I Love You More Than I'm Afraid (Our Forevers #2) by Rebel Hart (the first e reader .txt) 📕

stepped back with a smile. “There. Good as new.” She set her hand on my cheek and gave me a little pat. “Honestly. Don't mess up such a pretty face. These are our money makers, you know?”

I forced a smile. “Thanks. Sorry.”

"Come on." She wrapped an arm around me and pulled me towards the bathroom exit. “I’m meeting Milton for dinner. Join us, my treat. Forget about those dorks.”

The bathroom door gave under Ceradi's hand, swinging out, and when it got open enough, I saw Tristan standing on the other side. He had all his baseball gear on, but given the time, he was definitely late for practice. I thought he’d gone straight there, escorted by Aria, but she was nowhere around. Tristan had a panicked look on his face.

“Hey,” he said right away.

“Ugh,” Ceradi hissed. “What do you want, you nerd? Shouldn't you be somewhere committing bestiality?”

Tristan totally ignored her, stepping towards me. He reached out his arms for a hug. “Are you okay? A bunch of people said they saw you run in here crying. I walked Aria to her car when I thought I heard you yelling.”

Ceradi threw her arm in front of me and scoffed at Tristan. “Don’t try to come and play hero now. Where were you when she was being abused by your pet’s pet?”

“Did something happen with Arden?” Tristan asked. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not with you!” Ceradi answered for me before hugging me close. “Her real friends are taking care of her now. You're dismissed.”

There was concern and disappointment all over Tristan’s face, and it reminded me why I adored him so much. I didn’t quite know why it was easier to stay by Tristan’s side than it was to stay by Arden’s. It wasn’t because Arden meant less to me, but Tristan did mean a hell of a lot. After everything he and I had been through, I couldn’t imagine just abandoning him.

I pulled myself out of Ceradi’s hold, but smiled at her. “Thank you for sticking up for me. I’ve got it from here, but I’ll call you later, I promise.”

“No more ignoring me,” Ceradi simpered. She stepped towards Tristan, but he just disregarded her, so she flipped him off before walking around him and eventually out of sight.

“Glad to see she’s still a ball of fun,” Tristan grumbled.

The way she carefully and sweetly redid my makeup popped into my mind. “Nah. She’s okay.”

“If you say so,” Tristan said, then he wrapped his arms around me and dragged me into a huge, comforting hug. I set my head on his chest and breathed in his familiar cologne, the smell soothing me instantly. “Are you okay? What happened?”

I shook my head. “I don't really wanna talk about it.”

Tristan released me and looked down at me with a frown on. “Sure. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you know… I’m here, if you need to talk. I feel bad that my relationship has forced so much discomfort into your life. That wasn’t my intention.”

“No, no, no,” I said. “It’s not your fault. It’s…just complicated. Like I said, I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

Tristan looked disappointed. I had been careful about not opening up to him too much about Arden or… sexuality. It just wasn’t something I was comfortable discussing, even with him. The problem was that things were already strained between us because he was dating Aria. Not talking things out with him wasn’t helping, but there wasn’t much I could do.

“Let me walk you to your car,” he said, reaching out to try and take my backpack from me.

I tightened my hand around the strap and refused to let him pull it. “It’s okay. I got it. I know you’re late, so…”

“You used to let me all the time before, even if I was late, what’s the difference now?”

He had this dopey, innocent expression like he honestly didn’t get it, and it was heartwarming. I didn’t really have an answer for him, other than ever since he started dating Aria, letting him do things like carry my bag for me or walk me to my car just felt weird. That was the kind of stuff people who were romantically involved did for one another. Even if Tristan and I were close like that when we weren’t dating, at least we were both single then. Intimate stuff was reserved for real couples.

I wished Aria and Arden understood that too.

Still, Tristan was giving me puppy dog eyes, and I hadn’t been making much of an effort in our friendship lately. Aria wasn’t around, and neither was anyone else for that matter, so one quick time should be fine.

I relinquished my hold on my bag and Tristan grew a smile as he pulled it from me. We were totally quiet, but again, it wasn’t awkward. Just like with Ceradi in the bathroom, it felt nice to just have a calm moment with someone who hadn’t given up on me.

When we got to my car, Tristan opened the front door so I could get in, then he shut the door and opened the back to put my backpack in. I started up the car and rolled the window down, and Tristan leaned a little into the window.

“Hey. Let’s have dinner after I’m done with practice. You need some fun. My treat. We can go to that French bistro you like.”

“You don't have to do that,” I said. “I heard you making plans with Aria earlier. Don’t worry about me. I’m gonna go home and get some sleep and be right as rain tomorrow.”

“I’ll cancel with Aria,” he retorted. “Even if you don’t want to talk about it, I’m still your best friend and know when you need to be spoiled a little.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “You’d really cancel with Aria?”

His grin got even jollier. “Of course! If you need me, I’m gonna be there for you. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t?”

For some reason, knowing