Invisible To Her Bully (Jessa and Noah) novel Chapter 227

Chapter 227

Jessa

I woke up warm.

Not warm like my room at home, where the heater always rattled like it was fighting for its life.

Warm like… safe.

The Carter guest room smelled faintly like laundry detergent and something cinnamon–y, like Mrs. Carter had baked something yesterday and the whole house still carried the memory of it.

For a second, I forgot where I was.

Then I blinked.

Then I remembered.

Snow day.

Blizzard.

Noah.

My stomach did that stupid flip it had been doing for weeks now.

I sat up slowly, the comforter slipping down my arms, and turned my head toward the window.

And-

Oh.

Outside was white.

Not messy white. Not slushy road white.

Perfect white.

A thick blanket of snow covered everything like the world had been gently erased overnight. The trees in the backyard wore heavy frosting on their branches. The Carter’s fence was almost buried. The street beyond looked untouched, quiet, peaceful… like nobody had dared disturb it yet.

It was beautiful,

So calm.

So unlike my brain.

Because the second I let myself breathe, my thoughts went exactly where they shouldn’t.

Or maybe… where they naturally would.

Last night had been…

Soft.

Sweet.

Noah’s hand on my waist.

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Chapter 227

His lips against mine.

The way he kissed me like he meant it.

Like he wasn’t rushing.

Like he wasn’t proving anything.

Just… wanting.

I pressed the back of my hand to my cheek, which was already warming.

God.

If his parents hadn’t been home…

If it had just been me and Noah…

Alone.

Really alone.

My heart started pounding like it was offended by the thought.

Because we’d kissed before.

We’d kissed plenty.

And lately, kissing Noah didn’t feel like something new anymore.

It felt like something I craved.

It felt like something I looked forward to.

Like my body had started to recognize him before my brain could even catch up.

And last night…

We’d been on the couch.

His arm around me.

My head on his shoulder.

His mouth brushing mine again and again, slow enough that it made me dizzy.

Innocent.

Mostly.

But not entirely.

There had been moments-

Little ones-

Where his hand lingered a second longer.

Where my breath caught.

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Where I wondered if he could hear how loud my heart was.

Where I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking.

Would we have gone further?

Would I have let myself?

The thought made my stomach twist, half nerves, half something else entirely.

Not fear.

Not regret.

Just… curiosity.

Heat.

Possibility.

I pulled the blanket tighter around myself like it could hide the blush creeping up my neck.

Because the truth was…

I liked him.

I liked being kissed by him.

I liked the way he looked at me like I wasn’t a joke or a rumor or someone people had to explain.

I liked the way he made me feel normal.

And wanted.

And maybe that was what scared me most.

Because this was the first time in my life that I could even imagine being alone with someone and not feeling ashamed of it..

Not feeling like I didn’t belong in the story.

I looked back out at the snow.

The world outside was quiet, frozen, untouched.

And inside me, everything was loud.

I could still hear his voice from last night.

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