Behind Closed Doors (New Version)

Chapter 84

Jenna's pov

I'm lying in bed, scrolling mindlessly through Instagram, feeling the soft weight of the blankets cocooned around me. The house is quiet, except for the faint sound of Liv working out in the gym downstairs. Every now and then, I hear the muffled thud of weights hitting the floor, a reminder of how committed she is to keeping her routine. It's something I've always admired about her—the discipline, the drive, the focus. But right now, my focus is elsewhere.

I keep scrolling, tapping through people's stories. Some mundane updates, a couple of vacation snaps, and a lot of motivational quotes, the typical fluff that fills my feed. I'm barely paying attention, my thumb flicking up the screen automatically. That is, until I see Gabriella's name pop up. There's a slight jolt of curiosity, almost reflexive, and without thinking too much about it, I tap her story.

Her face fills my screen—she's smiling, bright-eyed, looking effortlessly gorgeous as usual. The kind of smile that could light up a room. I feel a little flutter in my stomach as I watch, and I can't help but linger on the image longer than I probably should. My thumb hovers over the screen for a second, before instinctively, I tap to go to her profile.

Her page loads, and I start scrolling through her pictures. One after another, all of them showing different snapshots of her life—dinners out, vacations, candid moments with friends. But there's this one specific photo that makes me stop scrolling.

It's a full-body shot of her wearing a black dress that clings to her figure in all the right ways. The dress stops mid-thigh, showing off her long, toned legs, and her hair is down, spilling over her shoulders in soft waves. She looks stunning, like she always does, but there's something about this picture that has me staring longer than usual.

In the second photo of the set, she's turned around, looking over her shoulder with a playful smirk, holding up a peace sign. I notice the way the dress hugs her curves, and—without meaning to—my eyes are drawn to her ass. The fabric clings just right, and I feel my breath catch a little in my throat. My lips part slightly, and I realize I'm biting my bottom lip without even thinking about it.

There's another photo of her sitting at a table, holding up a glass of wine, her smile radiant as ever. She's surrounded by friends, but all I can focus on is her. I don't realize how lost I am in these pictures until my mind starts to wander into dangerous territory. "Gabriella is so fucking pretty", I think to myself, almost like I'm admitting something I've been trying to avoid acknowledging.

I start scrolling through more of her pictures, each one making it harder for me to pull away. My heartbeat quickens as my eyes trace every detail of her face, her body, her smile. It's not like I haven't noticed how attractive she is before, but something about today feels... different. The way I'm looking at her, the way I'm lingering on each photo, analyzing every little thing—there's something more to it.

And then, out of nowhere, this idea pops into my head. A thought, fleeting but persistent, and it catches me off guard. "What if..." I shake my head almost immediately, my cheeks heating up as I realize where my thoughts are going. "No, Jenna". I quickly try to shut it down, forcing myself to snap out of it.

I feel guilty. Why am I even thinking about her like this? It's not like me. Gabriella is Liv's friend—"our" friend. She's been nothing but kind and supportive to both of us. And yet, here I am, alone in bed, practically fantasizing about her.

I toss my phone onto the bed beside me, rubbing my hands over my face in frustration. "Ugh," I mutter under my breath. I just need to get off my phone.

The temptation to scroll back and look at her photos again is too strong, and I know if I don't distract myself, I'm going to fall right back into that dangerous line of thinking. I need to refocus, reset, so I grab the book I've been reading from the nightstand and flip it open to the page where I last left off.