The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 472

On Sloane's first day back at school, the bell rang, and before she could even walk out the door holding her textbooks, a figure barreled down the hallway like a hurricane.

"Sloane, you're finally back!"

Piper sprinted up to her, grabbing both her wrists and inspecting her from top to bottom. She circled around her, then stared intently at her face, examining her like a precious, recovered artifact for any cracks.

"I'm really fine now."

Sloane was getting dizzy from all the spinning. She reached out and grabbed Piper's shoulders, pinning the frantic girl in place.

Piper's eyes instantly welled up.

Her lips quivered as she held back for a few seconds before throwing her arms around Sloane in a crushing hug. She buried her face in Sloane's shoulder, her voice muffled, hoarse, and thick with tears.

"Sloane, I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry. You can yell at me."

Sloane was taken aback for a second before she smiled. She gently patted Piper's back.

"You silly girl, why are you apologizing?" She pulled Piper back and looked her up and down. "By the way, how are you feeling? Did you catch a cold after you got back? Were you scared?"

Piper quickly swiped her sleeve across her eyes, tilted her chin up, and snorted, shifting her expression faster than flipping a page.

"I wasn't scared at all! When I got back, I beat the living daylights out of those jerks! One punch, one kick, knocked their teeth right out!"

Sloane raised an eyebrow, not even needing to call her bluff before Piper glanced nervously at Josh, who had silently appeared behind them. She quickly added, guilty, "Oh, and Professor Jace rushed over to help me... help me beat them up! Right?"

His voice was so low that only she could hear it, the end of his sentence carrying a barely detectable tremor. "You must absolutely never scare me like that again."

Sloane felt a little breathless from his tight grip, but she didn't push him away. She raised her hand and patted his back, like soothing a large, startled dog. "I'm sorry, Josh. I was... just sleeping. I slept all day, so I didn't reply to your messages..."

Josh pulled back and looked down at her face, studying her intently for several seconds before a smile touched his lips.

"Yeah, I know. As long as you're okay."

He took her hand from his back, slipping it naturally into his own and lacing their fingers together.

His palm was broad and warm, calloused from his geological hammers. Holding her hand felt incredibly natural, as if he needed to verify her temperature and her pulse to prove she was really standing there.