Page 128 of Redeeming Heart

“He is the best thing that happened to you,” She couldn’t deny it because it was obvious and true.

The smile on her face told me that she agreed.

“I’m not saying you must follow in my footsteps, but don’t turn your back on him or ignore your intuition. He can turn into the guy that you let get away and what I’ve learned from my own experience is that the world moves on. It is not going to wait for you to catch up.” She carried on informing me that my decisions now will forever change my life.

I was a floating corpse when I met Brandon and he helped dug me out from my bad place by being a friend and someone I subconsciously needed since my mom’s passing.

“I can’t lose him as a friend, Jaylin.” The fear of losing him haunted me every night.

“I can’t start to imagine if things don’t work out between us…I won’t survive if I have to lose someone after my mom…”

When my mom died, I felt all alone as she left me behind with people who moved out of my life.

Brandon was the first to break through the sealed doors of my heart and made it beat again.

“Take the rush, Sasha. It’s worth it. Let him in, go on dates and let him show you what love feels like. It’s scary but beautiful at the same time. Failure can rip out your heart, but it can also make you rise.”

“What if I am not what he expects?”

“I’m still new to all of this. I am a virgin, unexperienced and quite shy, but at the same time bold enough to kiss and not wanting it to end.”

“You are afraid of the next step,” She noted.

“Making love is the next phase of a relationship and what if I am not ready for that step, but he is.”

She shook her head at me. “A relationship doesn’t exist only of sex. It’s more than that. It’s trusting each other, supporting one another through a difficult time while jealousy wants to consume you and it’s just being there for the other.”

“I don’t know Brandon—so, I can’t speak for him, but by what you’ve told me last night he seems like a good guy who won’t force you into things you are not ready for.”

“I trust Brandon more than I trust myself,” I admitted.

“He pushes me to follow my instincts and somehow got me out of that dark hole I was stuck in. He’s funny and we have this connection only we understand.”

“And here you are still doubting things?’ Jaylin noted.

I jerked at Jonah who jumped to his feet cheering so loud I was sure he woke everyone up. At first, I thought it had to do with eavesdropping on our conversation, but then my eyes found Brandon’s team celebrating on the ice when they won the game.

Jonah surprised me when he tackled me with a hug and shook me out of joy.

I chuckled at his silliness and playfulness—embracing him as well.

We were celebrating their win when everything around me came to a halt as I watched Ashley embrace him with a hug and a kiss on the lips.

It felt as if the world underneath my feet was trembling and ready to swallow me whole.

I didn’t realize that everyone’s cheering came to a stop and that they were staring at the screen with wide eyes.

I just felt Jaylin’s hand on my shoulder and saw Jonah looking at me speechless as I was.

“What an asshole,” He grumbled and I thought about lecturing him, but I didn’t have the strength.

“Guess, he doesn’t need me after all,” I pulled away from Jaylin and went up to my room.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

How did I get myself into this mess? Between strangers shooting paintballs at each other, diving and ducking for coverage acting like we were a bunch of soldiers on a battlefield.

The trees barely helped protect you from getting shot and most of the obstacles were taken by the opposing team.

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