Ron invited me to dinner, and it hit me–Hayden had mentioned the exact same thing earlier when I


    was getting my blood drawn.


    At the time, I thought he was just messing with me, trying to distract me. Turns out, he wasn’t


    kidding.


    “It’s Mr. Shane?” Hayden asked, like he already knew.


    “Yeah,” I said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Did you tell him to ask me?”


    Hayden was Ron’s boss, so it wouldn’t take much for Ron to follow orders.


    Hayden frowned a little. “No.”


    I shot him a sarcastic smile, totally convinced he was covering his real identity.


    “He told me in advance,” Hayden added, trying to rify.


    But was that really it? I wasn’t in the mood to dig deeper. Free dinner? I wasn’t about to pass that


    up. I smirked. “I said yes. Youing too?”


    “Yeah,” he replied, in that ssic Hayden way. Seriously, if someone made a list of his most–used


    words, yeah” would totally top it.


    But then he dropped the line that made me roll my eyes: “I don’t make a habit of letting my girlfriend


    have dinner alone with another guy.”


    ssic Hayden, always a little possessive.


    Yuna, who’d been silently watching us like she was front row at a rom, started grinning. Her


    eyes flicked back and forth between us, totally fangirling.


    “Hayden, you’re so sweet. You’re really sweet to Keira,” Yuna said, all sincere and starry–eyed.


    Hayden just shrugged, like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Of course.”


    Yuna turned to me with a smirk. “Keira, Hayden’s smoother than the guys in romance novels! I


    didn’t see thating.”


    She probably thought his whole tough, quiet vibe meant he wasn’t the type to throw around sweet


    lines. “Never underestimate the quiet ones,” I teased, thinking about how Hayden still hadn’te


    clean about who he really was. “If we were in a war, Hayden would definitely be a top–tier spy.”


    The guy could hide his true identity like nobody’s business.


    Yuna giggled. “A spy? Where’s thating from? You’re totally going off on a tangent.”


    She was too young to pick up on the deeper meaning behind what I said.


    Hayden gave her a light tap on the head. “You’re on your own for dinner tonight. What do you want?


    I’ll make it before I go.”


    Yuna, staying in her VIP hospital room, wasn’t shy about her demands. “I want fish.”


    “Fish it is,” Hayden said, then turned to me. “It’s hot outside, and you just got better. Stay here with


    Yuna,


    or go hang out with Lena.”


    Original from N?velDrama.Org.


    “Thanks for being so thoughtful. Oh, and don’t forget to bring us both boba,” I added with a grin,


    noticing how Yuna’s eyes lit up.


    “Passion fruit vor!” Yuna chimed in excitedly.


    I smiled and added, “I’ll take the mango yogurt one.”


    “Keira, is that good? Maybe we can share,” Yuna said, the ssic boba–obsessed girl.


    What she didn’t know was I ordered it with her in mind. I wasn’t that into boba myself, but she loved


    it.


    “Of course,” I grinned, then looked at Hayden. “Thank you in advance.”


    With that, Hayden headed out, and Yuna immediately leaned in, inching closer to me. “Keira, it’s like


    a romance novele to life with you and my brother.


    She waspletely smitten by the whole thing.


    ”


    I smiled softly. “But you know, in novels, the leads also go through a lot of ups and downs.”


    “No way! You and Hayden will only have sweet moments and a happy ending–no breakups, no


    heartbreak,


    she insisted, her face glowing with that idealistic view of love.


    Her innocence made sense; she was still so young. I used to believe the same thing–thinking my


    story with Jace would be all sunshine and fairy tale endings, too.


    Yuna’s face grew serious. “Keira, is something wrong? Did you and Hayden fight? Did he do


    something to upset you?” Her sensitivity kicked in, her worry showing on her face.