His Regret, My Revenge

Chapter 3 – Her 18th Wish

I used to believe that turning eighteen would make me feel different.

Like I’d wake up with glowing skin, perfect confidence, and a new version of me who didn’t flinch at every hallway whisper.

But the truth?

It was just a number.

I was still me. Still Aria Storme. Still hiding my excitement behind a blank expression, pretending like I wasn’t counting down every hour, every second until Saturday.

The day he said he’d take me out.

The day I thought something real might finally begin.

My phone buzzed.

Knoxx Montero:

Pick you up at 4. Wear something warm but cute.

I reread it five times, biting the inside of my cheek like a fool in love.

He called me cute.

Me.

I stood in front of my mirror that morning wearing three different outfits, then switching them again. I wanted to look effortless. I wanted him to see me. Like really see me.

And maybe I wanted to give him something more than just a kiss.

I know what people say about girls like me. Quiet. Naïve. Easy to manipulate.

But I wasn’t stupid. I knew what I wanted.

And I wanted him.

I wanted the butterflies. The touch. The skin-on-skin heat that all my books talked about.

I wanted to choose when and who I gave my first time to.

And I wanted it to be Knoxx.

Not because of the stars in my eyes.

But because he made me feel like I wasn’t invisible.

When I stepped into his car that afternoon, he looked at me like I was someone worth watching.

“You clean up nice, Storme,” he said, eyes trailing down my coat to the skirt I’d carefully picked.

I smiled. “Thanks, Montero.”

We didn’t say where we were going, but I didn’t care.

I was with him. That was all that mattered.

⸻

We ended up at a quiet bonfire on the edge of a cliff near Westlake — where the city lights kissed the horizon and the sky looked like velvet. Some of his teammates were there, and a few girls I didn’t know well.

That’s when I saw her.

Tiffani Delgado.

She was loud. Loud enough to make up for my silence. Her nails were sharp, her lips red, and her eyes? All over Knoxx. She didn’t even hide it.

When I sat beside him, she laughed under her breath.

“What’s she doing here?” she muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. “Is this charity work or something?”

Her friends snickered.

Knoxx didn’t say anything.

But he did lace his fingers through mine.

And just like that… the world fell quiet again.

⸻

Later that night, we walked away from the others. Just the two of us.

The wind was cold but his jacket was warm on my shoulders.

“You ever been kissed before?” he asked me, his voice low.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Wanna change that?”

I looked up at him. My heart pounding. My lips dry.

“Yes.”

So he kissed me.

Soft, slow, and then deeper. And in that moment, I forgot every cruel laugh, every hallway stare, every voice that ever said I wasn’t good enough.

He made me feel wanted.

And for the first time in my life…

I wanted to give myself to someone completely.

Maybe it was stupid.

Maybe it was reckless.

But I knew what I wanted.

I wanted him.

Before my eighteenth birthday ended… I wanted to give him everything.