“So some guy your age, with money and a mansion, offered to give you driving lessons.” He huffs. “And you don’t see a problem with this?”
“No. Why?”
“The guy is only doing this to sleep with you.”
“That’s not why. He has a girlfriend. I met her. She goes to my school.”
“Doesn’t matter if he has a girlfriend. Rich guys cheat. I’m telling you, Rumor, the guy wants to fuck you. I don’t want you going over there again.”
“You’re being paranoid. He doesn’t think of me that way. He’s just a friend. He hasn’t even flirted with me.”
“You’re not taking lessons from this guy. You can learn some other way. Take Driver’s Ed or make your cousins teach you.”
“They’re never even home. And I don’t want Brock knowing I’m trying to get my license. He’s acting like he doesn’t want me leaving the house except to go to school and there’s no way I’m letting that happen.”
“If you get your license, you still won’t have a car.”
“I’ll use my allowance. And maybe I’ll get a job.”
The phone gets quiet.
“Axl? You still there?”
“I don’t want you going over there anymore.”
“Axl, you’re worrying about nothing. I love you. You know that.”
“I also know what guys are like. They see a hot girl and don’t care if she has a boyfriend. They go after what they want.”
“It’s not like that with Jackson. Forget about him and think about us. About our future. In a few short months we’ll be together again. Starting our life together.”
“It’s more than a few short months. It hasn’t even been a week and feels like forever.”
“I know,” I mutter, lying back on my bed. “But the time will go faster once school starts.”
“Babe, I need to go. I’m freaking exhausted and I got to be up early.”
“I love you, Axl.”
“Love you too.”
He says he loves me, but why doesn’t it feel like he does? I feel like we’re growing apart, but I feel it more from him than from me. Axl shows his love with affection more than words, so maybe that’s why I’m feeling this way. He can’t hug or kiss me or hold my hand. I miss that so much. Every day we’re apart gets harder.
How are we going to make it through the year? It hasn’t even been a week, and things are already changing between us.
Chapter 17
As I’m getting ready for bed, loud music blares from the patio.
“What the hell?” I shove open the curtains to see who’s out there, but all I see is the pool with nobody in it.
Going outside, I follow the music to a speaker set up by the hot tub. Braden is in there, his arms splayed out, head up, eyes closed as the water bubbles around him.
“Braden!” I stand next to him, hands on my hips.
He lifts his head and slowly opens his eyes. “You’re still here?”
“Where would I go? I don’t have a car.”
