All Chapters of Boys Like Him: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Sunday came quietly but not with the kind of aching anticipation I'd spent the first two days drowning in.Work helped.The salon was alive from the moment we opened. Mariah and I slipped into rhythm like we hadn't been out of sync at all, moving around each other with ease, bumping shoulders, passing brushes, finishing each other's sentences without trying.And for the first time in days, I breathed.We even laughed.Really laughed."Have you seen her Instagram?" one of the girls whispered at some point, barely containing her giggles.Mariah snorted. "Don't even start.""No, seriously, she's wearing a scarf indoors now."That did it.I laughed, the sound surprising even me."Serves her right," Mariah muttered under her breath, shooting me a quick look like she was checking if it was okay.It was.God, it was.For a few hours, Brianna became a joke instead of a wound. Lloyd became...Blurry. Like something that had happened in another life.I worked harder than I ever had, washing, sty

I was curled up on the couch, textbooks scattered around me, a half-empty mug of cold coffee at my side. I'd forced myself to study, work, and keep my mind occupied, and now my eyelids were heavy when I heard a knock. I froze, staring at the door, telling myself it couldn't be him. He wouldn't. Not after... I didn't even finish the thought.I rose slowly, every step heavy with suspicion and dread, and cracked the door open, and sure enough...His hair was a mess, eyes dark with exhaustion."I... Nyelle," he started, voice soft, almost hesitant. "I... can we talk?"I slammed the door with all the force I could muster, or at least that was my intention, but he managed to wedge his foot in just in time, halting my attempt. My hand trembled with pent-up rage, and a fiery heat surged through my chest, making it feel as though I might explode. "Oh, so now you want to talk?" I spat, bitterness lacing my words. "After everything? After you made it abundantly clear just how little I meant to y

He kissed me with an intensity that took my breath away, the force of his lips igniting a storm of emotions within me. The rawness of his touch, coupled with an urgency that spoke of longing and desperation, shattered the walls I had built around my heart. Each doubt, each lingering resentment, every painful memory morphed into the electric sensation of his hands tangling in my hair, his mouth moving against mine with a fierce determination, and the weight of his body pressing closely against me. "I know," he whispered, his breath warm against my lips, his voice low and filled with a trembling urgency. "I know... and I promise, I won't let this slip away again, not without you understanding every part of it. You belong to me, Cherry. Only to me."In that moment, all the emotions surged within me. The relentless push and pull, the heavy guilt intertwined with a desperate longing, the sweet manipulation I had been fighting against for the past two weeks, all crashed over me like a powe

Things had never been better since the last fight.This time around, there was less of the casual hooking up that had defined our earlier days, instead we spent more time actually being together.We spent evenings wrapped up in each other, laughing over Indoor games that turned competitive in seconds, him cheating to get a rise out of me, and that crooked grin flashing when I called him out. Date nights that weren't even planned, we'd just end up somewhere, laughing too loud, sharing food off the same plate like we were normal.And the nights...God, the nights were different.Lying on his bed, with my head on his chest, and his arm draped over me. The TV glowing in the dark, with basketball games playing while he talked"See that?" he'd murmur, fingers tracing lazy patterns on my arm. " That's all it takes to dunk when one is unprepared."He would explain the game plays with such passion and knowledge, his voice deep and engaging, that I couldn't help but get caught up in the excitem

The bathroom door burst open.I looked up, startled.Mariah stood there, breath uneven, eyes wide-taking me in all at once. Her expression broke."Oh my love..." she whispered.She crossed the distance in seconds and dropped to her knees, pulling me into her."Shhhh... you're alright..." she murmured, her voice soft but firm.I clung to her.Fingers digging into the back of her shirt, face buried into her shoulder as everything spilled out again. The crying came harder this time, uglier. My body shook against hers, breath hitching, breaking, catching on nothing.I couldn't stop.I didn't want to.I smeared tears, mucus, everything into her shirt without thinking, caring, or even noticing until it was already done.She didn't pull away, flinch, or complain.She just held me.One hand pressing gently against the back of my head, the other rubbing slow circles into my back, over and over.Until eventually... There were no more tears left.Just shallow breaths and a hollow ache where eve