Page 260 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
It was easy to not be worried about kiss thieves and kissing booths when you were laughing. But as the night went on, it was a little harder not to be worried about tomorrow. The brief moments I’d had alone with Axel recently hadn’t been great. And I didn’t know what a whole night with him was going to bring.
And for some reason, when I got home and climbed into bed, I rewound the footage again. This time I watched as Axel pulled off his shirt.
I swallowed hard.
I’d been trying so hard to get him out of my system. But it was hard when he’d been in it my whole life. I stared at his six-pack. Was ithisabs I’d tried to molest in that snake infested closet? Was that possible?
It didn’t seem like it. I tried to picture today’s kiss. But I couldn’t picture anything because it had been dark. And my stupid nose had only picked up the smell of cleaning supplies. Not expensive cologne or the smell of freshly cut grass.
I clicked out of the footage and pulled up the last text from my kiss thief. I wanted to believe it was Jacob. Ineededit to be Jacob. I wanted to move on so my heart would stop hurting so much. I texted him back: “I wish you’d saved all your firsts for me too.”
Scarlett and the Kiss Thief - Chapter 25 – Knight in Shining Armor
Thursday
The kiss thief hadn’t texted me back last night or today. I wanted to think of something clever or funny to text him. Or somehow trick him into admitting he was Jacob.
I glanced at the time. It was well after dinner and I still hadn’t heard from Axel. I’d cancelled my plans with Jacob tonight so that Axel and I could work on our project. And each minute that ticked by made me feel like an idiot.
Axel wasn’t coming.
He’d just wanted me to cancel my date. He’d had no intention of ever coming over.
I sighed and changed into a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top. There was no reason not to be comfortable while I spent the night alone in my room. I brought up the varsity roster list Sophie and I had sorted through, and stared at the names of the 13 guys that we thought could be my kiss thief.
If it was Jacob, the list meant nothing. But if it somehow wasn’t him? I shook my head.
This was stupid. It was definitely Jacob. And just because we hadn’t had a date tonight didn’t mean I couldn’t try to kiss him before Saturday. Well, kiss him again. Because I was pretty sure I’d kissed him yesterday in the janitor’s closet. I just needed to kiss him while being able to see his face.
I pictured Gigi plopping down on Axel’s lap in the cafeteria and planting a kiss on his lips.
Yeah, no. I definitely wasn’t doing that to Jacob. I wasn’t a psychopath.
I looked back at the list and tried to think if it could really be one of these guys. Yes, I had classes with all of them. But there were a few I had never even really spoken to. Like August Ward. He sat on the opposite side of class in entrepreneurial studies. And Zach Fisher. I’d definitely never spoken to him. I didn’t think we’d ever even made eye contact before.
I knew Sophie would say that just because we hadn’t spoken didn’t mean it wasn’t one of those guys. And that my kiss thief was technically a stalker, so it kind of fit. But did August or Zach seem like stalkers? If so they were very good at it. Because I never noticed them staring.
My eyes kept scanning down the list. This was impossible. I needed a break. And ice cream. Yeah, ice cream helped everything.
I wandered downstairs and into the kitchen. I pulled out the pint of Chunky Monkey and then just stared at it.
I was supposed to be on a date tonight with Jacob. Having fun. And instead I was alone eating ice cream. But I knew one way to not feel alone. I opened the gallery on my phone and looked at the pictures Sophie had taken of me. The kiss thief would definitely respond to one of these. I clicked on one of the modest ones of me in a bathing suit again and hit send. “Your turn,”I texted. I wanted to play 21 questions again. This time I’d be focused. This time I’d get information.
I waited for him to respond.
And waited.
But he didn’t take the bait. I was getting used to talking to him every day. And I felt off-kilter from his silence. Especially after that kiss yesterday.
I sighed. Alone tonight with ice cream seemed to be my fate. Maybe I didn’t just need ice cream though. I grabbed two bowls, scooped in some ice cream, and headed to my mom’s office.
“Mom?” I knocked on the door of her office.
“Come in!” she called.
I opened the door and walked in. It was more of a library than an office, really. The shelves were lined with books she’d written and books she and my dad loved. And she had a desk in the center of the room.
She looked up from her computer and smiled. “What’s this?”
