirpy. Forget God of Thunder—he’s the God of Sunshine.

“Nothing happened. Did the furniture I ordered arrive this week?”

“Yep, all present and accounted for out front. So is the wallpaper and paint.”

I head in and crouch to inspect the boxes.

“So boss, if nothing happened last night, why is your hair sparkling like you spent the night motorboating a drag queen?”

Wait, what now?

“The fuck, dude?”

He tugs something out of my hair, and sure enough, a little pink sequin is sitting on the palm of his hand. Well, that blanket really is the gift that just keeps on giving.

He pulls out no less than four more while full on belly laughing now.

“Knock it off, Lucas.”

Grumbling, I tip my head upside down and run my hands through my hair to brush out any stragglers.

“Aww, but Axeman, you looked so pretty . Your girl would have loved it.”

I stiffen at his mention of Haven. I haven’t heard from her since she text letting me know she got home ok.

I don’t know when I’ll stop making an ass of myself in front of her. I see the path laid out and decide to ignore the nice leisurely walk choosing to jump out of a damn plane without a parachute instead.

How was I not messing up this much as a teenager? Did eighteen-year-old me really have more game or is it just because the stakes are so much higher now?

I know what it’s like to live without her this time.

I spent the last decade existing, but not really living, walking through life in a fog.

No one will ever come close to this woman. She's owned my sorry ass since we were kids, when I saw her sitting right here on the counter, with her wonky pigtails and shy smile. She gave me her cookie, and I gave her my heart at five years old.

Movement in my peripheral vision draws my attention back to Lucas.

He’s stuck the sequins in a row on his forehead and is currently dancing around the bakery, shimmying his chest.

“What the fuck are you doing, you idiot?”

“What? You don’t like my Shakira impression? My hips don’t lie, baby!” This idiot has the most ridiculous grin on his face while he parades around like a prized turkey, and I can’t help the chuckle that slips out.

“Oh good, there you are! What the fuck happened? You’re broodier than Heathcliff today.”

I roar with laughter at that. “Heathcliff? Since when do you know shit about Heathcliff, Sparky?”

“Excuse me? I can read, you know!”

“Yeah, you can, but I’m not sure I know the last time I saw you read anything other than Reddit.”

“Fuck you, Axeman. Now, stop trying to distract me and explain why you walked in here with hair glittering like a dodgy vampire.”

“If you laugh, I will drown you in the ocean and make it look like an accident.”

His lips twitch behind his fingers as he motions zipping his mouth shut. Hell would sooner freeze over before this guy stops laughing. It’s in his DNA. The perpetual sunshine book boyfriend , if Mavis from the bookstore is to be believed.

“Haven had this sparkly blanket at her place. I went hunting around town to see if I could find the same one for mine so she could feel comfortable and shit when she was there for dinner last night. And…after she left, I apparently fell asleep on top of it.”

“Be honest. You spooned it like the whipped pussy you are, didn't you?”

This guy.

“I spooned it like a motherfucker, yes. Happy now?”

“Who spooned what now?” Beckett asks as he swaggers in and grabs Lucas in a back slapping bro hug.

Shit, I’d forgotten I’d asked him to come in while we were off shift to help me decorate the front.

Beckett looks from me to Lucas and back again, arching a brow.

“Apparently, I missed the party.” He shoves his steel toed boot into the sequins dotted around the floor before pointedly glancing at Lucas’s forehead.

“Our boy was just telling me about how he spent the night cuddled up to a sparkly blanket instead of his girl.”

“Ohhhhhhh shit, the dinner. Tell Dr. Foxy, how did it go? Have you locked her down yet?” He slings an arm around Lucas’s shoulder.

“Bro, you should have seen him in the firehouse. She came in the other day, and he stormed right over and mauled her in the engine room. I thought I was gonna have to break out the firehose. They left scorch marks on the floor.”

Lucas lets out a long drawn-out whistle that sets them off cackling like hyenas. Idiots.

Does that make me Scar trying to wrangle these assholes to get to work?

I really didn’t think through the logistics of reuniting these two while all this is going on. They are the ones who know me best, but clearly, they know far too much.

“Can you two concentrate, please? How about you worry less about who I’m spooning and more about turning this place into the best fucking bakery my girl has ever seen?”

“Yes, Lieutenant, sorry, sir.” Beckett stands to attention, with Lucas mirroring his actions, setting off a new wave of chuckles.

“What are we doing here then?” Beckett asks once he manages to contain himself, eyeing the surrounding chaos of boxes and tubs curiously.

“I’ll show you. I made a Pinterest board.”

“You made a…wait, you made a Pinterest board?” Lucas is wheezing, doubling over from laughing so hard, my glare doing jack shit to stop him. I hope he can swim because I’m gonna toss his sorry ass to the sharks sooner rather than later.

“Lucas, our boy’s evolved now. He’s ready for slippers and babies and one pussy for life. Of course he made a Pinterest board. How else is he gonna manifest this shit? He probably scrolls it every day.”

Slippers and babies and one pussy for life.

Yeah, sure, if I can ever convince her to come back to me.

It’s gonna be a long day.