I figured that. And I thought I’d jump at the chance to change. But...it was Axel. And he’d snuck into my room. And taken off his shirt. And sat with me in bed. And it had kind of felt like old times for a few minutes there.

No, he wasn’t supposed to be part of my fresh start. But I’d been dreaming of that exact scenario for years. And a stupid little piece of my heart wanted it to happen again. Even if I would be grounded for two weeks.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m partnered with Sophie for like every other project.”

“Okay. Well...downstairs only.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

“Goodnight, pumpkin.” He sighed again like I was exhausting him, and walked back out of my room.

I sunk down on my bed. Which now smelled like Axel’s cologne. How was I supposed to fall asleep now? Having Axel’s jacket was bad enough. But now he was...everywhere.

I sighed and grabbed my phone. It was blinking with a new text from my kiss thief. I bolted upright. When had that come in? Was it while Axel was still here? I clicked on it.

The message read: “You’re gorgeous.” And it was time stamped from ten minutes ago.

But I wasn’t sure how long I’d been talking to my dad. I didn’t think it had been that long... Was it possible that Axel had sent this? Or not possible at all? God. I could ask RJ to hack our security cameras again but I didn’t want to owe him another favor. One was plenty.

I looked back down at the kiss thief’s text.

“You’re gorgeous.”

I smiled and shook my head. I texted: “You’re supposed to send me a picture back.”

“I wouldn’t look good in a bikini. Too many feathers.”

I laughed. He was ridiculous.

Wait. You’re gorgeous. Jacob had told me that before. When he saw me in my sparkly dress at the party. It was him. It had to be.

My phone buzzed with another text: “Have fun dreaming about me stealing third base next time, baby.”

But Jacob had never called me that. Or spoken to me that way at all really.

My stomach churned. Surveillance of the men’s locker room so far was a bust. I didn’t know how to initiate a kiss with Jacob before the game. And I didn’t want to feel all torn up about this anymore.

Sophie was right. About everything. It was time to solve this once and for all. Operation Kissing Booth was a go.

Chapter 26 – What the Heck is Happening?

Saturday

“Sophie, we can’t charge $50 for a kiss.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She erased the little chalk board and changed it to $75.