All Chapters of CRAVING THE BAD BOY: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

Ariana POVThe screenshot loaded slowly on my phone. And the second it became clear, my stomach dropped. It was a picture of me and Nick outside the diner last night. Not blurry this time. Not distant either. The person who took it had been close enough to capture every detail clearly.Nick’s jacket over my shoulders. His hand resting lightly near my waist. The way I was looking at him. Worst of all, the caption underneath the post read: Guess the campus prince moved on before the ring even came off. My chest tightened painfully. Nick noticed my expression immediately. "What is it?"I handed him the phone silently. The second he saw the picture, his jaw hardened. Then his eyes moved to the comments. And somehow his expression became even darker. People were arguing underneath the post already. Some defended us. Most did not. Laura deserves better. She stole him. Nah, look at the way he’s staring at her. This whole thing was definitely happening before the breakup. "I’m going to lose

Ariana POVThe screenshot stared back at me from my phone screen while thunder rolled softly outside. Ashley: He told me he was confused, not in love with someone else.My chest tightened instantly. Underneath the message sat older texts from Nick. Not recent. But recent enough. The apartment stayed dark except for flashes of lightning outside the windows and the faint glow from my phone screen. Rain hit the glass harder now, turning the city outside blurry and gray.Nick noticed my expression immediately. "What is it?"I looked up slowly. "Who’s Ashley?"Confusion crossed his face first. Then recognition. Then something that looked dangerously close to frustration. "You’ve got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath.My stomach twisted painfully at his reaction. Because guilty people usually reacted like that in movies. Nick moved slightly closer. "Ariana, let me see." I handed him the phone silently. The moment he read the messages, he exhaled sharply before rubbing his han

Ariana POVThe moment Nick said Laura’s name, tension returned instantly. He stared down at his phone with an expression I could not fully read. Not anger this time. Something closer to concern. My stomach tightened. "Is she okay?" I asked quietly.Nick looked up immediately. "I don’t know."That answer somehow made everything worse. He unlocked the phone again, rereading the message carefully before running a hand through his hair. "What did she say?"Nick hesitated briefly before answering. "She wants to see me."I swallowed slowly. "Right now?"He nodded once. Rain still hit the apartment windows steadily while silence settled heavily between us again. Part of me immediately felt guilty for even being here while Laura was probably hurting somewhere alone. Another part of me hated the sudden fear crawling into my chest.Because no matter how much Nick reassured me lately, Laura had history with him I could never compete with. Nick noticed my expression instantly. "Ariana."I looked

Ariana POVThe drive to the hospital felt endless. Rain still covered the roads while headlights blurred past the car windows in streaks of white and gold. Nick drove faster than usual, one hand tight on the steering wheel while the other kept checking his phone every few minutes.I had never seen him this anxious before. Not even during the chaos online. He barely spoke during the drive. And honestly, I did not know what to say either. Everything felt heavy now. Bigger than jealousy or rumors or complicated feelings. Laura was in a hospital somewhere because she collapsed alone on the side of the road.Nothing about that felt dramatic anymore. Just terrifying. "Did they say if she’s awake?" I asked quietly.Nick shook his head once without looking away from the road. "They said she was conscious for a few minutes when paramedics arrived, but then she passed out again."My chest tightened painfully. I looked down at my hands while guilt slowly crawled through me again. If none of this

Ariana POVThe second Laura’s mother saw me standing beside Nick, the temperature in the hallway seemed to drop. Her expression hardened instantly. Not confusion. Not surprise. Pure anger. "Mrs. Bennett," Nick started carefully.She ignored him completely at first. Her eyes stayed locked on me while she walked closer, heels striking sharply against the hospital floor. I suddenly felt eighteen years old in the worst possible way. "So it’s true," she said coldly.The disappointment in her voice hit harder than yelling would have. Nick stepped forward immediately. "This is not the time."Mrs. Bennett finally looked at him then. "No," she snapped quietly. "The time for honesty was months ago."The tension between them filled the hallway instantly. I looked down briefly, guilt twisting painfully inside my chest again. Because no matter how complicated things really were, I understood exactly how this looked from her side.Her daughter was upstairs in a hospital bed carrying Nick’s baby whi