The Fallen King | ✓

Chapter 18

He scratched the back of his head, clearly thinking of an answer. After a few moments, his eyes lit up. "How about we see who can do a lap of the park fastest?"

I hesitated. Exercise, seriously? I supposed I wasn't opposed to the suggestion but it wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. "But we're both in jeans."

He shrugged, smiling devilishly. "So, we're both at the same disadvantage."

"True, but—"

"You scared, Freckles?" he taunted.

Scared? Oh he didn't just suggest that. "You're on, Knight. Prepare to lose."

"We'll just see about that."

~*~*~

Not long later, we were both sprinting around the park and I was edging ahead. I could hear Axel's determined pants from behind me but I didn't let them distract me as I pushed myself to run harder.

Sweat was sticking the denim of my jeans to my skin but I ignored it. Nothing was going to stop me. With the ending in sight, I forced my legs to move faster with Axel hot on my heels.

Come on, Harper. You're almost there.

I was breathing heavily, only a few meters away from victory when I suddenly froze, noticing something — someone —from the corner of my eye.

Shit. Shit. Shit. I couldn't let him see me. Without a second thought, I abandoned the race, leaving my delicious win behind, instead running to hide behind a nearby bush.

I tried to regain my breath as I hid, clutching my chest tightly. Seriously, Harper, you literally ran away from him. How pathetic could you get?

Pathetic. I'd been using that word a lot recently to describe myself and, in this instance, it was definitely true. Hiding from someone because you're too afraid of confrontation and the past was about as pathetic as it could get.

However, I didn't have long to wallow in self-hatred before I felt hot breath on my neck. I tensed.

"What was that all about?" Axel asked and I turned around to face him with a sheepish smile.

I ran my fingers through my auburn hair, trying to work out how best to word my answer. I couldn't tell him everything but I couldn't leave him completely in the dark either. "Sorry," I said softly, not meeting his eyes and instead eyeing the uneven ground as my shoe dug into the mud. "I saw my ex-boyfriend and panicked."

Axel didn't say anything for a long moment so I took a hesitant look at his face. Surprisingly, there was no annoyance or unhappiness at my sudden actions, only a look of confusion mixed with understanding and something else I couldn't quite place. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a few things off my chest but, then again, did I want Axel to know about that side of me? What if he ran for the hills when heard about what a mess I used to be. I didn't think I could cope with losing someone else, especially so close to Zack's death.

But Axel wouldn't do that, would he? He didn't seem like the type to abandon someone and leave them high and dry. I'd come to know him well over the past months since we had first met on my birthday — damn, that felt like forever ago. I knew all the little things about him that no one noticed like how he hated hats of all kinds and refused to be seen dead in one or how he always smiled at people when they walked past him even if they weren't looking or even how he would lie to his agent by going against his 'model diet' by skipping gym every other Friday to have fast food instead.

Apparently I was the only one he'd ever told that last tidbit of information a while back when we both snuck away to gorge on McDonald's without anyone else's knowledge. Something about having it in secret made the food taste even better if you could believe it.