“Scarlett, like I’ve told you your whole life. If you’d like to read it, you can read it when you’re 18.”

But I needed to read it right now. I needed to know how everything worked out for her so I’d have some peace of mind that it would work out for me too. “I’m practically 18.”

“Practically isn’t the same.”

I sighed. “What kind of weird stuff is in it that I can’t read until I’m five months older?” My birthday was in February. This was ridiculous.

“Is there something bothering you?” she asked, ignoring my question. “Is this about your first kiss the other night? Because you’ve left me dying to know who it was with.”

“Maybe I’ll write a book about it and let you read it in a year.”

She laughed. “Touché.”

“I should probably get back to my homework.”

“Alright. But I’m here if you want to talk about liking two guys at the same time.” She smiled and started typing on her computer again.

And I had the oddest feeling that she was writing about me. I stared at her happily typing in horror. She better not be. That would seriously be the most embarrassing thing in the world. I took my ice cream and went back upstairs.

I was looking down at my phone, hoping to get a text from my kiss thief. Come on, take the bait. Text me back.

I walked into my room and collided, bowl first, with something hard. I went to scream, but someone clamped their hand over my mouth.

“Shhh,” Axel said. “It’s just me.” His other hand landed on my waist.

I looked up at Axel as the ice cream smushed onto his shirt and the bowl fell to the floor. The ice cream had melted quite a bit during my conversation with my mom and it just went everywhere.

My heart was beating so fast that I could feel it in my throat. He’d scared the shit out of me. And I was having a hard time calming down when his hands were on me. I tried to step back, but for just a second, his fingers tightened on my hip.

“Did you just throw pudding at me?” Axel asked with a laugh and removed his hand from my mouth. His other hand slowly fell from my waist. “You’ve been spending too much time at Sophie’s.”

He had no idea. “No, it was ice cream. I...” Why was I explaining myself to him? He should have been explaining himself to me. “What the heck are you doing here?” I was having a hard time catching my breath.

“We had plans to meet up.”