Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina)

Chapter 207

Needing You Turned Into an Obsession

I don't remember running up the stairs. My feet move on their own, slamming against the

hardwood.

I was suffocating down there. I was struggling to stand.

Zaid's words still ring in my ears. The faces of the detectives as they looked at Jake when my mother told them what he was doing. The judgment in their eyes they couldn't quite

hide.

The rage in my mother's voice was nothing new, but her disgust at Jake was scarring.

Jake, who married my mother for me.

My chest caves in around my heart, everything tightening until I can't breathe. I stumble into my room, fisting the doorknob, ready to shut out the world and scream into my pillow until I pass out from the blinding headache.

But the door doesn't close. I hear a string of words, and then a foot slams into the crack,

stopping it from shutting.

"Don't," I whisper, backing away just as the door creaks open again. I expect it to be Zaid,

but he is the last person I want to see right now.

The last person I want to see me in my shame. But it's not him.

Jake steps in, his face filled with regret. His eyes drink me in, like he's trying to assess the

damage.

"Shit, baby," he breathes, his shoulders dropping, his voice raw. "I'm sorry."

I don't hesitate. I crash into him, my body colliding with his like it's muscle memory. I bury my face into his chest and sob, ugly, shaking, breath stealing sobs.

I don't care what Zaid said. I don't care that it's wrong or twisted or that the world might never understand. I ignored the red flags because being him felt good; losing myself to him in the car that first time made me feel something.

I wanted it.

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You Turned

curling into his shirt. "I didn't mean for it to get this far. I didn't mean for the cops to show up. This is

me into him like he's trying to shield me from all of it. He kisses the top of my head, lingering there like it

This is on me. I should've stayed away. I should've, fuck, Alina. I should've

to look up at him, my grip still tight on his

that. I don't regret this. I don't regret you. Not us," I shake my

clenches hard, his eyes flickering with something soft and sad. "The best thing I can do for you is take

doesn't skip entirely. The thought of losing him isn't as painful as losing Zaid. Jake can't break me

don't want

like he wants to believe me but doesn't know how to forgive himself for this, like he doesn't know how we can move on.

can't help himself, he leans in, brushing

is soft, too soft, like goodbye is

the

still catching my breath, my fingers tangled in the fabric of his shirt,

to

feeling of him, of us, but something shifts in his eyes. The kiss stole something

the edge of my jaw. And then he exhales, like he's been holding

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You Turned Into

I'm in the wrong," he says

my stomach

He doesn't stop.

a crooked, bitter smile, "and you're eighteen. You're just starting your life, Alina. You should be worried about college or falling in love for

Tell him he is who I want. But my voice gets caught somewhere between my

like a breath of fresh air. Like I could breathe again after years of feeling like everything was just gray. You reminded me that my life wasn't over. That there was still something out there that could make me feel

My legs. Even

it only confirms what he's

murmurs. "Wanting you became needing you. And needing you turned into

my eyes. I don't know if they're mine or his or

this apart, trying to

but it