Axl on the other hand... He was a child through and through.
A HUGE child, but a child, nonetheless.
"Axl? I thought you said you could do the airport pick up."
"Oh, I canpick upall right. I can't help that she's an unaccompanied child. I never said I wanted to babysit."
Babysit?
Unaccompanied child?
With an indrawn breath she moved through the crowd to pick up her bag off of the carousel, ending the call as she went.
"Excuse me. 'Cuse me." She got to the side of the carousel the moment her bag moved just out of her reach.
The curse she muttered under her breath wasn't fit for a mixed crowd, so she kept it to a breathy whisper.
She turned to move through the crowd to grab her bag, but she saw someone take it off of the belt.
"Hey!"
Security at the baggage claim wasn't all that stringent. If you walked out with it there was maybe one person watching but no one checked if you had the claim tickets. She had to get her bag before it walked out the door.
"'Scuze me!" She moved between two people trying not to sound as panicked as she was. "That's my bag."
The crowd gave way and she almost plowed into the back of the man holding her bag.
He wasn't moving and she tried to stop but ended up tripping over one of her clogs. "Shit!"
An arm caught her around the waist and for the second time in one night she was pressed up against a hot and hard chest.
"Axl?"
"Don't you know how to walk?"
Maile put her hands up between them. Or she tried to.
Fucking Axl had what felt like an iron band around her.
"Dude! Let me go!"
There seemed to be a moment when his arm was tighter around her and then, when it was almost painful to breathe, he let her go.
Her whole body sagged in relief and then she got a good indrawn breath.
"What the hell!"
Half his mouth lifted in a smile. "What exactly are you asking?"
"You grabbed my bag!"
His laugh sounded more like a snort. "I told Pallas I'd help you."
Her lips twisted and she felt her frustration reaching a breaking point. "You don't need to treat me like a baby."
"Baby?"
If her arms weren't trapped between them, she would have punched him in the eye for his tone of voice.
