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

Chapter 697 Chapter 697 Chall

The second I brought up my dad, Wayne clammed up. Guess it's hard to chat when your dad's the reason mine's

gone.

"There will never be meatballs I like in this world again," I said, staring down at the meatballs Xander had made. I tried to sound casual, like I didn't care, but my brain was screaming, 'Don't blow this! Don't let Wayne catch on about Xander. Because now? I knew. Xander was Hayden. The disguise, the secrecy-it wasn't random. He had a reason. Whatever it was, I just had to roll with it for now.

"Rea, I'm really sorry about your parents." His voice dripped guilt, but his face? Ugh, it was all fake pity, like he thought that'd fix anything.

It didn't. If anything, it made my stomach twist, but I just smiled tight and said, "It's not your fault."

He gave a bitter smile. "You're... so kind, Rea."

Yeah, kind enough to almost forgive his family once. Key word: almost. I'd learned better. No way I'd let that slide

-not now, not ever.

convo before I snapped, so I grabbed my drink-pumpkin spice milk. One sip, and it was this perfect blend of sweet and warm,

Better than Hayden's ever was. And when he finally stops pretending he's not Hayden, I'm totally gonna ask if he spent his fake-dead

back, even with Wayne's

he asked, like he'd been hanging on to

talking," I said, licking a little pumpkin spice milk off the

tiny move was way more seductive than I realized because Wayne's eyes darkened. He swallowed -twice

shocking; he'd been pretty obvious about his interest. My gut reaction was to turn him down, but after a second, I reconsidered. I'd been stringing him along lately, and tossing him a little hope now and then

smile stretched wide. "What do you feel like

pick,"

stepped into the office but backed out

caught on. "I'll get going, then. See you

he left, I exhaled a huge sigh of relief and

whole container. And honestly, I was sure I

message from Ron: [Didn't seem like a good time to

Ron-blunt but perceptive. I didn't bother answering. Instead, I tried calling Demi. No dice; her

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