He Chose His Old Crush and Lost Me Chapter 18

He Chose His Old Crush and Lost Me Chapter 18

What Jake didn’t know: Elena had messaged me before she left the country again.

Lily, I’m sorry. I had no idea I was hurting you. And I swear – I didn’t know about you two until I met

you in person.

I believed her.

She said Jake had lied to her too.

She said she could see it, clear as day-that Jake actually loved me.

The Jake at seventeen-broken and insecure-had a quiet crush on Elena. But the Jake at twenty-five fell in love with Lily. He just didn’t know it yet.

I read it, deleted it, and wished her a safe flight.

She didn’t know that fifteen-year-old Lily had also nursed a quiet crush on Jake for years.

I understood that feeling better than most.

But the Lily of today knew one thing for sure: love requires honesty. It requires choosing one

person and meaning it.

A while later, Alex somehow found out about Jake and me.

They got into a real fight. A bad one. They barely spoke after.

I told Alex he didn’t need to go that far. Whatever happened between Jake and me-that was

between us. It shouldn’t ruin their friendship.

Alex knocked me on the head, hard.

“You’re my sister. He’s nobody. Anyone who messes with my sister isn’t my brother anymore.”

I dropped it.

When I walked out of the house, Ethan was leaning against his car, that crooked grin on his face,

waving me over.

I’d said yes. I’d give him a shot.

We’d try. See how it went.

We were still young. What was the worst that could happen?

Maybe, just maybe, it would turn out well.