“Something strong coming right up.” He squeezed my elbow and then walked away.

I kept staring at Axel. We’d made a deal earlier this week. That he wouldn’t kiss Gigi again if I didn’t flirt with Jacob. It was a terrible deal. A stupid one. But did he think I broke it? Maybe I had… I swallowed hard. But he wouldn’t kiss Gigi again, right? He wouldn’t do that to me.

“What’s up with your face?” Sophie asked. “It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I turned away from the bar. “Axel is my problem. Why is he talking to her?”

“To who?” Sophie looked over my shoulder. “Oh my God. What an ass hat. But this is perfect because it was time to take Phase Incest to the next level anyway. You need to kiss Jacob.”

“What?” I shook my head. Sophie knew that I’d been saving my first kiss for Axel. I couldn’t just give it to Jacob instead. That wasn’t the plan.

“When Jacob comes back put one right on his lips.”

“On his lips?”

“Where else did you want to kiss him? Oh. Oooooh. You’re going to the blowjob phase? I love that for you.”

“What? No. I…no.”

“The lips it is then.”

“Soph!”

“Scar!” She grabbed my shoulders and turned me toward the bar so I could see Gigi seductively whispering something in Axel’s ear.

I felt like I was going to be sick.

“You’re kissing Jacob tonight because Axel is a stupid boy who is currently acting very stupid. Besides, Jacob wants to kiss you.”

“I don’t think that’s true. The Jacob part. Not the Axel part. Axel is indeed stupid.”

Sophie laughed but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m really sorry. That Axel is acting like that.”

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.” And I was. This ache in my chest had been plaguing me for years.

“You shouldn’t be used to it, Scar. He shouldn’t treat you that way.”

“It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”

She groaned. “It doesn’t matter. Anyone with eyes can tell that you like him. He knows it and he’s being the worst.”

God, I just wanted to crawl into the corner and cry. For years I’d told myself that Axel didn’t know how I felt. But how could he not if everyone else did? He had to know. Was he torturing me just for kicks? Did he really dislike the thought of us being together that much?

It was like something inside me broke. Screw him. Screw Axel Stevens. I was done being his punching bag or whatever the hell kind of game he was playing.

“Operation First Kiss,” Sophie said.

I took a deep breath. After Operation Trap, I should have immediately said no. But I was actually down with this operation.