Axel

Chapter 6

Maya

"Damn, girl. You look fucking incredible." Izaak looks me up and down, licking his lips and putting on a very convincing show as my head-over-heels boyfriend. I raise an eyebrow on him, looking around to make sure no one's paying us any attention. They aren't, of course. We're such a boring, old, serious couple.

"You don't have to do that." I murmur, grinning up at him. "No one's listening to us."

"I know, but I mean it." He winks at me. "I almost wanna take you back to the dorms right this second, party be damned. Fuck meeting Axel, I just wanna take this dress off of you."

I roll my eyes at him then pick up my beer. I'm on a strict no hard liquor rule tonight. As much as I need a drink for this shit, I can't be drunk around Axel, no chance in hell. I need to be on my game at all times this evening.

I do another subtle sweep of my surroundings while Izaak turns his head to talk to some guy from the basketball team. We're standing on the lower level of the Famous Grill, because this level is entirely booked out for the party. Jax saw to that, even though she isn't attending. She went to so much trouble for tonight. This thing means a lot to her.

Which is pretty much the only reason I didn't bail.

"Hey." Scar walks up to me, her hand tightly clasped in Chord's. "No sign of him yet."

"Not that I can tell." I answer her as my eyes continue sliding over all the kids down here. It's mostly Drake's friends, people that tend to show up at parties at the Thornton Estate. Shay is already here, she's standing by the stage with Drake and some of his buddies, including Ryan and Dash. There's no sign of River yet either, I guess he's coming with him.

"Pretty shitty showing up late to your own party." Scar murmurs, glancing over her shoulder like she's on the look out for him too.

"This party isn't for him, remember. It's for all of us." Chord speaks softly to his wife. She looks up at him and smiles, nodding her head before leading him over to the bar to get a drink.

I look back around at Zak and see he's still deep in conversation, so I wander off in search of Lyra. She's the only one of my friends I haven't spotted yet, and honestly I was a little surprised she didn't wanna come together. She told me to come with Zak, said she'd see me here.

I sip on my beer as I take in all the smiling faces around me, and I make a mental note to behave myself tonight. I can't let my emotions get the best of me like they did at Thornton House the other night, and I cannot allow my tongue to take the lead again either. The smartest plan of action is simple, really; just don't engage.

So when I glance up to the middle and top levels of the bar, I school my features and focus on behaving normally when I finally spot Axel. He's standing on the middle level with a beer in his hand and a smile on his face as he talks to a couple of boys I have never laid eyes on before. Oh, hell no. It has got to be illegal for him to make new friends that easily. God knows, he doesn't deserve it.

He breaks away from the guys, and I watch as he jogs down the steps leading to the lower level, where the party's at. His fucking party.

Well, no. Chord helpfully just reminded me that this party is so not for Axel.

Even though it pretty much totally is.

I keep a subtle eye on him as he approaches Shay and Drake, and I gulp back the last of my beer quickly when I see how easily he talks to Drake's group. I hate that. So, so much. He can't just waltz in here and be all chummy chummy with everybody, like nothing even happened in the Radium Room. It's just not okay.