Page 71 of One More Kiss

Bella

I don’t knowwhy he wasn’t listening to me. I was getting frustrated and didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep my attitude in check. I was trying to be as clear as possible. There was no way that we could be together anymore. Too much had happened between us and there was no way we could come back from it. I had lost too much because of the drama between Axel and his father.

“Bella?” he asked softly as he continued to stare at me. He looked at me like a young child looks at his mother after upsetting her. He reached for my hand and I pulled just out of his reach.

“Axel, I need you to hear me. Too much has happened and we can’t just go back to the way things were in the beginning. I am not the same person I was when I saw you in the club that night.”

“I know,” he said as he continued to stare into my eyes. “I just wanted to make things right.” His eyes darted to the papers on the floor.

Following his gaze, I reached down and collected the papers before picking them up. “I don’t understand what all of this is,” I admitted as I offered the papers back to him.

“Look,” he urged as he refused to take the offered papers.

“Look at what?” I asked. My annoyance was rising and I tried to keep it under control. I had come here today to dance and clear my head. I was doing just that until he showed up. Axel always brought confusion and drama with him.

“The papers,” he said gently as his head tilted in the direction of the papers in my hands.

Taking a deep breath, I followed his instructions and looked at the papers in my hands. “These are a bill of sale and ownership.” Looking up at him, I tried to make sense out of everything that was happening.

“Yes,” he said as he waited for me to finish reading through the papers. I could sense his excitement growing and didn’t understand what was going on.

Going back to the stack of papers in my hands, I continued reading and flipping through. My eyes caught sight of my name typed out on the bottom of one of the pages. “What?” The question slipped from my lips as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

“Keep reading,” Axel said as a small smile pulled at his lips. His eyes were glued to me as my eyes focused back on the papers in my hands.

“I..I..I don’t understand. According to what I am reading, I am the owner of a building.”

“Yup,” he confirmed with a nod of his head.

“How?” I asked, needing everything to make sense. I had no idea what was going on and it was starting to scare me. “How is this even possible?”

Taking the papers from my now trembling hands, Axel interlaced his fingers with mine. Looking into my eyes, “My father took something away from you when he threatened to have you kicked out of Juilliard. You were never the same after all that drama and it killed me to see you hurting because of him. I watched your dreams crumble and I knew that I had to make it right.”

“I…I…I still don’t understand,” I stuttered as I tried to process the words coming from him. It felt as if the room around me was starting to spin and I gripped the side of the chair with my free hand.

“Bella, I bought the building that you showed me in hopes that you would open your own studio and teach.”

“What? I am so confused,” I confessed as I continued to look at Axel.

“I am not trying to confuse you. I am just trying to right a wrong.” Standing up, Axel pulled me up with him and walked us to the middle of the studio. Releasing my hand, he grabbed his phone out of his back pocket and opened up his music player. “I want you to listen to something new.” His fingers hit the screen again and an unfamiliar song started playing. Axel grabbed me around the waist and we started swaying to the music.

The words of the song floated through the air and I couldn’t help but smile when his voice sang my name. Pulling back, I looked at him as he watched for me reaction. “Is this song about me?”

“Do you like it?” he asked nervously.

Hesitating for only a second to continue listening to the song, my mouth fell open. “Axel! This is about us,” I gushed. “When did you do this?”

“I had some free time on my hands when you stopped seeing me,” he informed me.

“I’ll make sure all her dreams come true.” Axel’s voice sang.

Willing the tears that were building back up in my eyes not to fall, realization hit me. Axel came here today to make all my dreams come true. “You really bought the building for me?” I asked.

“It’s yours,” he whispered in my ear as his lips lightly brushed against the sensitive skin.

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