“Yeah. Can we take some selfies with him?”
“Selfies?” Rena looked confused.
The starstruck girls looked to be of college age.
He frowned. “What do you want those for?”
Jenna shivered. “And he’s gotthat voice. I am so posting this.” She leaned forward and put an arm around him, shocking him to stillness. Then she put her phone out in front of them and snapped a picture.
“Oh, me next,” her friend said.
“Wait, wait.” Axel tried to stop her, but the girl moved behind him, her head on top of his in the booth she’d climbed into. Her girlfriend snapped a picture.
“Thanks so much!”
They left in a hurry, giggling to themselves as they looked at Jenna’s phone.
“What was that about?” Rena asked him.
“I have no idea.” He shrugged. “A college prank?”
“Maybe.”
Once they finished, he paid the check and took her back home. He walked her inside and wondered how to say what he needed to without scaring her away.
“Go ahead and spill.” Rena stood in her living room, her hands on her hips, waiting. “You have that ‘something is preying on my tiny mind’ look.”
The teasing. He loved that she felt comfortable with him. “I…I want you to know that I will not use you for sex, or lie to you, or do things so you won’t trust me.” He held a hand over his heart, his pledge solemn. “And the truth is…”I love you.
She looked ready to bolt.
“I am always wanting you. You are beautiful, and you make me smile. I want sex. A lot. But I am waiting for you to want me back.” He cleared his throat, hoping she wouldn’t make too much out of the huge erection he couldn’t hide.
Her eyes widened as she looked at it before she whipped her gaze back to his face.
“I don’t want you to be with other men. Only me. We should just date together.”
“Date together?” She sounded breathless.
“Just you and me. We date only each other.”
“No other women.”
“Ja.”
“Exclusive.”
“Exclusive.” Exactly.
She stepped in his direction and stopped. “And you want me to make the first move?”
“I want you to tell me what you want, and I want to give it to you. But for the sex, I have to know you trust me.”
She frowned. “You mean like not wearing condoms or something?”
“Nein.” He was frustrated—and more than physically. “I want you to know you can count on me not to hurt you. Ever.”
“But that’s a little unrealistic, isn’t it? I mean, people in relationships argue all the time. And feelings can get hurt.”
