Page 9 of Built to Hate You

I can’t help it—I give him a playful smile. “What if I don’t let you kiss me for weeks?”

“Then I’ll wait weeks.”

“Months?”

“Then I’ll wait months.”

“Years?”

He gives me a deep look. A look that almostmakes me kiss him right then. “If you can hold out for years, then I can, too.”

Chapter Six

Axel

It doesn’t take years, though, of course. It doesn’t even take weeks. At the end of our third date, Mia slips her hand into mine and whispers, “Axel? I’m ready for that kiss.”

And although I expect nothing more than to kiss her that night…once we kiss, we can’t stop. We stand on the stoop of her apartment building kissing for a solid five minutes, and then suddenly she’s rushing to unlock the front door of the building, and she’s leading me inside, pulling me into the elevator. We keep kissing as we ride up the floors, our tongues dancing against each other, her mouth so honey sweet. As soon as the door opens, I sweep Mia up into my arms, carry her out of the elevator, and say, “Tell me where to go.”

She laughs and points. “That way. I’m in 4C.”

“Are you going to be mortified if any of your neighbors see you like this?”

“Probably. But I don’t care.”

We don’t see any of her neighbors, though. Maybe it’s because I’m in such a rush to get into her apartment. When we get inside, though—after I lay her down on her bed—I slow things down. Way down. I strip off her clothes with care. I take mine off slowly, too. I only tear my eyes from Mia to roll on a condom, and then I’m right back to looking at her. Fuck, she’s beautiful.

“What?” she says, smiling.

“Everything,” I say. And I crawl onto the bed and lower myself over her, her legs opening to welcome me. When I push into her, she gasps.

“You okay?” I ask.

“I’m great,” she says. She runs her hands up my arms and squeezes my biceps. “I’m fantastic, Axel.”

I sink into her deeper, and she pushes her hips against me. We quickly find a rhythm together. Every thrust feels incredible. Every inch of her body glows and vibrates against me. And the way she moans out my name, the way she tells me how good it feels, it’s so hot that I almost can’t stand it. When she comes, she explodes against me. I come right after she does, driving deep into her, losing myself in her sweetness.

Afterward, lying side by side on top of her bedcovers, I feel something I’ve never felt before. At first, I’m so overwhelmed by the feeling that I think there’s something wrong with me. Then I realize that I’ve never felt like this because I’ve never been in love before.

I turn my head and look at her. She catches me looking at her and starts to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” I say.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I’m just…happy.”

“I’m happy, too.” And I decide right then that I’m not going to tell her yet. Because I don’t want her to think that I’m just in love with her because we had sex. And I don’t want to move too fast. But when the time is right, I’m going to tell her how I feel about her.

I love you, Mia.

Chapter Seven

Mia

4 months later

“Should I nail it here?” I ask.

“Yep,” says Axel. “Two on each end, and it should be good.”

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