I glanced back out the window, staring at my car, seeing Roxie in there. She was looking at something on her phone as I waited inside for the to-go pizza I’d bring back to my place.

To be honest I was happy as fuck she was coming back to my place, even if it was only pizza and something on Netflix.

“Axel?”

I turned when my name was called, the feminine voice a little too saccharine, a little too fake. A blonde with big tits and wearing a micro-mini shirt and skirt stood there, her tiny purse having these sparkling gems on it that, when they caught the light, nearly blinded the hell out of me.

I didn’t know who the fuck she was, even though she clearly knew me.

“It’s Brandi, from the fights.”

Nope, not ringing a fucking bell.

She came up to me, her perfume so cloying my throat tightened. I took a step back, because I knew where this was going. Girls like her, ones that hung around the matches wanting some dick from the winners, were a dime a dozen in this field.

She reached out, and before I could move, she ran her hand down my arm.

“I was with a group of my girlfriends. We were watching a match for my friend’s bachelorette party.” She grinned. “You have to have seen me. I flashed you.” She giggled.

“Axel, order’s up.”

I pushed her hand away, stared her right in the eye, and said, “You’re the furthest thing from what I’m interested in.” I lifted my head and stared out the window at Roxie. She was looking right at me, this strange expression on her face. I glanced back at the too-made-up chick. “Not going to happen between you and me. Ever. I have eyes for only one person, and you don’t even come close to her.”

Maybe I could have been sweeter, gentler about it all, but fuck that. This chick had the balls to touch me, to think she knew me, that I’d be into her.

Hell, no.

I turned and grabbed the pizza and went to the only girl who ever meant anything to me. Roxie was the only female I had ever been interested in and would ever want in my life.

She’s the girl I was madly in love with, and tonight I’d tell her how I felt.

* * *

Even though we’d been back at Axel’s place for the last half hour, I still wondered what had happened between him and that girl. I glanced at him, his focus on the cheesy horror movie I’d picked out, mainly because I hadn’t been paying much attention.

My thoughts had been on the gorgeous female who’d touched his arm.

I shouldn’t have thought too hard on it, because I was sure plenty of women hit on him. Hell. Axel was built like a tank, his looks that of a fallen angel. He wasn’t handsome in the classic sense but had that bad-boy appearance going on.

But I saw him as mine, and the very thought of some random girl talking to him made me see green.

And if you want him, you should probably say something.

I cleared my throat and tried to focus on the TV. I wanted to tell him how I felt, saw it all playing out in my head, but the truth was I was pretty scared. I didn’t know if this would freak him out, ruin our friendship, or put this giant wall between us. I didn’t know if I could have handled that.

So instead of saying what I really wanted to, what I should have said a long time ago, I went with something neutral. “I swear, why do the majority of heroines in scary movies seem to be so stupid?”

Axel looked at me and started laughing.

“I’m serious. I can’t be the only one who notices this stuff.” I ran my hands over my thighs, my palms sweating, my heart racing.

He shook his head. “No, you’re not the only one, but if they were kick-ass all the time, the movie might be over with a little fast.”

I rested back on the couch and reached for the bowl of popcorn, needing something to occupy my hands so I didn’t look glaringly nervous. “No, I think it would prolong it.” I tried to focus on the movie, but the feeling of Axel’s body right next to mine, the heat coming from him, and how he smelled so damn good made concentrating nearly impossible.

He put his arm over the couch, right behind me, which made me acutely aware of how close he really was. We sat in silence for the rest of the movie, mainly because I was trying to work myself up to telling him my feelings, to finally breaking through my fear.

I love him, so damn much it hurts, but can I take the risk of ruining our friendship in hopes that he feels the same way?

And then the movie turned sexual. I felt my body heat, not because the sex scene was especially graphic or arousing but because I was thinking about Axel. How would he feel touching me, taking my clothes off… pinning me to the bed with his hard, muscular body?

I became even more aware of Axel sitting beside me. I could see him out of the corner of my eye, his chest rising and falling just a little faster, a little harder than normal. Was this having the same effect on him as it was on me?

But I kept my focus on the TV. The couple started kissing, the woman’s moans exaggerated, erotic. And then soon they were naked, but of course we just saw the woman’s breasts. The couple started moving in a very sexual way, and I felt my face heat. I was a virgin, but I’d seen porno, knew all that went down in that category. But I was watching this with Axel, and that made me very aware of my surroundings, of how my body was reacting.

I found myself looking at Axel. His body looked hard, not in the normal, powerful way but in the way that told me he was tense. And then he turned his head and stared right at me. Our eyes locked, the heat in the room seemed to increase, and I felt beads of perspiration dotting my skin.

My body was reacting in a way only Axel could make it. My lips felt too dry, my tongue swollen. The sound of the couple having sex seemed to be amplified in the room, and although it was a cheesy movie, the sex scene something on late-night cable, I was so turned on.

I was wet, my panties damp, my body ready for Axel.

I felt my chest rising and falling, the chemistry clearly moving between us, making me think maybe he felt the same way for me. Surely friends didn’t react this way just because some sex scene was on the TV.

And when I saw Axel look down at my mouth, I found myself lowering my gaze to his lap. There, pressing against his jeans, was a massive erection. My throat tightened, every part of me tingled, and I found myself opening my mouth, about to say what I had wanted to for so long.

But the words lodged in my throat.

Is this really happening? Is this a moment between us?

The longer we stared at each other, the more the blood rushed through my veins, the pressure in my body becoming almost unbearable.

Before I said anything, Axel was up and leaving the room. I sat there, staring at the fading sex scene, hearing him in the kitchen getting something to drink.

I stood, but he was back before I could even take a step. He held a beer out to me, the bottle chilled.

“Everything okay?”

He looked tense, like he wanted to say something. Maybe this had been in my head, the chemistry I felt, the moment I thought we had shared.

“I’m good,” he said, his jaw tight. He sat on the couch again, took a long swig of the beer, and stared at the movie.

I wasn’t going to wait, wasn’t going to let my fear override this. I had to start living for today, for the future. Worrying about what might or might not happen was only going to hold me down.