She Stole My Comic Ending And My Crush Chapter 17

She Stole My Comic Ending And My Crush Chapter 17

That beginning had always made me feel exposed and ashamed.

I wanted Adrian-to know a version of me who was brilliant and composed, not the child he found bruised and

terrified beside the road.

I waited another year before finding an excuse to contact him online.

I used a regional Math Olympiad problem as the opening and pretended I only wanted to compare solutions.

“Does it still feel humiliating now?” Miles asked.

I shook my head.

“Now it only feels unnecessary.”

There was no reason to tell Adrian anymore.

Miles stopped walking, and I turned back in confusion.

“If he no longer feels necessary,” he said, “then maybe you could look at me.”

My breath caught.

“We were never together, but when you rejected me, it still felt like a breakup.

“I went to London because distance was the only way I knew to break the habit of hoping.’

“You didn’t end up with the person you loved. So could you turn around now and see the person who still loved you?”

The streetlight softened every edge of his face.

The sadness I carried from the old memory disappeared beneath the sudden, frantic beat of my heart.

“I…” I forced myself to breathe. “I think we’re better as friends.” \

Miles stepped closer before I could finish.

The words died in my throat.

His voice remained gentle, but for the first time, it carried the uncompromising force other people often

described.

“Don’t reject me yet,” he said. “Please.”

People said Miles was easygoing until a principle mattered. Then he became decisive, direct, and impossible

to move.

I had never seen that side of hun.

AM

Before I could answer, he took one step back and restored the distance between us.

His smile turned playful. For the sake of my dignity, can you wait at least a little while before rejecting me again?”

The tension broke.

I smiled too. “All right.

“I’ll wait a little while.”