Chapter 689

"Come and eat," Xander called.

I didn't move, just watched him as he set the table. "Come on, give it a taste," he coaxed.

+25 BONUS

Under the soft dining room light, he looked so much like Hayden. The way he moved, the way he stirred the soup earlier-everything about it was familiar.

You can fake a lot of things, but those tiny habits? The stuff you don't even realize you're doing? That's harder to fake.

So... Xander had to be Hayden, right?

That thought pulled me to my feet. I walked over and stopped behind him. Before I even knew what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around him, resting my face against his back. His body tensed, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he said softly, "The food's ready."

"You're Hayden, aren't you?" I whispered.

Xander didn't say a word.

Imoved around to face him, gently grabbing his shoulders to turn him toward me. "There's no one else here, just us. You can tell me the truth. Please... tell me you're Hayden. Okay?"

"I'm not," he said, his voice cutting through the fragile hope I'd been holding onto.

"I'm Xander," he repeated.

I let go

like Hayden. Even the way you stir soup with your left hand, three

bitter smile. "A coincidence. Such a

11

dining chair, stabbed a piece of roasted zucchini with my fork, and took a

it immediately. "What's wrong? Is it bad? Too salty?

answer right away. The issue wasn't the flavor. The zucchini didn't taste

So, he wasn't Hayden.

me to the edge of hope and doubt, over and over, until my emotions were rubbed raw. "Hm?" Xander prompted again,

down the fork and

again," he said,

I called

whip up something else," he insisted, like he had to prove

+25 BOWS

Chapter 689

know you can," I said. "But save it for

him, and for some reason,

get another

if he really wanted to stay in my

he stirred it-three times, with his left hand-was exactly like Hayden. Maybe it would taste like him,

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