Page 316 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11
Jacob smiled. “You laughed too.”
“Ugh.” I put my head back on his shoulder.
“You told me when we went for ice cream all about your operation. To make Axel jealous. And you also confessed that you had a crush on him. But I already knew that.”
“Yeah, everyone knew it but him.” But Axel knew it now. I’d told him I saved my first kiss for him. And he’d had no response. His stupid nonchalant shrug at my confession was seared into my brain. He didn’t like me back. Of that I was sure.
“Do you still like him?”
“No.”
There was a long pause. “Are you sure?”
I sighed and lifted my head. “It doesn’t matter if I do or not. Axel thinks of me like a sister. You said it yourself.”
“People’s feelings change.”
“Like yours.”
Jacob smiled. “Yeah. But maybe we can make his change too.”
“We?”
“Like I said before, I knew why he threatened guys in the locker room to stay away from you. But I figured he’d be cool with us dating because he knew I’d treat you right. But...he’s clearly not okay with it. He’s playing like shit. And he stopped handing me the ball again.”
My heart started pounding. Sophie had said something similar to me. That she thought Axel was out of his mind with jealousy. “You think Axel is jealous?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter if he is or isn’t. The operation hasn’t worked.”
“Then let’s keep making him jealous until it does work. Let’s bring back Operation Too Hot to Handle. Together.”
“So just like...keep flirting in front of him?”
“As my girlfriend, yeah. If that doesn’t do it, I’m not sure what will.”
I smiled. “You still want to date me?”
“Fakegirlfriend, Scarlett,” he said with a laugh.
“Psh. Right. Of course. I knew that.” I hadn’t. I’d thought maybe... I pressed my lips together. I don’t know what I’dthought. Jacob didn’t like me. He’d already told me as much. Which sucked because despite the awkward kisses, I still liked him. But we were over before we ever really began. I hoped I could stop liking him as quickly as he’d stopped liking me. Or this fake dating thing was really going to mess with my head.
I reached into my pocket. “I should probably give this back to you.” I tried to hand him the little star he’d given me from his room.
“Keep it.”
“But...”
“Your fake boyfriend wants you to have a piece of him in your room. It’ll look suspicious if Axel comes over and doesn’t see some of my things there.”
“True.” I smiled and put it back into my pocket. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah. This is going to be fun.”
“You might have to kiss me again.”
“Just try not to knock out any of my teeth.”
