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

sudden felt a weight settle against the arm of the chair. I looked up and Aria was sitting over me. She had a warm, comforting gaze looking down at me. She didn’t say anything, but just sat there with her arm around me. Maybe it was just because I’d always kept a distance from Aria, but I never realized how calming her presence was.

Throwing caution to the wind, I leaned my head against her stomach and let her console me. She rubbed my back gently and I suddenly felt like I understood some of what made Tristan and Arden adore her.

“I’m here for you, whatever you need,” she said quietly. “Even if just what you need is to steal my boyfriend.”

I snickered a little. “Thanks Aria.”

Tristan sucked his teeth as he walked into the room, but then smiled. “I’d be more upset that you moved if I wasn’t so happy at what I’m seeing.”

I gripped onto Aria, keeping her from moving. “I kind of get why people like snuggling with her.”

“She’s the best at snuggling,” Tristan said, not pressing the issue and instead sitting down on the couch and setting my drink on the table next to me.

“Actually Aria, there is something you can do for me,” I said.

“Anything,” she replied.

“Can you tell me, how’s Arden?”

Aria furrowed her brow. “He didn’t tell you?”

I shook my head. “Tell me what?”

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted to share, so I just told her you got bad news,” Tristan said

Aria's expression went from comforting to sad. “Arden just called me a little bit ago. She’s moving up leaving for New York.”

My jaw dropped. “What? Like before your graduation party?”

“Yeah,” Aria said sadly. “She leaves a week from today.”

26

Arden

It wasn’t often that I felt relaxed in my bedroom at my parents’ house, but packing to move out while Aria sat DJ-ing our jams from my bed was probably as close as I was going to get. She had her foot propped even though the sprain was mostly gone in the time that had passed since her accident—the bigger concern was her concussion.

She bopped her head to the music as I pulled clothes out of my dresser and folded them into the huge, military grade bag I’d snagged from a thrift store. “Not too much boppin’ over there,” I said. “Don’t headbang yourself into another concussion.”

She laughed, but rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Promise me you’ll let me know if you need anything. I don’t have much in the way of pain meds, but we have tylenol if your leg hurts too bad,” I said.

“Arden, I’m fine. I drove here and my leg was fine, so I think I’ll be okay just sitting here,” she replied. “You just worry about getting everything you need. Once you get on that plane tomorrow, your room is going to be burned and cleansed with holy water, so you can’t afford to leave anything behind.”

I let out a loud, hyena laugh. “It’s funny because it’s true.”

Every now and again, I would look over to see how Aria was doing and see her watching me sadly. I felt a little selfish with the knee-jerk reaction that I’d made, but after things went haywire with Hannah, I couldn’t stand to stick around any longer than I had to. Things had gotten weird and distant between Suli and I ever since Aria got hurt—even though I didn’t blame her, it was a painful dose of reality for her. She suddenly was hit with all of her transgressions over the course of our relationship and had taken to calling me a ‘child’ every time we spoke. Without her to distract me, and Aria and Tristan still very much in a relationship where crossing paths with Hannah was likely, I had no choice but to leave.

Still, I could see that Aria was disappointed. Not only was I going to miss her graduation party after promising I’d be there, but it also meant that I was shaving our time together before I left short by a whole three months.

“Aria,” I said. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, I told you already, I’m fine.”

“Not the injuries,” I said. “About me leaving.”

“Oh.” She got a painfully sad expression on her face. “I’ll be okay. I mean, I’m sad that you’re leaving, and I’m gonna miss you, but Tristan said we can maybe take a trip to come and visit you later this summer. I’m bummed, but I’m also so excited for you.”

I knew that Aria felt conflicted. She never intended for me to end up with a broken heart because of Hannah, but she didn’t want me to give up on Y.I.I.P. either. There wasn’t really an ideal solution to the problem, but I knew she didn’t intend for me to get the hope that I was going to be with Hannah only to have it snatched away.

“I’ll do my best to try and come back for your party,” I said.

She shook her head because she and I both knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it. “No. It’s okay. I know that you’re going to be busy getting ready to get started and learning the city. Plus, hopefully you’ll be able to sort of clear your mind.”

“That’s necessary,” I replied.

“And, you’ll actually remember to eat and sleep and do the typical human stuff you need to live?” she asked.

I fluttered my head side to side. “We’ll see.”

“No, Arden,” she barked and I laughed, even though I wasn’t really kidding. Ever since ending things with Hannah, those were things I just wasn’t really all that interested in doing. “Come, sit. Take a break.”

I recognized that tone of voice. Aria was training to become a counselor at the homeless shelter she worked at and was going to college for social work. Due to the fact that it was her everyday life, she would occasionally get this soft, counselor-esque tone of voice and I could tell she wanted to try and “unpack” me a little bit.

Still, I was