Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right by Rosie Steppe

Chapter 265

Hayden let me turn his face any way I wanted and kept going, "Do you know what you said back then?"

"I don't know, and you're totally making this up," I protested, refusing to believe I'd been that shameless as a kid.

"You said it was like stamping a seal on me. That after you kissed me, I was yours. And when you grew up. you'd marry me. You even made me promise not to marry anyone else." He paused for dramatic effect, then suddenly leaned down, bringing his face closer to mine.

"Kiki, I've followed your orders. I'm in my thirties now, and I've never been in a relationship. Never liked another girl, never even held another girl's hand. I've waited for you all this time, so you've got to take responsibility for me," he said, sounding so earnest and pitiful that I felt guilty just hearing him.

I always thought Jace was my childhood friend, but now I realized I was wrong.

Hayden was my real childhood sweetheart-the one who, despite the little time we'd had together, managed to leave a mark on both our lives.

But I was too young back then, so all those sweet memories only stuck with Hayden,

"Alright, I'll take responsibility," I said, tilting my head up and standing on tiptoe to lightly bite his jawline.

He let out a soft grunt, and I teased, "I'm leaving a deeper stamp this time, so any girl who thinks about liking you will know to back off."

a smile tugging at his lips. "Still as bossy as

Bossy? Was I really?

too soft-hearted, especially with the Johnstons. Unless it was something I really cared about, I usually just went along with what everyone else wanted. Hayden had given me a whole new glimpse of my childhood. Even if

we actually caught a good

little," Hayden said so casually that I knew everything he'd told me before had to be true. Because I did love fish, especially Mediterranean baked fish-just

parents had their accident, my mom had promised to make

they never

I stopped eating it altogether. Matthew, Lindey, even Jace and Wayne thought I

Hayden knew I loved

"Okay!" I agreed.

+25 BONUS

Chapter 265

that moment, I felt a strange

of her love and a way for me to remember her. Knowing someone else remembered it too felt like a sign from her, like

over me.

version tasted almost exactly like hers-so

learned how to make it from his mom. His mom had grown up by a lake and knew all