Chapter 364

Ron invited me to dinner, and it struck me—Hayden had mentioned the same thing earlier, while I was getting my blood drawn. At the time, I thought he was just teasing me, trying to distract me. Turns out, he wasn't kidding.

"It's Mr. Shane?" Hayden asked, as if he already knew.

"Yeah," I said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Did you tell him to ask me?"

Hayden was Ron's boss, so it wouldn't take much for Ron to follow orders.

Hayden frowned slightly. "No."

I offered a sarcastic smile, completely convinced he was being evasive.

"He told me beforehand," Hayden added, attempting clarification.

But was that truly the case? I wasn't in the mood to delve deeper. Free dinner? I wasn't going to pass that up. I smirked. "I said yes. You coming too?"

"Yeah," he replied, in that classic Hayden way. Seriously, if someone made a list of his most-used words, "yeah" would definitely top it. But then he dropped the line that made me roll my eyes: "I don't make a habit of letting my girlfriend have dinner alone with another guy."

Classic Hayden, always a little possessive.

Yuna, who had been silently observing us as if she were front-row at a rom-com, began grinning. Her eyes darted back and forth between us, completely enthralled.

"Hayden, you're so sweet," Yuna said, sincere and starry-eyed. "You're really sweet to Keira."

Hayden simply shrugged, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. "Of course."

Yuna turned to me with a smirk. "Keira, Hayden's smoother than the guys in romance novels! I didn't see that coming."

She probably assumed his tough, quiet demeanor meant he wasn't the type to utter sweet nothings. "Never underestimate the quiet ones," I teased, considering how Hayden still hadn't revealed his true identity. "If we were in a war, Hayden would definitely be a top-tier spy."

The guy could conceal his true identity like nobody's business.

Yuna giggled. "A spy? Where's that coming from? You're totally going off on a tangent."

She was too young to grasp the deeper meaning of my statement.

Hayden lightly tapped her head. "You're on your own for dinner tonight. What do you want? I'll make it before I go."

Yuna, ensconced in her VIP hospital room, wasn't shy about her demands. "I want fish."

"Fish it is," Hayden said, then turned to me. "It's hot outside, and you just got better. Stay here with Yuna, or go hang out with Lena."

"Thanks for being so thoughtful. Oh, and don't forget to bring us both boba," I added with a grin, noticing Yuna's eyes light up.

"Passion fruit flavor!" Yuna chimed in excitedly.

I smiled and added, "I'll take the mango yogurt one."

"Keira, is that good? Maybe we can share," Yuna said, the quintessential boba-obsessed girl.

What she didn't know was that I ordered it with her in mind. I wasn't that into boba myself, but she loved it.

"Of course," I grinned, then looked at Hayden. "Thank you in advance."

With that, Hayden left, and Yuna immediately leaned closer. "Keira, it's like a romance novel come to life with you and my brother." She was completely smitten.

I smiled softly. "But you know, in novels, the leads also go through a lot of ups and downs."

"No way! You and Hayden will only have sweet moments and a happy ending—no breakups, no heartbreak," she insisted, her face glowing with an idealistic view of love.

Her innocence made sense; she was still so young. I used to believe the same thing—thinking my story with Jace would be all sunshine and fairy tale endings, too.

Yuna's face grew serious. "Keira, is something wrong? Did you and Hayden fight? Did he do something to upset you?" Her sensitivity kicked in, her worry evident.