Page 108 of The Saviors: Part One

“You said it last night. And I need to know, Axel. No bullshit. None of your normal avoidance of shit. Were you in love with me then?”

Axel whirls around. “Yes.”

It hits me like a ton of fucking bricks. “That’s why you were so hurt about Sean and why you’re okay with Nolan. Why the hell didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Say what? That I was in love withbothof my best friends growing up? Or that it tore my fucking heart out when I caught you with Sean, and I didn’t even know you liked that? Or that I killed your goddamn dad because I couldn’t stand him laying hands on you one more fucking time? Or that I would risk it all over again to make sure that never happened? Is that what you want to hear, Cole?”

Each sentence brings him closer until we’re standing nose to nose. I shove him back a step. “Why can’t you have a conversation like a normal person? You could have told me this years ago.”

“And then what? We try to see what we were like together and then be miserable because we’d both be missing that one factor?”

“What one factor?”

“Her, Cole! It will always come back to her!” Axel rakes a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t matter now.” He turns to the door, and I grab his arm, spinning him to face me.

“The hell it doesn’t. This changes everything.”

“It. Changes. Nothing,” Axel grits out.

My next move will be ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life. I slam my lips against his. For fuckingyears,I fantasized about what it would be like to kiss Axel. Growing up with two hot as fuck best friends was hell, and now my lips are moving against Axel’s, his tongue stroking mine. I groan into the kiss, and it seems to snap him into action. We stumble to the bed, bodies grinding, hands roaming. I buck and roll, straddling his waist, deepening the kiss.

No matter how many dreams I’ve had about this moment, nothing prepared me for the reality.

Then he pushes me away.

Chapter34

Nolan

Iknew something was wrong with Axel as soon as he came downstairs, especially since he wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Cole didn’t look much better, and I was even more curious.

I was sitting downstairs with Sean, Kai, and Chelsea having breakfast when Axel got his food, ate, and disappeared outside. I decided to give him some time, but now I need to know what the fuck is going on.

I finally get up, walk to the back patio, and find Axel kicked back in one of the chairs. I flop beside him. “What’s going on?”

Axel sighs and scrubs a hand down his face. “I kissed Cole.” He turns to face me. “I’m so fucking sorry, Nolan. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but that’s not an excuse. I understand if you’re pissed. I didn’t mean to hurt—” I hold up a hand to stop his rambling.

“I’m not mad, Axel.”

He frowns. “What do you mean? You should be fucking pissed.”

“Do you want me to be?”

“I just kissed someone else. I would be livid.”

“And that’s the difference between us. If it were some random person,” I shrug, “I would be upset, but this is Cole. I saw this shit happening a mile away. I’ve just been waiting for you two hard-headed fuckers to figure it out. Is this something that you want to see where it goes with him? I’ll step back if it is.”

“Hell no. I don’t want you to step back. I like where we are.”

“My question still stands. Do you want to see where this goes with him?”

“How is that even supposed to work?”

“Your brother is in a poly relationship, and you really need to ask that question?”

“Okay, smartass,” Axel laughs, then sighs. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. Ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away.” I’ve noticed just since I’ve been with the Saviors how Axel is around Cole. It was even more obvious when Cole left, and Axel stormed that warehouse alone. Axel’s obviously not good at dealing with his emotions, and he’s an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ type of person, hoping if he ignores it long enough, he won’t have to deal with it. It’s what got us into the situation of the whole team almost falling apart. None of these assholes wanted to be the first to say something. I’m not that person. “You need to figure this out with Cole.”