All Chapters of Dear best friend's brother, kiss me while you can: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆ I woke up tangled in him, my cheek pressed to warm skin—Hayden’s chest rising and falling under my ear like a slow, dangerous heartbeat. For a moment I thought I was dreaming. That the taste of him on my tongue, the bite of his hands on my hips, the bruise on my throat—all of it—had been some fevered hallucination. But his palm was splayed over the back of my neck, heavy. His thigh tangled between mine. The sheets smelled like us—salt, sweat, and sex. My lashes fluttered open, lashes brushing the crook of his shoulder. Oh dear God! Tell me this wasn’t happening. My eyes darted around. This was the penthouse. I remembered Jake was here. What the fuck really happened last night? How did Hayden even get here? In my bed? I felt sick. I couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but somehow, I felt alive. And starving for more. I breathe in. Needed to gather my thoughts. Maybe Jake was away, yeah? That seemed like the only reasonable explanation to why Hayden was nex

☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆Jake’s voice sliced the air. “Choose. Right fucking now, Summer.” He punched the wall so hard I felt it in my bones. Choose, Summer. Choose. The word jammed a blade under my ribs and dared me to breathe. How do I fucking choose between my best friend and his brother?I loved Jake. I always had. He’d been my best friend since the day I stepped into Saunterville, wide-eyed and lonely, and he made the world feel soft. How do I bury that? I couldn’t. I just couldn’t let him go.And Hayden. God. Hayden. I was in love with him. Too deep into him to claw my way out now. How do I kill that? My lips parted. Nothing came out. The room blurred behind my tears—white walls, glass windows, Hayden’s breath burning my neck from behind.Jake took one broken step closer. His knuckles were scraped raw where he’d hit the wall—or maybe his own head, I didn’t know anymore. His eyes gleamed wet and red and wild. My heart dropped like a bomb.He was right. Hayden ruined everything he touche

☆☆𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕☆☆“Alone?” He repeated it like he’d never heard the word before. His hand found my cheek. His warmth spread through me, sending a shiver down my spine. “Hey, nugget… you don’t need to be alone right now. Why would you want that?”I flinched when his thumb stroked under my eye—a smear of salt I hadn’t felt falling. He caught every tear like it was currency.“You think I’d let you sit here and drown in that pretty head of yours? All alone? No, Summer. I’m going to take care of you. That’s what you need.”I shook my head, throat closing. “Please. Just—”Hayden’s mouth brushed my temple. “No. No more please. You don’t have to beg me for space I can’t give you.”His hands slid down my arms. He pulled me in until my forehead hit his chest, steady and solid and wrong. His arms wrapped around me in a warm embrace. I hated how I breathed him in–woody cologne, cigarette. And somehow, I felt a little better. His arms tightened around me.“You’re gonna eat,” he murmured i

☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆Dad said he was just checking up on me. He’d been trying my line but I wasn’t picking up and he called Jake. He wasn’t answering either. I told him my cellphone was broken.I missed him. I missed Keith. I missed Jake most of all—his laugh, his stupid protective questions, the way he used to look at me like I was good. I broke him. I broke everything.Hayden didn’t let me sit in it. He wouldn’t let me lock myself in that dark place where I felt Jake’s heartbreak like it was stitched under my ribs. He made me watch movies with him—stupid cartoons, then something sad about a dog dying. I cried so hard my throat hurt. I wasn’t crying for the dog.Hayden still wouldn’t let me cry for long. He’d wipe my tears away and feed me more ice cream. He’d stroke my hair and rest my head on his shoulder. By the time evening came, a new phone arrived for me. Hayden set it on the coffee table. I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick it up.He said, “Now you don’t have an excuse not to answer w

☆☆𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕☆☆Professor Priya’s voice drifted over the lecture hall—crisp, clear, every word slicing the hush like paper. She’s at the podium clicking through slides about neural circuits and decision fatigue: “the brain’s limited bandwidth,” “cost-benefit trade-offs,” “risk vs. reward.” All words I should care about.But the words wouldn’t stick. They slipped through me like water through a cracked cup. My mind’s gone rogue—skittering circles like a rat in a maze. I tried to focus. I really did. I gripped my pen tight enough to bruise my fingers, fixing my eyes on the slides flicking by.Who was that girl? What did she mean? How did she even know Hayden? Who was Hayden’s girl before me?The questions were a hook buried in my throat. She didn’t even say goodbye. She just dropped her bombshell and vanished like she was never real. Who was she, really?I shouldn't care at all. Maybe she was just trying to stir something inside me against Hayden. Whatever it was with Hayden