Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina) novel Chapter 212

All or Nothing–2

The morning air is warm as I collapse into one of the patio chairs, curling my knees to my chest. I bite down on the inside of my cheek, willing myself not to cry. The last thing I want is for any of them to come out here and see me like this.

To see how much it’s tearing me apart.

The door creaks, and it’s Aiden that’s making his way toward me.

He doesn’t say anything at first. He just walks over, sits beside me, and without asking, pulls me gently onto his lap. His arms wrap around my waist.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers into my hair, his lips brushing my forehead.

I let myself fall into the warmth of him.

“I didn’t know he broke up with you,” he murmurs.

I shake my head. “It just happened.”

“Why?” He tightens his arms around me.

I close my eyes, swallowing against the knot in my throat. “Zaid thinks I’m using you all to ignore what’s going on in my life.”

Aiden’s breath slows, and I can feel the way his muscles tense under me.

“We were in the middle of something. He asked me to wait before we…before we got intimate again. He said we needed to talk first. That I needed to deal with things a bit and

not bury myself in distractions.”

Aiden doesn’t say anything, but I feel the subtle shift in his breathing. He’s listening hard

now, the way he always does when something matters.

“I didn’t want to talk,” I whisper. “I didn’t want to think. I pushed. He pulled back. He said no, and I got upset. I left. And I went to you.”

The silence that follows is so thick it feels like it’s pushing down on my chest.

“I knew what I was doing. I knew it would hurt him. But in that moment, I just didn’t

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want to feel.”

Aiden exhales slowly, like he’s trying to breathe around something sharp. He shifts me just enough that I can see his face. His eyes are soft, but there’s something wounded in them, too.