Todos os capítulos de She Was NEVER JUST MY BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND : Capítulo 11 - Capítulo 18

Serena left her fingers right on my cheeks, and was now looking at me like she had finally run out of places to hide.“Then tell me,” I whispered to her while turning my face right into her palm. Serena took a slow breath and shifted right against the pillows. “When you left for the university, I told myself that the distance should make everything easier.”I then watched her slowly while she was tracing the back of her hand with my thumb. “Did it?” I asked her, while I was afraid of the answer. Serena gave me a small shake of her head before meeting my eyes again.“It made me realize how much,” she disclosed while rubbing her thumb right across my knuckles. “Admitting why I missed you was another thing. I knew what Ethan would see if I crossed that line.”Serena stared down at our joined hands before moving on. “And every time I remembered who you were to Ethan, I reminded myself where the line was.”I pulled my hand back from hers. “No, right?” I repeated, staring at her, while Sere

“Maya, there’s something you need to know about Serena,” Ethan's voice of Ethan was quieter than it had been, and the words felt heavier.  My fingers remained locked around Serena while she was watching my brother from the couch, with her face suddenly stripped of the little amusement she managed to recover.  “What is it?” I asked, moving forward. My brother didn’t answer immediately, while Serena shifted against the couch cushion, pressing just one hand against her temple. Her movement reminded me that she was still injured, but Ethan's face told me that this was not about the injury.  Serena slowly reached for Ethan’s arm. “Ethan, don’t,” she said with her fingers resting right against his sleeve like she knew what he wanted to say. Ethan looked back at her hand, then looked back at me, and there was something in his expression. 

I stared at Serena waiting for the answer that her silence refused to give me. Her thumb moved across my knuckles, but her eyes remained fixed on mine as if she clearly knew what I feared. Claire was not outside our relationship anymore and I needed to know what that meant for me.“Unfinished means there is a discussion I should have had with her some time ago,” Serena asserted to me. She shifted carefully against the sofa. “It doesn’t mean I want her back,” I watched her face while looking for guilt instead of hesitation. “Then have it,” I said while forcing my voice to stay steady. “I am not going to ask you to avoid someone just because she had some history with you.” Serena’s voice had softened. In the conversation we had explained that Claire was not simply an ex who still appeared whenever she wanted. Claire had handled Velvet’s private events, bookings, guests, and arrangements for years, including while she and Serena were together, and that meant that the relationship ended

Serena’s words stayed between us as music still went on downstairs. My gaze remained on her, while trying to understand how she could ask me to build something that is meant for myself after she made me feel that being close to her was the only thing that mattered.My fingers were still wrapped to hers, but I had taken my mind somewhere else. “What exactly are you asking me to do?” I asked quietly, with Serena leaning back, protecting the stitches that remained above her eyebrow, while looking at me softly. “I am asking you to have a life that would belong to you, Maya, even if I am lucky enough to be part of it.”The answer from Serena somehow caught me off guard because I had expected her to convince me to accept Velvet. Rather, she was allowing me to want something that is outside the walls she had used her hand to build. I removed my hand and offered hers and rubbed my palms together. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had spent years running from my feelings for her without makin