As I listened to Tanya and the nurse chat, I found out she’d taken a nasty fall at the amusement park earlier today, messing with her pregnancy.

In the end, something did happen to her. But really, who was she gonna blame? ‘You reap what you sow fits her situation perfectly.

After the nurse got her IV set up, Tanya and Jace sat down right across from Hayden and me.

It was clear Jace wasn’t about to let this go tonight.

At first, he didn’t say anything, just glared in our direction.

Hayden and I acted like he didn’t even exist. But we both knew he wasn’t gonna stay quiet forever.

Sure enough, barely two minutes passed before Jace spoke up, his voice dripping with accusation. “Rea, what’s the deal with bringing him back to my home tonight?”

I’d already guessed he was gonna lose it over what happened this evening, and he just proved me right. I stayed calm, my face blank. “It means I’m starting a new life”

Jace let out a scoff, his eyes flicking disdainfully toward Hayden.

“Yes, with him,” I placed my hand over Hayden’s as I spoke.

nb him?”

Jace let out a bitter laugh. “You’ve been turning red at the ears every time you lie since you were a kid. When you fix *that* habit, maybe I’ll start believing you!

Crap. I had actually forgotten about that. His comment made me want to touch my ears, but I forced myself not to.

If I showed any sign of being flustered, this whole fake thing with Hayden would come crashing down.

Jace kept staring at me, a smug smile creeping onto his face. The look screamed, ‘Rea, I’m not buying any of this.

“Her ears turn red when she’s mad too,” Hayden chimed in.

Jace shot him a death glare, like, ‘Who the hell asked you?

But Hayden’s words were a lifesaver. He was right–my ears totally turned red when I got pissed, so I didn’t need to freak out.

But wait… how did Hayden even know that?

We hadn’t known each other that long. Had he really picked up on something so tiny?

If so, he was more observant than I gave him credit for

“My ears are red right now because you make me mad I said calmly.

Jace’s anger flared, but instead of going off, he sneered “You’re just doing this to piss me off ‘cause you know, no matter what, you’ll always be my girl.”

Wow. Seriously?

+25 BONU

The whole “my girl” thing was so cringe, and the way Tanya’s face turned bright red made it obvious she felt totally humiliated.

Just as I was about to snap back, Hayden grabbed my hand. Before I could even process it, he kissed the back of it.

The warmth of his lips spread across my skin.

Jace might’ve thought he had the last word, but Hayden’s move? Way louder. And yeah, I knew Hayden was just playing along with our whole fake thing, but still, the feel of his lips left this warm, lingering sensation that had my cheeks totally heating up.

Hayden’s boldness only made Jace more pissed. He shot up from his seat, but Tanya grabbed his arm, stopping him halfway. She looked up at him, eyes filled with tears. “I just want to finish my treatment in peace. If you don’t wanna stay, I’ll pull out the IV myself.”

She actually reached for the IV like she meant it, and Jace immediately stopped her.

Her tears fell, each one hitting the floor with this heavy, dramatic weight.

It worked. Jace instantly calmed down: This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.

Right then, the nurse came over to remove Hayden’s IV. He was finally done.

Hayden stood up, and after sitting for so long, his shirt was a little wrinkled. Without thinking, I reached

me with his stare.

out and smoothed it down, all too aware that Jace was still drilling holes into?

If I really wanted Jace to get over this twisted idea that I still loved him, I had to do something drastic. So, I made my move.

Grabbing Hayden by the collar, I pulled him down and, standing on my tiptoes, pressed my lips to his.