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

Chapter 457

My chest tightened. "Alright, what time tomorrow?" I asked.

"Not sure yet. Just keep your phone close," Hayden paused, then, more casually, "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I ate with Jace," I replied, totally innocent, no hidden meaning behind it.

There wasn't any reason for him to think otherwise. After all, he's the one who had Jace looking after me. Sure enough, Hayden didn't make a big deal of it. He just moved on. "What did Jace say about Steve?" "He said he's working on getting me in to see him, but nothing beyond that," I replied, keeping it simple. "Jace knows Steve's teammates pretty well. He might be able to get some leads from them," Hayden added. I didn't say anything, and he didn't push it. Silence settled between us. It felt strange-this had never happened during our calls before.

I broke it, glancing out the window. "It's raining here. Like, really hard."

"I can hear it," Hayden said, and that's when I realized I'd had my phone facing up the whole time. He wasn't even looking at the rain or me, just the hotel ceiling.

"Hold on, let me show you." I tilted the phone toward the window.

"I'd rather see you," Hayden said softly, his voice direct.

a second before I teased, "Well, you made me mad, so as your punishment, you

before he replied, "Yeah... I deserve

it really a

with me. We didn't talk after that. Almost an hour passed, and my body started feeling stiff from sitting too long. I stretched out on

you end the

your voice is enough," Hayden said, hitting

to get all soft.

tired?" Hayden

really tired, just... exhausted," I said as I

video call, but almost immediately, my phone buzzed again. Of course,

it and saw the message:

1/2

+25 BONUS

Chapter 457

I locked my phone and shut

again. I figured it was another message from