Chapter 3

Every favor I'd ever done for my cousin, Ethan Keaton, finally paid off.

I bribed Ethan with the promise of a free meal, and he came running all the way from Kingsley City without a second thought.

He was a college freshman on the varsity basketball team, and word around campus was that plenty of secret admirers were gushing over him on the confession boards.

Standing there, he looked the part, I'd give him that—at least he didn't embarrass my taste in men.

We'd agreed to meet Hayden at a lakeside steakhouse.

For a second, I barely recognized Hayden. The top buttons of his crisp white shirt were undone, the collar parting to reveal his collarbone, and the tailored fabric hinted just enough at the lean lines of muscle underneath.

When had he stopped wearing the black tees that filled his closet?

When he saw Ethan, he raised his eyebrows and let out a soft laugh. "Wow, you move fast, Sherry. Last week, you were pulling all-nighters playing poker with a trio of hot guys, and today, you've already locked down a boyfriend?"

I let out a dry, awkward cough. Was that really something he needed to blurt out?

​I shot him a warning glare, silently cursing his lack of a social filter. He just blinked back, the picture of innocence.

Whatever. He was basically a golden retriever—it wasn't like he meant any harm by it.

​The waiter led us to a round table by the window. I took the seat furthest to the side, and Ethan instinctively moved to sit right next to me. Before his butt could even hit the cushion, Hayden suddenly yanked the chair away.

"I'm footing the bill today, so I get the middle seat," Hayden said, his smile bright as sunshine.

Left with no choice, Ethan sat on the far end, looking totally baffled.

After a painfully slow appetizer course, my steak finally arrived. Ethan leaned across the table and started picking the asparagus off my plate, piece by piece.

He was a veggie freak, while I was a die-hard carnivore. Every time we had a family dinner, I'd just hand all my greens over to him.

This time was no different.

As the asparagus kept making its way across the table to Ethan, I could feel Hayden's intense glare following the movement every single time.

Finally, his eyes locked on me.

"Sherry, you don't like asparagus? Why have you never told me?" he asked.

Ethan cut in without missing a beat, saying, "Sherry doesn't like sharing personal stuff like that with outsiders.

"She had a Samoyed growing up named King Sammy, only two years younger than her. She'd talk to him every single day. But he crossed the rainbow bridge last year. She took it pretty hard and stopped talking to anyone for a while.

"Once we graduate, though, we're moving back to our hometown together. She won't have to put up with all this crap anymore."

I looked at Ethan, feeling a little touched.

Back when I was being frozen out by my roommates, bullied by classmates, and dealing with King Sammy's death all at once, I'd completely broken down and poured all of it out to Ethan. I couldn't believe he actually remembered.

But then, Hayden came into the picture, and together we tackled those problems one by one until they were gone.

Honestly, I loved having Hayden around, whether he was running sunny or dark and twisted. It was just that I was so used to being a loner. Outside of family, I couldn't believe anyone might truly care about me.

"We're literally roommates, yet it feels like I don't know a single thing about you."

Hayden's tone was eerily calm, but I could tell he was absolutely fuming.

Before I could even answer, he muttered, half to himself, "Then again, that's the kind of stuff you save for the person you love."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words caught in my throat.

Hayden looked down. "Thanks for the front-row seat to the PDA, you two. I'm full."

He added, "And here I thought tearing my way back from Kingsley City would actually stop you… Guess I flattered myself."

Hayden stood up to leave, but I immediately grabbed his arm.

"Hayden, why are you being so weird today? Weren't you the one breathing down my neck to meet my boyfriend?"

The second the words left my mouth, it hit me…

The one who "tore his way back from Kingsley City" was Dark Hayden.

Holy crap! He'd actually baited me!

I had to hand it to him—his acting skills had seriously leveled up. He'd been smiling so brightly earlier that he threw me completely off. No wonder he'd been sounding so passive-aggressive this whole time.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

I let out a bitter laugh. "If I told you right now that he's actually my cousin, would you even believe me?"