Chapter 237

I suddenly felt a rush of confusion. “Wait, do you not want to anymore? Or—”

Before I could finish, he kissed me. It wasn’t a deep kiss, just enough to quiet my racing thoughts. After a moment, he whispered, “I want to.”

I laughed, feeling my cheeks flush. Hayden was flustered too; even with his tan skin, his ears were visibly reddening. We stood there, holding each other, silent. It was awkward, but neither of us wanted to let go.

So this is what they mean by love being disgustingly sweet—sticky and hard to pull away from. We both wanted to get closer, but neither knew how to make the first move. Were we really going to stand here all night? No way. My legs were already numb, and my back ached.

“So, uh…”

“Maybe we should…”

We both spoke simultaneously, making the moment even more awkward. Silence descended again as we scrambled for something to say that wouldn't worsen the situation. Then, my phone rang.

Hayden took a step back as I fumbled for my phone. Lena’s name appeared on the screen. Seriously? She rarely called, and she chose now? Perfect timing, as always.

“I, uh, gotta take this,” I said, leaning against my door.

“Yeah, no worries. Goodnight,” Hayden said.

“Goodnight,” I replied, spinning around and sticking out my tongue. My heart was racing; I’d been in relationships before, but this felt like the first time. Leaning against my door, I answered. “Hey, what’s up?”

“What took you so long? Don’t tell me you were up to no good,” Lena teased. She always knew what I was thinking.

I hesitated. “Actually, I have some good news.”

“Let me guess,” she said mischievously.

I grinned.

“Did you and Hayden finally make it official?” she asked.

“Yep, just now,” I said, still smiling.

There was a pause. I frowned. “What’s wrong? Weren’t you the one always pushing for us to get together? Why so quiet now?”

“I’m just calculating if I’ve got enough in my bank account for your wedding gift,” Lena joked, making me laugh.

“Oh, so you’re planning to hand over your entire fortune to me?” I teased back.

“Yep, but you better double it when I get married,” Lena retorted, making me roll my eyes.

“You’re such a schemer,” I said, feigning annoyance.

“It’s not scheming; it’s just how things are now. You probably don’t know this, but a lot of people aren’t getting married for love or forever anymore—they’re just trying to get back all those wedding gifts they’ve given out.” Lena’s words were shocking.

“No way. Who actually does that?” I scoffed.

“There’s this couple at my hospital who did exactly that. Got married last week, collected all the gifts, then divorced this week. Someone caught them on tape talking about their plan, and it went viral,” she explained.

I was speechless, staring at the ceiling, but my mind drifted back to the romantic gesture Hayden had made. “Maybe some people would do that, but not Hayden and me.”

“I know, you two are the real deal, all deep love and—” Lena’s voice was cut off by a new notification.

I glanced at the screen. It was a message from Cole.

[Crashed yet?]

I frowned, and another message followed:

[Going to see my dad tomorrow. Wanna come?]