Possessive Rich Bully

Chapter 7

Playlist - XO by Beyoncé

bittersweet tragedy of fourteen

Astoria

"That's personal Axel," I told him. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't share something so personal with you." I cringed at the thought of that awful memory.

With a beautiful scorn on his face, slid a hand through his dampened slik mass of hair. He pushed himself up and got out of the pool.

"Get me a towel, go." He ordered me.

I wanted to smack him for his rude tone, but I let it slide, just this once. I went and fetched a towel for royal highness. He stood tall under the shower head to rinse off the chlorine from his skin.

My eyes widened when I took in his body. At fourteen, he sure had a well proportioned body. He was a teenage girl's dream. Over time, his popularity among the female crowd had amplified. They were drawn like magnets towards him.

I couldn't blame them. He was charming after all.

My cheeks heated up at the sight of his half-naked body. Suddenly, it wasn't my best friend in front of me. He was the boy I liked.

Brushing the thought off my head, I walked to him.

"Here, you go." I held the towel out for him.

We stand, having a faceoff. I know Axel was difficult to deal with at times, he often tried to dominate everyone around him and our first face to face interaction ended terribly. He had grown as a person since then, but still the shadows of his dark attitude still loomed above him, ready to be in control of him again.

The Axel who stood in front of me was teetering towards the edge of his built up self-control. Best friend or not, if he acts all lordly, out of line with me again, I won't let him off easily this time.

"Wipe me off," he commanded, coldly.

I gave him a look that told him to watch his tone on me. I was the help's granddaughter, but first and foremost, I was a human.

"You hold a grudge like no other." I dropped my hand with the towel still in my hand. "And if you speak with that tone again,then don't bother speaking to me ever."

He gripped both of my arms in his fisted hands. "Please, do it." The way he told it was almost like he was mocking me.

My eyes narrowed at him to which he smiled. "C'mon, I used your favourite word. Cut me some slack."

"Fine."

His grip fell from my arms and he spread his arms to his sides. "I am all yours."

I flushed under his stare. Suddenly, I felt conscious in his presence. I dried his arms, but froze when I reached his torso. It felt strangely intimate. We had not established a borderline of our relationship from the beginning. There was never a need for it anyway. We slept in the same bed, ate off each other's plate, shared secrets,fought, made up, played together, watched anime and so much more.

We were practically inseparable.

I had seen Axel in his swimwear before, but this time around, I felt the heat of his body affecting me. We never had distance between us and now it came to bite us in our backs.

I used to consider him as the brother I never had, but now as I bent down to dry the droplets of water off his toned legs, it felt different. I was breathless and he was breathtaking.

I blinked as I rose. I realized I had developed a crush on my best friend. I liked him more than anything. The jealous, possessive emotions that surged through my veins when I watched Charlotte hog Axel was because I wanted to take her.

I wanted his pretty lips on mine.

My first kiss was stolen from me, but my second had his name written all over it.

He snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Are you even listening to me?" He stared at me.

Mortified, I didn't realize I was daydreaming. "Of course," I said, playing it cool. "So tell me all about your trip."

He eyed me warily. "You sure did lose your hearing ability in my absence. I was just telling you about the snake which snuck in Daniel' tent." He slipped into a plush robe which costs more than what my grandparents earned in a month.

"Seriously, Axel, respect our teachers. They're older than us."

"He's a fucker, Toots. I got a B minus because of him." My eyes widened when I heard him use a curse word. "s**t, Toots." He let out a small laugh. "You're too adorable at times."

He outstretched his hand for me to take. I slipped my hand in his and we walked out of the pool house. He told me all about his camping trip. It sounded like he had so much fun. I wanted to ask whether he missed me, but I ate the question.

He even told me about Charlotte. I kept a straight face while he talked my ear out about her. Well, it was mostly filled with their making out dairies.

"So is she your girlfriend officially?" I asked him, hoping that he'll laugh this one out as nonsense.

"We can't. Her brother is not my number one fan. Yet." He added the last word to the sentence. "I mean Ares knows I fool around with girls, but for me Charlotte is different."

My stomach sank at his words. Thankfully, we were taking a stroll down the exotic flower garden of his palace which was dimly lit at night.

"Don't get all sappy lover boy on me. It's cringey." Despite the hurt trembling inside me, I faked a laugh. "I bet she likes your bad boy vibes more than your kisses."

"Oh, really?" He arched an eyebrow at me. "You seem to know a lot about my kisses, why, have you kissed my lips?" His lips curled up, devilishly.

We halted outside of the garden gazebo.

"We have kissed plenty of times, at least on the cheek. Let me break it to you, they were sloppy."

His arm snaked under my cardigan and around my hips. "Oh, I suppose, you two discuss my kisses on a sunny afternoon." He hummed and tapped his lips thoughtfully. "But as far as I know, you're no expert when it comes to french kisses."

The kiss I had today was nothing to gloat about, but Axel didn't need to know the semantics of it.

"You'll be surprised," I sassed. "For the record, I had my very own french kiss today and it was better than what you were giving her," I lied, but I didn't care.

"Excuse me?" His hand leaves my waist. "What did you just say?"

The pulsing of my veins thumped faster than usual. Maybe, it was because of the change in his demeanor, or the way he eyed me accusatory, or even because I saw the shift in his voice.

I licked my dry lips and kept my smile from falling. "What?" I playfully hit his shoulder. "I was kissed today—"

"Who?" His menace in his tone scared me. "Who the f**k has a death wish?"

I swallowed, nervously. "God, please, don't—"

His one hand went to my hair and fisted them in his hold and the other gripped my neck. He pulled me in until our chest was flushed against each other. My breasts were at the stage of growing, I blushed at the thought of Axel feeling them.

"It was that swine Peter, wasn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question. "He kissed you the first chance he got when I was away. How convenient."

"My hair," I groaned. "Axel—"

His hold on my hair disappeared. To my absolute surprise, his thumb came in to caress my lips. He ran his fingers over and over, his eyes never once leaving mine.

"You kissed him," He said, realizing the meaning of the words. I was pushed away. I fell down on the muddy grass. "If you are that desperate for a guys attention, then f*****g ask me to kiss you instead of running to that dipshit."

I was silent.

I didn't expect him to react this strongly. I don't know whether that should make me happy or scared.

"He kissed me, you freak." I kicked him. "I went to his home to study and all of sudden, his lips were on mine. I told him not to do it again and left. I was just gloating about the kisses."

The storm in his blue eyes, although a little toned down, still it was there. I rose on my legs and reached out to touch his face.

"I wouldn't have ever kissed him. I don't have feelings for him." Just you.

"He still kissed you. There is no way I won't terrorize him. Your lips are tainted by his scent." His voice was rough. He swiped the sleeve of his cashmere sweater on my lips as if to try to rub Peter off my lips.

"You kissed Charlotte too, in front of me. How does that make me feel? You don't see me giving your lips a cleanse."

"It's tit for tat, now?"

"No. If I am okay with other girls kissing you then you should at least try to consider the fact that I'll also kiss someone who's not you."

His hands wrapped around my wrist, removing my palms from his face.

"Fine, go and kiss every f*****g guy you see." He shrugged me off and turned away.

"Why are you acting so rude. It was only a stupid kiss."I wrap my arms around his back. "I don't want you to do anything to Peter. It's not his fault that he mistook our friendship for something else."

"Let go, Astoria." My insides squeezed when he called me by my name, not the one he gave me.

"No, it's Toots for you. Please, just look at me."

"Stop it," he barked.

I jumped away from him. He casted one disdainful look at me before storming out.

***