Reincarnated as an Ugly Step Sister

Chapter 37

The kiss only lasts a few seconds but my stomach erupts into butterflies. When Nicholas pulls away he has a soft smile on his face. "You don't know how long I've waited to do that," he says softly. Then he stands and starts packing his clothes away, in the same casual "nothing groundbreaking just happened" way.

I stay frozen on the bed, watching him and trying to ignore the feeling of desire that's rising in me. To my relief, the door opens and Chase walks in.

"Chase, thank god you're here," I say without thinking.

"Why? Last time I checked you were all embarrassed," he says with confusion.

"Oh right. But we uh... needed help reaching something up high," I say. We can't tell Chase about our conversation if we want to pretend nothing happened.

"Oh, what did you need help reaching? There's nothing on the shelves," Chase says.

"Right, it was a spider. Gone now I guess," Nicholas says. We glance at one another and I get butterflies in my stomach again.

"Let's pack up and leave," I suggest. When I'm riding my horse I'll have time to comprehend what just happened.

We leave half an hour later. Luckily we didn't unpack very much but we did have to buy some breakfast and lunch at the tiny grocery stand beside the inn. There wasn't much variety since the supplies were mostly payment from farmers transporting their goods.

I'm filled with relief when we finally get moving. Unfortunately, Chase wants to talk to us for some bizarre reason. "So, call me crazy but you two have been avoiding eye contact all day. You think I wouldn't notice that and the weird energy in the room after my bath? What's going on, did you also see Violet naked?" Chase asks Nicholas.

Nicholas shakes his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, right Vi?" He looks over to me and I glance at him, my eyes pleading for him not to tell Chase about us.

"See, now you're looking at each other but it's still weird. Just tell me what's going on."

"Like Nicholas said, we have no idea what you're talking about," I say, turning my gaze to the road.

"Fine, just know I don't believe you," Chase tells us.

Finally the silence I'd hoped for falls over the group.

HOLY SHIRT. NICHOLAS HAS FEELINGS FOR ME. AND WE KISSED. AND I TOLD HIM I CAN SEE THE FUTURE. AND WE KISSED.

Once I've recovered from my mind exploding, I try to figure out what to do next. We were in such a good place and now things will be all awkward. If he doesn't act weird around me I'll know it's because he's trying to charm me. It's all so awful and confusing it makes me want to scream.

Part of me is saying that it will never work. I am a side character, one who ruined his happily ever after. He is sophisticated and good looking and the sweetest person I've met in my lives. I don't even know what forks to use at dinner, I may look better than I used to but I'm still not Disney beautiful, and I lie constantly. Plus, he may be giving up his life goal for me.

On the other hand, he may be giving up his life goal for me. I can't deny I have feelings for him and he's so amazing. Also, that kiss.

But what about Chase?

Chase? Why am I concerned about him? I've definitely felt feelings for him too. The times he was open and vulnerable with me especially. As much fun as I have joking around with him, there is another side of Chase that makes my heart flutter.

But this isn't about Chase. This isn't about excuses to be with Nicholas. I need to focus. How can I save our friendship? No amount of writing in a notebook could help me figure out this mess. My mind looks like one of those mystery solving boards with red strings that detectives would use on tv. What I need is someone to talk to. And the only person I want to talk to is Cinderella.