Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 141

Noali

I didn’t know why my palms were sweating.

+25 BONUS

Okay, that was a lie – I knew exactly why. Jessa Lombardi was sitting in my passenger seat, wearing a red sweater that was slowly rewiring my brain chemistry, and we were on an actual date.

I pulled into Benny’s – because apparently I am a simple man who panics and defaults to familiar places and french fries.

But also… Benny’s was ours now.

A weird little landmark in whatever this thing between us was becoming.

Jessa looked around as we parked, nerves flickering in her eyes.

“Benny’s?” she asked softly.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Safe zone. Public enough that you don’t feel trapped with me… but not crowded enough to panic.”

She blinked – surprised. “You thought about that?”

“I think about a lot when it comes to you.”

Her cheeks flushed so fast I almost called 911.

Cute emergency. Casual heart attack. Whatever.

We walked inside. The familiar smell of fried food and syrup felt grounding.

A waitress who’d known us since we were kids pointed at a booth. “Sit anywhere, sweethearts.”

Sweethearts.

The universe had jokes.

We sat. My knee brushed hers accidentally, and we both pretended we didn’t notice while absolutely noticing.

I grabbed a menu even though I’d ordered the same exact thing since middle school.

“So what do you want?”

She peeked up over the laminated edge. “Do I have to get a salad so people watching think I’m-”

“No.” My voice came out sharper than planned.

I softened it. “Order whatever makes you happy. I want fries. If you want fries too, hell yes. If you want pancakes, hell yes.”

She smiled

–

a relieved one. “Fries sound good.”

1/5

Chapter 141

“Fries and milkshakes,” I said, like it was law.

“Strawberry okay?”

Her lips twitched. “You remembered?”

“You made me try one once. It messed me up.”

“You liked it.”

“I did not like admitting you were right.”

S

She laughed quiet, musical, sweet.

I wanted to bottle that sound and keep it.

Once the waitress left with our order, silence stretched – but not heavy.

Just… nervous edges and something bright underneath.

Jessa traced a pattern on the table with her nail.

“So,” she murmured. “This is a date.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “It is.”

She didn’t look up. “Feels weird saying it out loud.”

“It feels like I should’ve asked you sooner,” I admitted. “A long time ago.”

Her head snapped up. “High school torture era? Really?”

*** +25 BONUS

I winced. “Okay, fair. But somewhere between you telling Jackson to go choke when you were fourteen and the bonfire, I… noticed things.”

“What things?”

Her voice barely a breath.

“That you weren’t a background character just because you acted like one,” I murmured. “That you’re funny. And stubborn. That you show up for people even when they don’t deserve it.”

I swallowed.

“That you grew up when none of us were paying attention. And suddenly I couldn’t not see you.”

She stared at me like she didn’t know how to hold that many words at once.

The waitress brought milkshakes.

Bless her for saving me from spontaneously combusting.

Jessa took a sip. “Okay, your turn.”

2/5

Chapter 141

1 blinked. “For what?”

“Embarrassing childhood question to make this fair.”

“Jackson dared me. I thought I looked like an X–Men character. I looked like a traffic cone that joined a cult.”

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