“So, although everything you said in my studio was right, there were some ways it was wrong, but you still shouldn’t have broken into my studio and confronted me. Which you apologized about and that’s done. I’m not going over it. I’m noting it just to explain, maybe minutes after you left, that creeper called me so I obviously wasn’t going to phone you because you were mad at me. And…the way…you left…was kind of…final…”

My words came funny, trailing off at the end, and I eventually stopped speaking because my body jerked seeing as he’d dropped his arms from his chest and started moving.

Toward me.

He did this declaring, “It’s discussion time now.”

I started retreating, saying, “No, I’m not done.”

Though, I kind of was, outside the hard part (or, the harder part), which was to share that I wanted to see where we went from here because I was really into him and he was a great kisser.

“No, you’re not done,” he agreed, still stalking me.

I was still retreating, and since I didn’t know the lay of the land, I bumped into an end table.

I scooted around it.

He kept speaking.

And stalking.

“And we’re not done,” he finished.

“Okay, so maybe you get to talk freely now, but you don’t get to stalk me around your living room.”

“You’d stop moving, I’d stop stalking,” he pointed out, still tracking me.

“Why did you have to move at all?” I asked, still withdrawing.

“Because we got a few more things to get straight,” he answered.

“And we couldn’t do it from where we were?” I queried, high-pitched and somewhat frantically, because he was getting closer.

I shifted to the side and then froze before bracing to make a dash, where to, I didn’t know, because he lunged.

I didn’t get the opportunity to find where to go because he caught me around the waist with an arm before he turned his hips and shifted his leg, catching me at my calves.

Yes, catching me at my calves.

Like, kicking them out from under me.

I swallowed a cry and grabbed on to his shoulders as I started to go down, but I didn’t hit floor.

Axl moved quickly, controlling the fall, and I hit couch with Axl on top of me.

I stared into his eyes from up close.

And felt his weight on me.

Both were very nice.

“Um…” I mumbled.

“Okay, Hattie,” he said quietly, “before we kiss and make up…”

Eep!