“Yeah. And it’s not just for sneaking out. I mean…you could sneak in if you wanted to.” I was giving him the perfect opportunity here. I was practically begging him to agree to sneak into my house to see me. “So you can see me even though I’m grounded for another few days.”

He locked eyes with me.

I stared into the blue hue of his eyes and was completely lost. I wanted Axel to sneak into my house when everyone else was asleep. I wanted him to sneak into my bed. To steal my first kiss. To let me fall asleep in his arms. I wanted all of it with him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and we broke eye contact. He looked down but shoved the phone back into his pocket, even though it was still buzzing.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“No one,” he said.

Well…it was obviously someone. Probably someone he didn’t want me to know about. Gigi. I pressed my lips together. Two people could play the someone game. “I think I’m going to kiss someone tonight,” I said.

Axel raised his eyebrows. “Who?”

I would have responded “no one” like he just had when I asked him who was calling. But Jacob wasn’t no one. I also wasn’t about to tell him that I was planning on kissing Jacob though. It was really none of his business. “Just…someone. Sophie’s calling it Operation First Kiss.”

“She would call it that.”

That’s all he had to say? “Mhm. By the end of the night I’m going to have had my first kiss. This dress was made for a first kiss I think.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

Okay? My heart sunk. That was my answer right there. He didn’t actually care who I kissed. And he certainly didn’t think I looked hot in my dress. My first kiss was supposed to be with him. It was always supposed to be him. And now I could barely stand to look at his stupid face.

“Do you still remember your first kiss, Axel?” I did. It was sixth grade. We were playing spin the bottle at one of his friend’s houses. He kissed Ava Williams. And I spent the rest of the party crying in the bathroom. I spent lots of parties crying in bathrooms when I happened to see him kissing someone who wasn’t me. But I wasn’t going to do that anymore.

“Yeah,” he said. “I remember.”

“I guess you always remember your first?”

He shrugged. “I guess so.”

Why did he keep shrugging at me? “Ava Williams.” I tried to say her name not full of disdain, but I probably failed.

“I’m surprised you remember her name,” he said.