Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

PART 3 - CHAPTER 144

PART 3 - CHAPTER 144 JESS

The rhythmic slap of my shoes against the pavement echoed around the nearly empty campus. My body

hummed with energy, every muscle and tendon firing like clockwork, propellinginto the run. | loved this.

The solitude, the way my thoughts could scatter like the leaves along the path. No one to judge me. No

questions. No missing pieces.

As | rounded the corner by the library, | almost screamed when someone stepped into the path from fucking

nowhere!

| swerved to avoid them, my heart hammering wildly in my chest, and before | knew it, | was on my knees,

gasping for breath. My hands pressed into the cold pavement, trying to regain control of my racing heart Shit.

"Jess!" A voice cut through the pounding in my ears, and | felt a hand on my shoulder. | looked up, still panting,

and found Aiden crouching beside me, his face twisted in concern. "Are you okay?"

| blinked up at him, still trying to catch my breath, confused by the panic on his face. My breath cin sharp

bursts, but | wasn't injured, just scared shitless for a second. | stood up and

PART 3 CHAPTER 144

296 Wouchers

brushed the dirt off my knees. "Am | okay? You scared the shit out of me," | wheezed, shaking my head, laughing

at my

ridiculous response.

Aiden stepped back awkwardly, his brow furrowed, and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, | didn't mean to

sneak up on you. My bad. | forgot about... Anyway."

He trailed off, his words hanging in the air.

| straightened, looking him over. "Forgot about what, Aiden?" | asked, frowning at how his eyes darted away like

he didn't want to say it.

"Never mind," he muttered, turning to leave, but | wasn't about to let him off that easily.

"No, wait," | grabbed his arm without thinking, and he froze, glancing down at where my fingers were wrapped

around his wrist. | quickly let go, the awkwardness between us thick in the air. "What used to happen? Tell me."

He hesitated, his eyes scanning my face like he was deciding whether or not to letin on the secret. His

shoulders sagged slightly, and after a long pause, he finally spoke. "You used to get panic attacks. Bad ones."

| stared at him, my brain trying to process his words. "Panic attacks?" | repeated, the phrase feeling foreign in

my mouth. | couldn't remember ever having one. But the way Aiden looked atmade it clear he'd seen me

have one. "I don't remember..." | whispered, more to myself than to him.

Aiden took a step closer, his hand hovering near my arm as if he

205

PART 1 CHAPTER 144

wanted to comfortbut wasn't sure if he should. "It's okay. You don't have to remember everything all at once.

But just... take it easy, okay? You scaredback there."

| nodded absently, my mind spinning. Panic attacks. What else don't | know about myself? It all felt like a puzzle

that | couldn't quite put together, no matter how hard | tried.

"I'm fine," | said, more to convince myself than Aiden. | wasn't even sure what "fine" meant anymore. But

whatever this was, | had to figure it out. Because if | didn't, the missing pieces would driveinsane.

Aiden's concerned gaze lingered onas he stepped back, givingspace. "I just wanted to make sure you

were okay. T'll...."

As Aiden jogged back alongside me, | could feel his eyes on me, like he wanted to say something but wasn't sure

how. We made our way across campus in silence until my dorm building appeared.

"You should really think about joining the track team again," Aiden said suddenly, breaking the quiet between us.

"You're ready, Jess. | can tell."

| laughed, shaking my head. "Yeah. No," | said, brushing him off with a smile.

| turned to walk away, thinking that was the end of it, but before | could take another step, Aiden grabbed my

arm, pullingback toward him.

| "Jess," he said softly, and before could react, his arms were around me, enveloping me. It wasn't the friendly

hug I'd

22.05

PART 3 CHAPTER 144

expected-it felt different.

More intense.

My breath caught in my throat as he pulled back just enough to look down at me, his eyes searching my face like

he was seeing something he hadn't before. His hand reached

up, and to my surprise, he brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering there for a moment longer

than they should have.

The gesture was intimate, too intimate.

| froze. My heart was pounding in my

chest as Aiden's thumb lightly traced

my cheek. His gaze yered, settling

BY figs Chor Sash I thought

he was going to kiss me, and to my

surprise, | didn't pull away. My pulse

quickened as | felt myself leaning in,

just slightly. The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!

But then, right at the moment when our faces were inches apart, something insidescreamed to stop.

This wasn't right.

| quickly stepped back, creating

space between us, piopad racing

pepo lly understand.

"Aiden," | breathed, my voice shaky.

His eyes flickered with

something-regret? Confusion? But

before he could sax pyfhingcd m

iH ies hive to go..." but |

heard someone clear their throat

behindbefore | could finish my

sentence. The sound was subtle but

deliberate, stoppingin my tracks.

Slowly, | turned around, my heart pounding for a different

72 505

PART 3 CHAPTER 144

reason now.

There, parked just a few feet aw familiar in a way that sent a chill plucked straight from the dream

PART 3-CHAPTER 145