All Chapters of When Best Friends Kiss: Chapter 181 - Chapter 190

**RORY'S POV** Todd's entire body went rigid, his jaw clenching so tight I could see the muscle twitch beneath his skin. His hands balled into fists at his sides, knuckles white with tension. The air in the room suddenly felt charged, like the moment before a storm breaks. "I'm going to kill her," he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. Before I could react, he was already striding toward the door, his movements sharp with barely restrained fury. My heart lurched—I had never seen Todd like this. Not even when Jason had broken his favorite guitar senior year. "Todd, wait—" I scrambled after him, catching his arm just as his fingers wrapped around the doorknob. He turned, his blue eyes blazing. "Rory, let go." "No!" I tightened my grip, my pulse hammering. "You can't just storm out like this!" "Why not?" he snapped. "She *lied* to you. She *manipulated* you. She showed you some—some *video*—" He cut himself off, his breath coming hard, like the words were choking him. "D

Todd’s phone call was brief, his voice devoid of the usual friendly cadence he reserved for mutual friends. “Sarah. We need to talk. Now. I’m at my place. Come over.” He hung up before she could formulate a protest, his jaw set in a hard line.We didn’t speak much while we waited, but the silence was companionable, a shared breath before a difficult dive. Todd busied himself by pacing the length of the living room, but he always circled back to me on the sofa, squeezing my hand or resting a palm briefly on the back of my neck. His physical presence was an anchor, a quiet affirmation of the pact we had just made.About twenty minutes later, a sharp rap on the door announced her arrival. Todd met my eyes, a question in his gaze—Ready? I gave a short, shaky nod. He stood, pulling me up with him, and opened the door.Sarah stood on the threshold, her expression a careful blend of confusion and mild concern. She was dressed impeccably, a perfect portrait of sympathetic innocence. Her eyes

(TODD’S POV)My bones were tired snd screaming ro me but here j was in the gym room again, lifting weightsIt was bevause I did not have much to do snd I really wanted to keep busy. Staying idle was ruining my mind and making me feel crazy. I. Cant. Stop. Thinking. Of. Rory.“Okay Thats enough!” A familiar voice hissed at me and I returned the barbells before sitting up and breathing heavily.Maddie.She was looking at me with the most disapproving look on her face but it was also mixed with an undeniable look of pity.She cleared her throat and came towards me making sure tjat she was directly in front of me so that she looked directly at me.“What ks wrong with you?” She asked waving her hand over me. “If the girl makes you so restless then you need to find a way tk fix whatever is going on.”“I just came for a workout Maddie. It’s better t.” I said with a grumble reading for my water bottle and ignoring what she was saying.She was looking at me but avoided her gaze as I drank wat

Todd’s hand finally settled gently on my arm, his thumb stroking a small, repetitive pattern just above my elbow. It wasn't a demanding touch, but a comforting one, grounding me after my tearful declaration. He looked down at my hand resting on his arm, and then back up to meet my eyes, a deep, painful sincerity replacing the confusion.“Thank you, Rory,” he said, his voice barely a rasp. “Thank you for giving me this chance. And for telling me what actually broke your heart.”He took a slow, deliberate breath, visibly bracing himself, before removing his hand and stepping back to sit on the edge of his worn armchair. He gestured for me to take the spot on the sofa opposite him, and I did, needing the slight distance for the coming confession.“Okay,” he began, resting his forearms on his knees, his gaze fixed on the ground between his feet. “The truth. All of it. From the beginning, from my side.”The Bet and The Aftermath“You’re right. The bet was stupid, childish, and awful,” he s

The silence at Sarah’s apartment was a living thing. It wasn’t the empty quiet of my own place, which always seemed to hum with Todd’s potential presence next door. This was a thick, woolen quiet, broken only by the distant hum of the refrigerator and the soft sigh of Sarah’s cat, Eliot, curling himself around my ankles. The pull-out sofa was as promised—made up, impersonal, a perfect neutral territory.I placed the box of memorabilia on the coffee table but didn’t open it. It sat there like an unopened verdict.For two days, I lived in a bubble of mundane tranquility. Sarah brought me tea and asked no questions. I read a novel cover to cover. I took long, aimless walks through her neighborhood, where the trees and street signs held no memories. The initial, searing pain of the betrayal began to cool into a dull, constant ache, a bruise I could press on to test its presence.The box waited.On the third morning, with weak winter sun filtering through the blinds, I finally lifted the l