Her Brother's Best Friend - Aching Hearts Series #2

Chapter 30 - We need to talk

CHAPTER 30 - WE NEED TO TALK

It was one of those days. One of those days when Emily was too busy distracting herself to consider time, therefore they wound up being late again, this time very much so, but it was a little on purpose.

Because, this way, at exactly 00.01 am, James could be standing in front of her door, smiling genuinely, while Emily leaned back against it, feeling weirdly okay, peaceful, and even flustered as he uttered two simple words: "Happy Birthday, Emily."

She would have managed a small smile and thanks, hadn't James leant down enough to place a small kiss on her left cheek. The very first hazardous contact after that kiss.

James had been nothing but a good friend/teacher, somewhat forwarding what Riley had left four years ago, making of her a secure, confident young woman, but James wasn't as much persuasive as her old special friend was.

All he could help with was make her feel less lonely and cheer her up a little. Just that. She was trying harder to be strong, and, maybe, James' help was essential. Not having her usual wall, that is.

Maybe she was doing all that in order to fix her heart, forget Riley – because, clearly, he'd forgotten her – or maybe she'd just realized that wallowing in misery served to nothing. It was probably Vanessa to give her that example.

The girl had been abused by her ex, she lived with the awareness that he would come back to seek revenge some day, and she had to endure seeing her boyfriend behind bars for her fault, yet, other than wallow in her pity party, Vanessa held her head high, had taken Gwen's insults without a word, had taken every blow, every criticism from their families when her liaison with Jason had been discovered, and she kept on fighting.

If Vanessa could endure all that, why couldn't she? Emily was aware that her best friend had a very strong nature on her side, but she could be as much of a fighter, couldn't she?

It was weird how things could change only in a month and a half, but they had, and Emily could sense that. She felt more fond of James, closer to him, but always in a friendly way – almost always. She felt slightly stronger, or at least more incline to fighting.

And maybe, if she had the slightest idea that that someone specific hadn't forgotten her for a single moment, she would have been even ready to wage war in order to get him back. If she'd known it was his psychotic ex to keep Riley from her, maybe Emily wouldn't have felt so disappointed, betrayed, hurt, and, maybe, she would have called him, talked to him, explained everything.

Well, not everything. Her issues with herself, those were best left unspoken. Only James and Vanessa knew about them, and it was better that way. Riley would change the idea he had of her, if he got to know. Then again, he'd entirely forgotten about her.

Maybe that's why Emily didn't feel too guilty when, after having checked that the lights were all off, she leaned in and let her lips press softly against her teacher's ones. He was taken aback, but not displeased. It took him a moment, but James deepened the kiss, moving his lips against hers, feeling his heart thumping inside his chest, as much as it did every time he was this close to Emily. It was insane, he couldn't be crushing on a student, but ... well, the heart wants what it wants, right?

He'd talked to Gwen, before she left for South America. He'd asked her why did she pretend they didn't know each other, and she admitted she didn't want her fiancé to inquire, James was confused, there was nothing to worry about, but she kept her idea. They'd caught up a little, but in the end, he'd come to a very simple conclusion: seeing Gwen again had been great, because now his heart felt entirely free. It had been a long time since he'd last thought of her, but sure is, that his relationships had been influenced by her, given how short they were, mostly because he feared being hurt again.