Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina)

Chapter 241

Chapter 241

Zaid and I are standing side by side at the terminal, watching the people flow in and out of the gate like waves.

I'm trying not to fidget, but I bounce on the balls of my feet, anyway. I focus just a tad bit too much on my breathing, making sure I don't look like I'm about to cry. I look at Zaid. He's doing nothing out of the ordinary.

He's calm, like always. Quiet. Looking through the people. He looks so relaxed too, and it occurs to me that he's really happy to see his brother.

He wasn't just sugar coating it for me. That helps the nerves settle in my stomach.

I thought it would be worse. I was up all night last night thinking I would feel like my stomach weight thirty pounds. That I would feel dread. That my skin would feel too tight and I'd have a thousand thoughts running through my head.

I mean, I'm going to break up with him. I'm supposed to create space between us, let him go gently. It was a clear decision. Clean. A plan I could hold on to.

So why does my chest feel light when I see him?

He's so tall that he stands out from the crown immediately. He smiles at us from

over

people's heads and I wave at him like I haven't seen him in ages.

He has a backpack slung over his shoulder, an easy casualness to him.

And then I'm moving.

Feet first, like they don't belong to me. Then arms. Then everything.

He opens his arms and pulls me into him like he's done a thousand times. He lifts me off the ground and spins me around. I smile to myself, that familiar feeling of elation rushing through me.

I forget about guilt for a second. I forget about confusion. When he sets me down on my feet, his lips are on mine before I can stop him.

My body reacts before my mind does, melting into him. My arms loop around his neck. It

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all comes rushing back.

was the first friendly touch I had in Arizona. When I felt alone, when everything hurt, he was the first person who didn't make it worse. When I pull back, breathless, it's only because I remember Zaid is here,

is approaching us. He has a soft smile on his face, hands tucked

no anger. No tension. No jealousy.

arm slides casually around my waist as

to see you,

"Good to

smile so wide as I watch

down at me

"Missed you," he murmurs.

missed you too." I don't know what I mean when I say it. Maybe I'm lying. Maybe I'm not.

Zaid looks over his shoulder at Aiden, who still has his arm around my waist.

"Fuck, yeah. I'm starving."

falls into an easy routine, just as if

seat, Aiden stretching his legs in the back, teasing Zaid for driving too

a booth at the diner, round and red and curved like it belongs in the '90s, I've stopped trying

just want to enjoy the moment while

of the booth,

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between them, and somehow everything feels normal. Like no decision ever needed to be made. Like this is

too fast and burn my tongue. Zaid makes a face and swaps his mug with mine without a

this drama up. If I just imagined the distance. The discomfort. If I'm so scared of something ending that I keep trying to break it before it

to talk to Cami, or Elena, or both. Because what is wrong with me? Why do my emotions have no anchor? Why does every

that brings me out

and I both look

got a full ride to UCLA," he says, beaming.

I blink. "Wait, really?"

he nods.

something inside me

is," he says, and I can tell he

Aiden," Zaid says,

“།

going to

Aiden grimaces.

I think we