Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

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I just smiled. “In my next life, I’ll be born as their daughter. Then we can actually be real siblings.”

Wayne’s smile wavered, but he quickly nodded toward the gnocchi. “Eat a little more. You’ve been losing weight.”

“Okay,” I replied, digging into the gnocchi in front of me.

Wayne kept watching me the whole time. I finally had to stop when I was too full, so I sipped on some soup instead.

“Jace still cares about you,” Wayne said, trying to sound casual. “He even made cucumber soup for you, pretending it was from my mom.”

I forced a small smile. “Better late than never… but barely.”

The sore inside my mouth made eating a struggle, so I packed up the leftover gnocchi and soup. “Thanks for coming, Wayne. Let your parents know I’ll visit them once this project’s wrapped up.”

I gestured around the amusement park. “We’re supposed hasn’t even been tested yet. It’s insane.”

inish in less than a month, but the lighting

“Jace mentioned it, but don’t forget to take care of yourself too,” Wayne said, his voice full of concern.

“Yeah, I know,” I replied. Then I pointed toward Hayden, who was busy nearby, and added, “I need to get

back to work.”

“Be careful,” Wayne reminded me again.

Hayden didn’t touch his lunch that day and barely said a word to me all afternoon. It was like he was mad at me, but I had no clue what I’d done wrong.

The next few days? He was even more distant, just working in silence. Honestly, it made things easier. We got a lot done, and at least now we had scheduled breaks to drink water. I couldn’t tell if that was more

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By the end of the week, we were on track, but who knew what was coming next?

The work was exhausting–so much that Demi, who usually can’t miss her favorite shows, would crash the second she got home. But I couldn’t do that. Every night, I had to review and summarize the day’s test results, usually staying up till 11 or 12.

I was seriously wiped out. Whenever I got too tired, I’d splash cold water on my face and dunk my feet in it, shocking myself awake.

Then, out of nowhere, Hayden, who’d barely spoken to me outside of work, messaged me just after I’d finished my cold water routine:

You asleep? If not, come over. We need to talk about a few issues with tomorrow’s testing area.]

If his message had just been those first two words, I would’ve ignored it. But since it was work– related, I Teplied right away: [On my way.]

Thankfully, I was still awake enough to grab my laptop and head over, I knocked on his door.

Hayden was wearing a military green T–shirt and black cotton sleep pants. For some reason, he looked taller, which made me feel even shorter.

He glanced at my face, his gaze tightening for a second, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just stepped aside to let me in.

I put my laptop down and was about to open it when he turned his screen around to show me. “Check these spots I marked. Do they match the blueprint?”

He had a hand–drawn blueprint next to his computer, along with a digital version. Everything seemed to match up, just like in my files.

I was kind of surprised he’d even ask, but when I double–checked, I actually found an issue.

Demi and I had already gone over this a few times, but somehow, we missed it. Good thing Hayden caught it now, or it would’ve been a huge headache later.

“There’s definitely a problem. I’ll fix it now. I’ll send you the updated files. Keep checking the rest.”

Hayden handed me a glass of water and then turned b—* to his work.

I tried to focus on my screen, but my eyelids kept getting heavier. I even pinched my leg a couple of times just to stay awake.

Hayden, though, looked completely alert, like sleep was something he didn’t even need.

Just when I was about to ask if we could wrap this up tomorrow, he got up and stepped out onto the balcony, phone in hand. I could hear him talking softly on the phone.

His voice was so smooth, so calming, it made my eyelids feel even heavier,