Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 148

I glare at him from around Michael. Only I can complain and get mad at my brother. End of discussion. Axel gives me an apologetic look.

Michael sighs. "Fine. You guys look miserable."

Hope flashes across both of our faces.

Michael nods. "You're almost adults, so I guess I'll just have to trust you." He gets up and stretches. "I'll just move right over here." He sits beside Axel. I'm extremely surprised until he turns so that he's staring right at our faces with wide, unblinking eyes.

I flinch.

He waves me off. "Don't mind me. Carry on."

Alright, that's the last straw. He's gotta go. I devise a plan to get rid of him immediately. My ace in the hole. Something I always save for a rainy day. "Do you have the Hobbit, Axel?" I ask quietly. I almost feel bad. Almost.

Axel looks confused, but Michael's face lights up. Bingo. "Great idea, Mia. Now we're getting somewhere." He lounges back on the seat. "If you've got this movie, hey, how bad can you be?" He gets even more comfortable on the large expanse of oh so perfect couch.

Axel looks between me and Michael and I can see he's starting to put the pieces together. "Yeah, I've got it," he says slowly, getting up. "I'll go get it now."

By the time they start singing the Misty Mountain Song in the movie, Michael's out like a light.

Axel looks genuinely surprised.

"I don't think he's ever actually finished this movie." I smile.

Axel chuckles quietly. "I'm impressed. He even beat Carson's time."

Michael is a good distance away on the couch, sleeping like a baby, so now it really is just Axel and me. Alone. In a house. That's very quiet beyond the sounds of the Hobbit in the background. I try to get comfortable, but when my shoulder brushes Axel's, I don't know what to do.

We've never had this level of aloneness before. Not even in school. Not ever. I look at him from the corner of my eyes. I expect him to be watching the movie. When our eyes connect, my heart starts racing. In a good way. With Axel it's always in a good way, and for the second time today, I'm scared of an emotion associated with the man in question.

The guy beside me, still in his black hoodie, with eyes I feel like I've never seen before. A body I feel like I've never touched before. Hands I feel like I've never held before.

Suddenly I don't even know how to talk to him. He's all new and different because the setting has completely changed, and I wonder if he sees me in a new light too. Or if I'm just the same to him.

Even his house looks different from what I remember it, even if I only saw a fraction of it.