My eyes dart to Axel, to Dan, and back to Axel. “What am I missing?” A suspicion dawns on me. “Did you…?”
I don’t know how to finish that question, because it seems almost too crazy to ask.
Axel’s gaze doesn’t falter. “I took care of it.”
He took care of it.
“You took care of… what?” I glance back over to Dan, but he’s already backing away from the table.
“Thanks for coming in!” he shrugs, then turns and walks away.
I’m watching his retreating form when a big hand covered in a rose tattoo cups my chin.
Not fighting his gentle urging, I tilt my head back to look at him.
“It wasn’t safe to have an old phone.”
I open my mouth to argue but his fingers tighten just the smallest bit on my chin, silencing me.
“How many times did you wake up to a dead battery?”
This time I don’t need help staying quiet, because the answer is many. I’ve woken up many times to a dead phone. And even though it’s never been an issue, it could’ve been.
“It wasn’t safe,” He repeats, then leans closer, “I want to keep you safe.”
My chest fills with so much emotion it almost chokes me.
“Axel,” my voice breaks on his name.
He shakes his head, “No, Baby. Don’t get sad.” His fingers loosen on my chin, sliding down to palm the side of my neck. “Let’s go get some waffles.”
I roll my lips between my teeth, trying to stop them from trembling.
It’s not the money. Him spending money buying my phone case – or maybe my whole new phone – isn’t what has my heart folding in on itself. It’s the act. The fact that he wants to protect me. The fact that he even cares at all.
Not wanting to make a fool of myself inside the dumb phone store, I nod my head and hold out my hand for Axel.
Chapter32
Maddie
Ahead of us,a car pulls out of its spot directly in front of a stout building and I see the large sign reading Squeeze Me above the front door.
Axel slows, then proceeds to masterfully parallel park in the newly vacated spot.
My fingers have shredded the small box my new case came in, dropping the pieces into the bottom of the little paper bag.
Axel left the radio playing during the ride over and I appreciated the reprieve from talking.
It wasn’t bad, the silence between us. And I knew Axel wasn’t uncomfortable since he kept his hand on my bare knee the whole time. Using his other hand to steer and tap his fingers to the beat of the music.
I’m just still trying to process what happened.
Since I was supposed to be meeting someone else that night we met, I’m not counting that as a date between us. So, this is it. Our first date. And he bought me a phone. A really expensive phone.
It makes a little more sense now, why he pushed for the higher storage and new case. He wasn’t concerned about making it cost more for me, because he was making it cost more for him.
But why?