NovelBarChapter 690
I froze.
Did he just... reverse-rizz me?
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My cheeks went hot, and | realized too late that I'd totally walked into his trap. All this time, I'd pegged him as
sclueless rookie, but nope-dude was playing in the major leagues. Not bad.
| fought back a smirk, keeping my expression cool. "Don't flatter yourself."
| put down my bowl, breezed over to the couch, and turned on the TV.
Meanwhile, Xander was annoyingly unbothered. He cleaned the table-wiping off the soup I'd accidentally sprayed
on him, washing the dishes, even tidying up the kitchen.
"Mind if Luse your bathroom?" he asked
"Knock yourself out," | said, keeping mo
But I couldn't shake his earlier comm normal.
eyes glued to the screen.
It lingered, like a song stuck in my head, making it impossible to act
Maybe it was because part ofreally had thought about him staying over.
"I'm gonna take a shower," Xander added, snappingout of my spiral.
He stood there, cool as ever, like he was darin
| noticed the dried soup in his hair and gave him a quick nod.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Do you have any clothes | could change into?" he asked, pushing his luck.
| shut my eyes for a second, fighting the urge to snap, 'No, wear the soup."
Then he added, "Even old clothes are fine."
And boom. Subtext. Loud and clear. He didn't say Hayden's name, but we both knew who the "old clothes"
belonged to.
| shot him a glare, but he didn't flinch. That maddening calm of his madesecond-guess myself, like | was the
one overreacting.
It's the worst-when someone's so composed, you can't even call them out without sounding ridiculous. And here
I was, fully stuck in that trap.
"Fine. I'll find something," | muttered.
As | dug through the closet, a wave of regret hit hard. These weren't just random hoodies or tees-they were
Hayden's. Every thread had a memory stitched into it, and now | was supposed to just... hand them over?
| glanced back at Xander. A new thought hit, and | hated it: if he wore Hayden's clothes, would he look even
more like him?
Was | losing it? One second, | was reminding myself that Xander wasn't Hayden, and the next, | was practically
trying to recreate him.
| stood there, clutching Hayden's clothes, caught in my own head, when the doorbell rang.
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Chapter 690
Perfect timing-or maybe not.
Still holding the bundle, | checked the security cam, and my stomach sank.
Jace.
What was he doing here this late?
Before | could even think, he started
knocking. Loudly. "Rea, open up.
need to talk 19 you, hé dal fedQut.
vbice xe! with a definite drunk
edge. He looked like he'd had more
than just a couple of drinks. The
content is on novelenglish.net! Read
the latest chapter there!
Talking to him like this would be
pointless. No way | qe pening the
as clearly wasn't
thinking straight. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut then he said something that madefreeze.
"| just want to see if you're hurt. | heard you got hit by a car."
My heart skipped.
How did he know about that?
The only person knew it was Xander. | hadn't even mentioned it to Lena yet.
Unless... Jace was somehow behind
it? The thought hitout 2o m
MEIC, byte tining an how
miudh he knew -it was too weird to
ignore. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
| cracked the door open, and the smell of booze hitlike a wall.
5 Celebrate the Season of New ice," | said, cutting straight to it. "Who told you that?"
Traditions Sales Event.
Sponsored: Kia America + didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed my arm and turnedaround. "Did you get hurt anywhere?"
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