Usually, Hayden treats me pretty well, so I figured he wouldn’t act any different with Demi, right?


    I mulled it over for a bit before deciding to head to Hayden’s room, waiting a good twenty minutes


    just to be safe. He’d told me to wait ten, probably because he needed to shower and change.


    When he opened the door, I wasn’t surprised to see his hair still damp and him dressed in loose


    clothes, hotel slippers on his feet.


    “Come in,” he said, as brief as ever.


    I immediately noticed hisptop open on the desk. Skipping the small talk, I went straight for it.


    “What’s the new issue?”


    “It’s in a document on the desktop. Open it and take a look,” Hayden replied, just as the kettle


    clicked off.


    I sat down and logged onto the desktop, expecting it to be all neat and organized, given his


    personality. But nope–it was a chaotic mess of documents and files.


    Good thing I’m not squeamish about clutter, or I might’ve passed out right then.


    Staring at the overwhelming sea of icons, I had no choice but to ask, “There’s so much stuff here.


    Which one is it?”


    “The one named YLC,” he replied.


    I started scanning the screen, but after all that drama I’d been binge–watching, my eyes were


    probably too tired to focus. I couldn’t find it after going through the icons once.


    “I can’t find it,” I said, turning to look at him.


    He was making tea–chamomile, with honey, judging by the smell.


    “Let me check,” he said, heading over. But just as he got close, his phone buzzed. He nced at


    the number and held up a finger. “Hang on a sec.”


    I nodded, using the break to search for the file again.


    While I was scanning through the mess of documents, he answered the call. I couldn’t catch the


    other person’s voice, but I heard Hayden’s sharp response: “We signed the contract. No changes,


    and no,pensation isn’t happening… Yeah, it’s non–negotiable.”


    He ended the call so fast, I hadn’t even made a dent in sorting through the chaotic jumble on his


    desktop.


    It wasn’t the number of files that was the problem–it was that every file name looked like random


    gibberish.


    Hayden returned with a cup of tea, cing it next to me. “This is for you.”


    “Thanks,” I said, but before I could even take a sip, I felt a sudden tension behind me. His arm came


    around me, almost like a half–hug, as he pointed at a file on the screen.


    “It’s right here.”


    His voice was low, rough, and dangerously close, the kind of voice that would send shivers down


    your


    spine. He was so near, I could practically feel his chin hovering over my head. If I even breathed too


    deeply, we’d be touching.


    His scent–clean soap and fresh shampoo–was dizzyingly good, making my pulse race like crazy.


    It was like my whole body went up in mes, every nerve on high alert…


    I froze, my limbs stiff, my brain short–circuiting…


    “Open it. I’ll exin,” Hayden said, breaking through my haze when I didn’t move.


    I fumbled with the mouse, trying to click on the file he’d shown me, but in my flustered state, I lost


    track of it.


    “This one,” he said, his hand covering mine, guiding the cursor to the right file and clicking it open.


    N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    The document popped up on the screen, but the text was a blur, my mind still reeling from how


    close he was. I couldn’t focus on a single word.


    It wasn’t until he asked, “You got it?” that I snapped out of it.


    “Nope,” I said, scooting away a bit. “Whoa, dude, personal space.”