Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina) novel Chapter 31

Uncommon Phobias

I’m exhausted, my body sore and tired, but I still get up in time for school.

I decide then and there to not think about Jake at all, every time his name even pops my head, I force myself to think about uncommon phobias.

I’ve ran through two of them today already and it’s barely 7am.

Cleptophobia: Fear of stealing

into

Mageirocophobia: Fear of cooking.

Alex and I used to go through lists of these, fascinated by them.

I lock the front door to my house and when I turn to start my walk to school, I gasp in

surprise.

Aiden stands there, leaning on the hood of his car with a smile on his face.

It’s his careless smile that lets me know he is still completely oblivious to what happened between Jake and I yesterday and the night before.

My heart pounds in my chest but I smile. It’s a genuine smile even if I did have to force it on to mask my shock of finding him there. “Aiden, what are you doing here?”

He shrugs, wrapping his arm around my waist. He kisses me slow, careful and with a gentle swipe of his tongue. I get butterflies in my stomach, which I’m so glad he can still

ignite.

“I missed you yesterday. Are you feeling better?”

Siderodromophobia: Fear of trains or railroads.

I nod, feeling just a bit bad for having to lie to him about feeling sick. “Much better.”

He smiles down at me, “I wanted to give you a ride to school.”

He opens the passenger door for me and I climb in, setting my bag on the floor. “You didn’t have to. It’s really not that far of a walk from here.”

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8:20 pm

Uncommon Phobias

He shrugs as he starts the engine. “I don’t mind. I got you some coffee, too.”

I look down at the cup holders, two coffees in the middle. Something sparks in my chest and my mouth parts. I can’t remember the last time anyone had ever gotten me something at all. “You got me coffee?”

His eyes widen slightly. “Do–do you not like coffee?”

I smile, my lips trembling, my hands shaking as well as I take the coffee cup. “No, I do, it’s just…thank you.”

“I was thinking about you all morning, just wanted to see that smile on your face again,” He leans toward me and presses a kiss to my lips.

I smile wider, the butterflies in my stomach going wild. “How was your day yesterday?”

He drives, his attention on the road. “Boring. Practice was tough. We have a big game

tonight.”

I sit up at that, taking a sip. “I’m finally going to see you in action?”

Placing a hand on my thigh, he chuckles. “Yeah.”

There’s tension in his face and I tilt my head to get a better look at him. “Is everything

okay?”

“I’m nervous,” He squeezes my thigh.

“Why?”

“There’ll will be scouts at tonight’s game and I’m suddenly worried that I want to impress

them.”

I lay my hand on his and set my coffee down, leaning toward him to pepper kisses on his bicep. “You’ll do amazing.”

“You’ve never seen me play,” He mutters playfully between closed lips.

ས་

He barks a laugh, turning into the school parking lot.

Haphephobia: Fear of being touched.

I groan, tightening my hold on his arm. “Are you serious?”

“I think we can, coach has some reservations, but I think we can. It’s my first year as captain, I want everyone to see that I wasn’t the wrong choice.”

I frown, suddenly aware of how much pressure is on his shoulders and even more so about the amount of doubt he has for himself. “Hey, you’ll do amazing. I know it.”