Page 41 of All's Fair in Love & Wrath

“We’ll see.”

Axel opens up a large pantry and flicks on an overhead light, holding out his hand for me to step in. It’s heavily stocked with everything you could ever want. Ten different types of chips, beef jerky, crackers, candy, sodas, cookies. They really keep everyone fed and happy here.

I reach for a box of Dunkaroos and hold it out in front of Axel, giving it a little shake.

He raises his eyebrows quickly, a slow, sly smirk on his face. “Aah, those would be mine, actually.”

“You’re kidding. I was expecting the blond guy with the spiky hair and septum piercing.”

“Malice? Nope. I don’t often have a sweet tooth, but when I do, I’m a little nostalgic.”

“Apparently.”

Axel takes the box from me. “This what you want?”

“Yes. I haven’t had one since I was like, fourteen,” I laugh. Axel rips the box open, pulling out two small blue packs. “Anything else?”

“I’m fine with just this.” I take the package from him, pulling open the top, revealing sprinkled frosting and graham cookies inside. Axel does the same and nods toward the door.

“Take a walk with me?”

“Sure.” I pick up a cookie and swipe it through the frosting, popping it into my mouth. I can’t help the smile it brings. We leave the kitchen and round the corner into the large room where club members seem to congregate, heading straight for the massive open doors that lead to the porch.

“Taste like you remembered?”

“It does! Maddox and I used to plow through boxes ofthese. I loved the chocolate frosting ones, but these ones are so good too. Reminds me of simpler days, even if my childhood was never like everyone else’s.”

“What do you mean?” Axel asks, tossing a frosting-covered graham cookie into his mouth. We walk past a row of motorcycles; the summer air having cooled enough that we aren’t immediately sweating. Floodlights from outside the clubhouse illuminate everything around us, but as we walk farther and farther away, it gets darker, the sky above becoming clearer.

“My dad was a club president. Not many people were willing to let their daughters come have sleepovers at my house, and I didn’t get invited to much. By the time I was a teenager, all my friends suddenly looked at Maddox, Gage, and Lincoln in a different way. They wanted to hang out, but it was to get the attention of the guys, not to actually be my friend. I stopped trying after a while and just stuck to tagging along with whatever the guys were doing. I was their shadow for a really long time.”

“So, you never did that girlie shit? Have sleepovers where you all braid each other’s hair, paint your toes, and watch old chick flicks?”

I laugh at what he assumes all teenage girls were doing back when we were growing up. “Nope. Never had the chance. Kinda sad, honestly. This girl I went to high school with, Ayla, god, she was so cool. She used to have these sleepover parties where they’d binge-watch ’80s movies, stay up all night, make prank calls, and probably talk about all the guys they’d fooled around with. I never got invited, but damn did I wish I could go. I tried to force the guys to recreate a night like that with me, but they were a little busy chasing girls,” I confess. “I haven’t experienced a whole helluva lot, if I’m honest. My dad and Maddox were just a little too protective, and that definitely didn’t help. Never went to a danceeither.”

“That must have been hard on you.”

“It is what it is. But even with the most protective men in my life, they can’t save you from everything.” That causes Axel to pause, and I stop, too, looking up at him.

“I’m going to kill him, Sienna.”

“I know you think that, Axel.”

He takes a deep breath, his features looking so sharp as they’re cast in shadows and low light, his piercings glinting, tattoos making him look like the formidable biker he is. We start walking again, bathed in comfortable silence.

Axel leads me far enough away from the clubhouse that we’re cloaked in the quiet stillness of the night. A large field stretches around us, wild lupines growing freely, and I wish I could make out their colors. I let myself sink down onto the cool ground, lying flat on my back to watch the night sky move around us. The stars are shining bright, the moon a perfect crescent. Peace hums just below the surface, a light vibration right under my skin. I want to cling to it, but it’s always just out of reach, fear keeping me just far enough away from one of the very few things I want.

Axel lays down next to me, only a few inches separating us. His comforting scent fills my lungs, his pinky finger gently rubbing against mine. This man is so caring, so genuinely sweet. He’s probably seen terrible things, most likely done them, too, but it hasn’t jaded him, hasn’t hardened him. He’s just this gentle, calming presence that gives me hope I shouldn’t have. Especially not from a biker.

Together we lay there, with no rush to move. Right here, right now, there’s no need to hide or run. I can just let myself slowly relax while we gaze up at the night sky, watching the clouds move by.

“Make a wish, sweetheart. That one’s yours. Make itcount,” Axel whispers as a star darts across the sky, his pinky hooking into mine.

I close my eyes, a tear escaping, wishing for the same thing I’ve wished on every candle, every eyelash, every dandelion, and every double rainbow.

Freedom.

Chapter Fifteen