Could You Love Me

Could You Love Me {XXV}

A person could only handle so many games of 'ISpy'.

I was drained but we still had the rehearsal dinner to go to and I was probably going to be meeting half of Axel's family, which I was slightly nervous about.

"I bought candy." Axel announced, walking around the car and taking the gas pump out before getting into the car.

"Whoo!" Nina cheered, excitedly ripping open the package of skittles Axel handed her. He then proceeded to hand me a stick of starburst which was my absolute favorite.

"How sweet." I smirked, watching him roll his eyes.

As we got back onto the road, I watched as Axel put a candy rope in his mouth, not offering me any.

"You're really going to eat all of that without even giving me a piece?" I questioned, making a humored expression creep onto his face.

"You can have some." He spoke, the rope hanging out of his mouth.

"Hand me it."

"I'm driving."

"We're at a red light."

"It's a safety precaution, both hands on the wheel at all times." He smirked, making me roll my eyes.

I leaned over the middle console, picking up the other end of the rope, making him shake his head.

"Take it with your mouth."

I stared at him wide eyed, not believing what I heard, feeling my heart start to pound in my chest and blood rush to my face.

Luckily, Nina was too busy feeding skittles to Chuck the caterpillar to notice anything.

"It's romantic." He added, as if it would stop the heart attack I was having.

I quickly bit a piece off, leaning back in my seat obviously flustered, only making his smirk wider.

***

The rooming situation once we got to the hotel turned out to be me rooming with Nina and one of Axel's cousins. I didn't mind, thinking it was nice to have another girl my age to talk to for the time being.

"I'll come get you both when it's time to go to the rehearsal dinner." Tammy said to myself and Nina before walking a few doors down to her and Eric's room.

"I need a shower." Nina thought out loud, bouncing on her small feet as she looked up at me, her tiny nose scrunched up on her adorable face.

"Well let's go then." I smiled, opening the door to the room.

A small shriek left my mouth as I saw two naked figures in one of the beds, making me quickly shield Nina's innocent eyes before pulling her and I both back out of the room, only to bump into Axel.

"I'm guessing you've met Tara?" Axel questioned, an amused smirk on his face as he steadied my balance, my hands still over Nina's eyes.

"Not formally, just her naked backside." I shuddered, making him laugh.

The door opening made our attention break from each other, my hand that was still covering Nina's eyes cautiously removed itself.

The girl who I assumed was Tara appeared, fully clothed, as well as the guy she was .... on top of.

Nina giggled after Tara gave whoever the guy was a flirty wink as he walked away, while Axel stood back, observing the scene humorously.

"Sorry about that." She smiled as she embraced Nina in a hug, making me slightly cringe as I pictured where her hands just were.

"No worries." I replied a bit awkwardly, feeling Axel's torso press against my back.

"Nice first impression, Tara." He spoke sarcastically, making Tara roll her eyes.

"So you must be Oktober. Aunt Tammy talks about you a lot." She stated, ignoring the comment her cousin made.

She didn't quite look like Axel, not one bit actually.
She had fiery red hair, which seemed to be natural and magnified her bright green eyes. She was a lot paler which led me to believe she didn't take in Tammy's side of the family's tan.

I smiled back at her, a lack of words seeming to form in my mouth.

"Don't worry, she's harmless." Axel whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against my skin, leaving me with goosebumps as he walked across the hall, disappearing into his room.

"How did my idiot of a cousin score a hottie like you?" Tara questioned as the three of us entered the room, the door shutting behind us.

"Oh, we're not dating." I laughed awkwardly, opening Nina's suitcase so I could get her outfits out.

"I see." She said slowly, her eyes lingering on me as if she was examining me.

Oddly enough she reminded me of Imogen.

"So was that your boyfriend?" I asked out of pure curiosity, making her laugh.

"No, I met him earlier today when we first got here." She replied, and if I had water in my mouth, I probably would've spit it out.

"Nice." I managed to get out, before quickly ushering Nina into the bathroom so I could turn the shower on for her.

Boy is this gonna be an interesting weekend.

***

A/N: Chapters 21-25 have been updated! Thank you all for reading :)

-MT