Falling For The Playboy

EVA

“Hey! We never got to talk about how you met Omar. ”

I stilled, my spoon of ice cream stopping halfway to my mouth. I lifted my head and saw Axel watching me expectantly. He just wasn’t going to let it go, was he?

Sighing, I shoved the ice cream into my mouth, contemplating on the best way to answer him.

I could lie and tell him that we met at my old school back in Lagos, but that would only attract more questions, which meant cooking up more lies. I wasn’t a very good liar.

Why not just go with the truth? I asked myself.

“We met at the orphanage. But he wasn’t raised there like me. He got-” I stopped, realizing I was saying too much, then tried again. “He came in when he was like…. fourteeen and I was twelve at the time. I’ve known him five years. ”

“What orphanage? ” He frowned.

“What other orphanage would I be talking about, Axel? ” I looked down at the tub of ice cream in front of me. My stomach wouldn’t welcome food, that’s why I’d opted for it.

“You grew up at an orphanage? ”

My eyes snapped up to his. Why did he look so surprised? Surely, the entire school knew about this already.

“You…. don’t know? ” My eyes danced between his, probing the brown depths to see if I would find any cracks in his expression, but I found none.

He doesn’t know!

His cutlery clattered to the plate as he leaned back on the leather couch, running his slim fingers over his mouth. Our chairs were opposite each other, with a table in between. That was how it was throughout the eatery. I’d suggested we pick a window seat because the middle ones felt too exposed. The backs of our couches were high and I felt safe and cozy, cocooned against the glass. He’d wanted me to sit on the same side as him but I declined. I didn’t think I could bear the close proximity.

“I didn’t. How-” Deep lines formed between his thick brows. “The Lawsons are your foster family? ”

“Yes. ” I stressed. “How can you not know? The whole school does. ”

He sat up. “I can assure you that it doesn’t. Everyone thinks you’re a distant relative or something. ”

How could they think I was their blood relative? Didn’t they witness how Zoe treated me?

“And you people never thought it was weird that I suddenly started living with them? ”

“Well, some of us did, but weirder things happen. ” He extended his hand and picked a toothpick from the table. “Personally, I couldn’t care less. I’m not very fond of them. ”

“The Lawsons? ” I asked.

“The twins. ” He clarified. “Too fucking uppity in my opinion. ”

“They’re not that bad. ” I smiled, liking how the word ‘uppity’ rolled from his lips. I’d never heard anyone use the word out loud before.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“They are. The senior one most especially. What’s her name? ” I stared at him, confused. Abi could be unbearably proper sometimes, but that was just who she was. She never acted like she was better than anyone. “Zoe. ” He said finally.

That cleared my confusion a bit, but not quite. “Zoe isn’t older. Abi is. ”

“What are you talking about? Zoe told everyone she’s older. ”

“She told everyone? ” I cocked a brow. “Now that’s a lie. Zoe doesn’t talk to anyone. ”

“See? ” He spread his hands wide. “Proves my point. ”

“Which is? ”

“Uppity as hell. ”

I laughed, shaking my head. “So you did all that just to prove a point.”

“It wasn’t completely a lie. I thought Zoe was older. ” He drew one leg up onto the couch, throwing an arm across his knee. “The principal called her the older twin one time in assembly and the other one didn’t correct him, so I assumed. I know what my sister would have done if someone had called me the elder sibling. ”

My breath caught at the tiny slip of information. “You have siblings? ”

He smiled at me. A full smile that made his dimples pop. “I do. Just the one. ”

“Tell me more about her? ” I asked after brief hesitation.

His smile widened and I thought his face was going to split into two. He looked delighted. Why did such a simple question make him so happy?

Maybe because you never showed any interest in wanting to know him before and you just did.

“You don’t have to ask. I could talk about her all day. ‘Cause even though she’s such a huge pain in my ass and the world’s nosiest person, I love her to death. ”

Curiosity piqued, I abandoned my ice cream. It was starting to melt anyway and it wasn’t like I could finish the whole thing. I’d told him that before he paid, but all he’d cared about was getting his food. Staring down at his now empty plate, I confirmed that he must have really been hungry.

“She’s older by eight years. ” At my shocked expression, his eyes widened. “Yeah, I know, I was probably a mistake. ”

“Stop it. ” I laughed lightly, even though I asked myself the question. Why that much gap?

“So, she’s a real fucking princess. ‘Name’s Avery. Beautiful, kind, smart, tall as fuck too. She comes up to my shoulder. ” Love for his sister shone in his eyes as he spoke. “She treats all my friends like they’re family. She’s very protective and she could come off as a mean person when you’re meeting her for the first time, but when she warms up to you, that’s when you really start to see her. ”

He frowned, pulling the broken toothpick from his mouth. He must have chewed on it. He tossed it, picking another one. I placed my elbows on the table, folded my hands and dropped my chin on top of it, waiting for him to continue.

“When she first saw Henri, she hated him. She thought he was a bad influence on me. ”

“Who’s Henri? ”

“My best friend. ”

“Oh. ” But it still didn’t make sense.

“She thinks he’s a no good player. ”

Now it did. And of course he would have a manwhore for a best friend. Birds of the same feather and all that.

“Isn’t he though? ”

“He’s not. ” He said sharply, lips pursed. “People are just too quick to judge. “