The red panda exhibit. I swallowed hard. What were the odds of him bringing that specific thing up today after I talked about red pandas last night with my kiss thief? It was totally him, wasn’t it? It had to be. I was so relieved. “I thought you just liked red pandas.”

“I liked you.”

I smiled.

The waitress brought over our banana splits.

I immediately lifted my spoon and took a big bite. “You’re right, these are the absolute best banana splits.”

“Not a banana split,” he said and stared at my chocolate ice cream.

“Is too.”

He chuckled. But instead of taking a bite of his banana split he just stared at me. “So you swear nothing is going on between you and Axel?”

“No. I’m done with him. And the feeling is mutual. He doesn’t like me and never will.”

“Of course he likes you, Scar.”

I forced myself not to choke on my ice cream. “What?”

“Just not in that way. You guys are best friends. He just thinks of you as like...a little sister, you know?”

No, I hadn’t known that. What the actual F? “Right.” I laughed awkwardly, hoping Jacob couldn’t tell how hurt I was by that. Axel thought of me like a little sister? It would certainly explain why it seemed like he’d literally date anyone but me.

“He’s very protective over you. Whenever someone so much as mentions your name in the locker room he threatens them to stay away from you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, he’s been scaring off potential dates for years. Total big brother vibes.”

I hated this for me.

“But I figured he wouldn’t care if I asked you on a date. Because he knows I’d treat you right. I have no idea what his problem is. He’s being a total dick though. You know he hasn’t handed me the ball in practice all week?”

“Liam mentioned that. I actually told Axel off this morning. And told him to start handing it off to you again.

“You did?” Jacob laughed. “I wish I’d seen that.”

“I don’t know how he expects to win the game without his star running back.”

Jacob smiled. “He’ll come around. As soon as he realizes I’m not just trying to hook up with you, you know?”

No, I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything about Axel apparently. I took another bite of ice cream as my mind spun with everything Jacob had just said. But it totally made sense. When Sophie had asked them if anyone had asked about me in the locker room, Jacob and Axel had just looked at each other and ignored the question. But it was because they both knew someone had asked about me. Or a few someones apparently. How long had Axel Stevens been trying to ruin my freaking life?!