Forever Burn

by Trinity Lemm

  I nodded to Axe, then walked off with Gi and Claire towards the drink station.

  “So, I see you and Axel are still together?”

  I twisted around to face a skeptical Olivia. Her red hair was straightened, sitting directly on top of the cleavage that was sticking out of her black dress. She looked pretty, but her pink lips didn’t compare to my red ones.

  “So, I see you’re still nosy?” I seethed back.

  Olivia placed a hand on her hip, unhappy with my response. She swung around and stomped off, leaving me satisfied.

  “Here, Tate,” Gi said, handing me a drink.

  “What is it?”

  “Seltzer,” she shrugged. I scrunched up my face for a moment, disappointed. Gi rolled her eyes. “Just drink it.”

  Everyone knew I preferred the hard stuff. It made me get drunk a hell of a lot faster than a goddamn seltzer. I popped the can open without complaining anymore, knowing that taking a closed seltzer would be better than taking an open drink that could have potentially been spiked.

  I scanned the party, spotting Olivia next to Axel. Her fingers ran through his hair and he swatted them away. She slid her hands down his chest, but he put his hands up, creating space between them, signaling for her to back off. Olivia took a step back. Her facial expression turned from seduction to anger. I obviously couldn’t hear what she was saying from so far away, especially with the loud music, but once she pointed in my direction, I had a pretty good idea that the subject was me. Axe crossed his arms, not budging. Whatever his response was, it was enough to make her turn on her heels and prance off.

  Happiness and confidence swelled inside of me. Accompanied with a sense of pride as well. Axe had just denied a girl because he was with me. I had been worrying for so long how loyal he could possibly be and if he was just trying to use me, but each day, he kept proving himself more and more.

  Gianna nudged me, diverting my attention back to her. “What?” I asked, a little snippier than intended.

  “Creep alert. Nine o’clock.”

  “My clock or your clock?”

  “Your clock,” she said, sipping her drink.

  I casually glanced over to my left, noticing Lucas staring from across the room. I should’ve known he was going to be the creep she was referring to.

  “What are you guys looking at?” Claire drunkenly asked, tipping over. When she realized it was Lucas, she looked back at us, pushing her lips together into a straight line. “Bro, he’s crazy about you,” she said, touching my arm.

  “Yeah, well, I’m crazy about someone else.”

  Lucas stood talking to two guys that I didn’t recognize, his eyes darting over to me every few seconds. He nodded to the guys before starting to walk in our direction, a determined glow in his eye. I stepped back, preparing to go back by Axel before Lucas had the chance to trap me in a conversation.

  “Tate—” Lucas began.

  “Don’t even try,” Axel hissed, appearing by my side.

  Lucas glared at him. “Oh, so now I can’t even talk to her?”

  “No,” Axe shot back.

  Lucas crossed his arms, making me surprised by how he was suddenly so focused on standing his ground. I had a feeling it was only because he felt Axel wouldn’t do anything with so many people around. Lucas felt safe, but he shouldn’t have.

  “Interesting how controlling you are,” Lucas said.

  Axe’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

  “Just saying. With your anger and all, makes me wonder what happens behind closed doors.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Axe gritted through his teeth. Lucas shrugged, raising his brows. “Are you saying I hit her?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t put it past you.”

  I could feel Axe’s heat radiating off of him. I had never seen him fully explode, and I sure as hell didn’t want him to now. I glanced back and forth between the two before stepping in front of Axe.

  “He would never,” I said to Lucas, before turning back to Axe. I gripped his hand and squeezed as hard as I could, causing his eyes to meet mine, softening. “Let’s just go have fun.”

  I was relieved to feel Axel’s hand entwined with mine, a reminder that he would protect me at all costs. He took a deep breath as we walked away from Lucas, finding our own space on the opposite side of the room.

  Gi found my side again, widening her eyes. “Damn,” she quietly spoke, “he really hates Lucas’s guts.”

  “I know,” I agreed.

  “Good thing you were there. Things could’ve gotten real ugly, real fast.”

  “What’d I miss?” Ash asked, walking up with a beer in his hand.

  “Axe almost beating the shit out of Lucas… again,” Gianna said.

  “What?” Ash firmly asked, brows lifted. He turned to his brother. “I told you to let me handle shit from now on. I don’t want you getting in trouble again.”

  Axe rolled his eyes, pushing his hands into his pockets. His agitation was showing. He was over the situation.

  “He didn’t. Everything’s fine,” I budded in.

  Ash leaned into Gi and I. “That little fucker. If he gets into one more fight and gets arrested one more fucking time.”

  Axe loudly sighed. “Dude, I can fucking hear you.”

  Ash tilted his head. “Good, I’m glad,” he scolded his brother.

  “Let’s all chill,” Gianna said.

  “Please. Countdown is starting soon,” I said.

  Both boys reluctantly agreed to quit bickering.

  “Claire’s fine, right?” I asked, looking around. “She’s with Jason?”

  “Yeah, she’s drunk, but she’s fine.”

  I nodded, relieved. I didn’t want Claire to be lost or alone when the countdown began. I took one last chug of my seltzer, finishing it within fifteen minutes of opening it. I crushed the can and threw it on the ground, allowing it to accompany the other cans piling up around the house.

  Within a few more minutes, the countdown started, and everyone began to yell, “5…4…3…2…1… Happy New Year!”

  Axel immediately connected his lips to mine, delicately, to make sure he didn’t ruin my lipstick. I smiled as he pulled away, suddenly getting the urge to get closer to him.

  “Let’s go back,” I said.

  “You don’t wanna stay?” he asked, pulling his eyebrows together.

  My head shook back and forth. I pulled my lips to the side as I tilted my head, and he immediately knew what I meant.

  “I think we’re gonna go back,” he voiced to Ash.

  Ash eyed Axe, then me, the sides of his mouth turning upwards, knowing why. “Alright,” Ash said. “I’ll just give Gi my jacket and we can walk back. It’s not that far. Is that okay with you, babe?” he asked, turning to Gi.

  “Oh, uh, yeah that’s fine. I don’t mind,” she shrugged.

  I winked to her as Axe and I strode out. I took a makeup wipe out of my purse and removed my lipstick in the car, thinking one step ahead. I didn’t want to have to deal with that mess later.

  The second we walked through the door, Axe’s lips were smashed onto mine. I ran my hand down his stomach, feeling his six-pack through his shirt. Axe picked me up and led me into his bedroom, gently lying me down on the bed. He laid on top of me after stepping out of his jeans, his lips traveling all the way down from my jaw to my collarbone. His hand slid up my dress, feeling the inside of my thigh, fingertips stopping at the hem of my thong.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, pulling away from my lips.

  I gazed into his sparkling eyes. They made me feel at home. He had met my parents and they loved him. He showered me with presents on Christmas morning. He turned down Olivia in front of me. He showed me sides of him that no one else had ever seen before. He took all my symptoms away and protected me when I needed to be protected. Axe made me feel safe, wanted, and loved. He didn’t lie to me or try to manipulate me. He didn’t make me feel at competition with another girl or make me feel like I wasn’t good enough. Ax
e was the person I needed, and in that moment, I had never felt so grateful.

  I gave him a small nod. “I love you,” I said.

  His smile grew wider than I’d ever seen it, dimples showing. “You love me?” he asked. I gave him a firm nod, happy that I was finally getting the words out. “I fucking love you,” he said, throwing his lips onto mine.

  Axe carefully slipped the straps of my red dress off, allowing the fabric to glide down the rest of my body. My strapless bra was popped open and thrown on the floor. I lifted his shirt above his head and tossed it over by my bra. The only fabric left between us were his boxers and my thong. I grabbed at the hem of his boxers, slowly tugging them down. He guided my thong off of me, reaching over to grab a condom out of the nightstand.

  He slowly and carefully slid inside, taking his time as he began moving into me rhythmically. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but after a few minutes, I relaxed and moved my hips up towards him. I sighed as he went deeper, feeling the bed rocking underneath us.

  I buried my fingertips deep into his back, feeling his muscles bulge. Each thrust was firm, but gentle. I quietly cried out his name and he moaned in reaction.

  It lasted a while, and eventually his body went rigid for a second as he drove himself into me one last time, groaning. Axe collapsed next to me, both of us out of breath, drenched in sweat.

  Axe moved my damp hair out of my face, pulling me in closer to his sweaty, yet perfect body. His arms wrapped around me.

  “I love you,” he said. “God, it feels so good to finally say it out loud.”

  I looked up at him, grinning. “I love you more.”

  “Not possible,” he stated, hugging me tighter until we eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Visit(s)

  The first few weeks of January flew by, fairly uneventful. Axe and I spent most of our time together, doing the most mundane things like grocery shopping and cleaning the apartment. Axe was upset once winter break was over, marking the end of me staying with him, but I was still hanging out at the apartment almost every day anyways.

  I carried the bag of snacks out of my car that Axe had just bought me from the grocery store. I opened the door to my dorm room. Claire, Jason, Penelope, and Lucas were all sitting around, talking. I glanced around, both confused and uncomfortable as to why they were in my room.

  “Hey, Tate!” Claire smiled.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Do you mind if we all hang out in here for a little bit?” Penelope asked.

  I wanted to say that I did mind, but I was put on the spot, and it would be a big bitch move if I denied her request in front of everyone. In addition, Penelope let me have Axel over whenever I wanted, so I felt that it was only fair to allow her to have people over too.

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” I gave a wry smile.

  They hung out in our room for another hour or so, talking and laughing, but I never inserted myself into the conversations. I didn’t want to.

  Lucas, Jason, and Claire all stood, and I watched Lucas walk over to Penelope and kiss her on the cheek. She blushed from his affection and batted her eyelashes as they all walked out.

  “What was that all about?” I lifted an eyebrow, hanging up my clean laundry.

  “I don’t even really know,” she smiled. “We’ve been talking a lot lately and I actually think I might like him.”

  “Well, it seems like he likes you too.”

  Relief washed over me. Finally. Lucas had moved onto someone else. And even if that someone was my roommate, someone who was still so close to me, it was better than nothing.

  Lucas started coming over more to hang out with Penelope over the next week. Even though it bothered Axel to know that Lucas was near me so often, I kept him calm and assured him that all of Lucas’s attention was on Penelope each time he was over.

  My phone buzzed and I glanced at it, reading a text message from Claire.

  Come over right now!!

  I got up from my desk, abandoning my homework and walking over to Claire and Gi’s room, unsure of what the urgency was about. When I walked in, Kendall and Macey stood in the center of the room, smiling like kids on Christmas morning. My jaw dropped and I immediately jumped into their arms.

  “Oh my God! What are you guys doing here?” I shrieked.

  “We wanted to surprise you! So, we asked Claire and Gianna to let us into your building,” Kendall giggled.

  “How long are you guys staying for?”

  “Just the weekend,” Kendall answered.

  “And Brynn?” I asked.

  Macey shook her head. “She couldn’t make it, but she wanted so badly to come.”

  I was overly excited. I hadn’t seen my sisters since before school started and even though I was disappointed that Brynn couldn’t come, I was still happy that Kendall and Macey were here.

  I couldn’t hold back my smile as I hugged them both again. “I can’t believe you guys are here,” I said.

  “Well when we heard that mom and dad got to meet your boyfriend before we did, we got motivated to drive the three hours,” Macey laughed.

  I rolled my eyes. “You wanna go meet him?”

  Their faces lit up as they both nodded. I said goodbye to Claire and Gi, thanking them, as I motioned for my sisters to follow me into my room so that I could call Axe. The phone rang for a second before he picked up.

  “Hey, beautiful. What’s up?”

  I smiled at his hello. “Hi, so my sisters are in town for the weekend and they wanna come meet you. Is it okay if we come over in a bit?”

  “Absolutely. Baby, you don’t have to ask to come over. I gave you your own key for a reason.”

  I bit my lip. “I know, but I wanted to make sure I warned you that company is coming with me this time.”

  He laughed. “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit, Tate. Love you.”

  “I love you too,” I happily responded, hanging up the phone.

  Both of my sisters grinned at me, watching my giddiness. All of us greatly resembled each other, four spin-offs of our mother. Kendall was the tallest out of all of us, even though she wasn’t the oldest. Brynn was the oldest, eight years older than me. Then Kendall, who was five years older than me and Macey was three years older than me. I was the baby of the family. Even with our age differences, the four of us always stuck together. We were close. We told each other everything and backed each other up, no matter what the situation was.

  I was the tiniest bit nervous for my sisters to meet Axel, but I was confident that they would love him just like my parents did. He was kind and compassionate and even when we were around others, he wasn’t afraid to show it.

  Axel’s eyebrows shot up when we walked in.

  “You guys look a lot alike,” he said.

  “Yeah, we know,” I laughed.

  Macey leaned in towards me. “He’s fuckin’ hot bro. Good job,” she whispered.

  I stifled a small laugh. “I know.” I stood next to Axe, gesturing towards my sisters. “Axe, this is Macey and Kendall. Macey and Kendall, this is Axel.” They shook hands, smiling kindly at each other.

  An hour later, my sisters and I sat at the stools in the kitchen as Axel made dinner.

  I got up, making my way over to Axe. I rubbed his muscular shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”

  “I’m sure. Just go have fun with your sisters. I’m almost done anyways, don’t worry.”

  I went up on my tiptoes, planting a kiss on his cheek before retreating back to my seat.

  “Is he in a frat?” Macey asked me quietly.

  “Yeah,” I nodded.

  “Hmm… weird.”

  “Why?”

  “Aren’t frat guys supposed to be total dicks?” she asked.

  I pushed my mouth into a hard line. “Good point.”

  Axe walked over and handed each of us our plates with a kind smile.

  “So, Axel,” Macey started, “how’s the frat
life?”

  “Good,” Axe said with a light chuckle.

  “You get a lot of girls?”

  I smacked my face with my hand, wishing Macey would shut her hole.

  “Used to,” Axe confidently responded.

  “Mace,” Kendall warned.

  “What? These are solid questions!” Macey said.

  Kendall rolled her eyes, taking another bite of chicken. “Anyways,” she said after swallowing, “thank you for having us and making dinner.”

  “Yeah, thanks!” Macey agreed.

  “Of course. My pleasure,” he replied.

  “So, Burne? Is that like Irish or something?” Macey asked.

  “It’s Scottish, actually,” Axe said.

  “Hmm… Tatum Burne,” Macey muttered to herself, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “Dude!” I cut in.

  “Yeah?” she innocently asked.

  “Shut up!”

  Axe gave a light chuckle. “I like how it sounds,” he shrugged. Heat rushed to my cheeks, but I couldn’t hold back the tiny grin on my lips.

  “Me too. I think it has a nice ring to it,” Macey agreed. “Speaking of rings…”

  “Can you not?” I intervened.

  Kendall laughed at my annoyance, but when I shot her a look, her face went straight. “It’s not funny,” she said.

  As dinner went on, I spent the rest of it hoping that Macey wouldn’t embarrass me anymore.

  An hour later, I yawned. “Are you guys ready to go?”

  Axe budded in. “Babe, you can’t leave. You’ve been drinking.”

  I had only had a few drinks throughout the night, and I knew I was perfectly fine and capable to drive, but it was clear that Axel was still concerned. I tilted my head to the side and looked at him.

  “You guys can all take my bedroom. I can blow up an air mattress and put it in there to make sure there’s extra room for you guys, and I’ll sleep on the couch,” he offered.

  I gave a light smile, but then shook my head. “I’ll just sleep on the couch with you and they can take the bed,” I said.

  His dimples appeared, and he made his way over to his bedroom to make sure everything was ready for my sisters. As he walked away, my sisters started their blabbering.