An hour later, Mr Grumpy-Secretly-Loves-Hugs is rolling a shopping cart down the aisle.

"You want cheese?"

"No, thank you."

"Ham?"

"No, thank you."

"You need tampons?"

"Oh my God, no!"

"You sure you don't need tampons?"

I've never been angry, embarrassed, but at the same time flustered and attracted to someone.

The fact that his mom stopped by is still in the air, but I'd rather not sour the mood. He'll talk about it if he wants to.

After buying too many groceries and paying for everything, Hayden drives us back to his house, lets me carry the bag of lettuce, while he casually carries the heaviest bags like it's nothing.

Now it's dinner time (he made burgers and I made a salad with French fries), and we're seated by the coffee table in front of the TV.

"So what do you usually do on the weekends?" I ask as he sets down our plates.

I salivate over the most fresh looking homemade burger. The flawlessly melted cheese. The pretty bun. The smell. He even put a pickle next to it.

"...or I play COD." He finishes.

"Uh, you play video games?"

"Sometimes." He eyes me. "Why?"

"I didn't know you're capable of such human behavior."

"It's fun to kill."

I wipe a fake tear. "I'm just the luckiest girl in the world."

He groans, but the smile is inevitable. "Yeah, yeah. I'm boring, you can say it. I like to stay in. Sue me. I work six days a week."

"I'm sure you partied before the balding started." I point at his hair and burst out laughing as he gives me a 'seriously?' look.

"I'm not bald."

"With that head shape, consider yourself lucky."

"Eat your fucking burger."

I laugh again and reach for the divine, juicy beast. I take a massive bite to get every layer and die from an overdose of perfection.

My eyes close to fully appreciate this moment.

"How is it?" Hayden bothers me.

"Ohmmmagaf...Mhm."

Hayden chuckles. "Glad you like it."

I open my eyes to see him eat half of his burger with one single bite. Glad to know I'm not the only stuffing my cheeks like a fatass squirrel.

"Whaf?" He freezes self-consciously.

"Noffin." I giggle.

"Then why afe you affing?"

"I'm nwaf!"

He drinks his carbonated water and grabs the remote. "What do you want to watch?"

You stripping naked. Yeeeah!

"Natural birth videos."

"Oh my God, we're still eating!"

"Then, placenta recipes." It's only fair.

He's scrolling on Netflix as I take another bite. "I hope you choke on that."

I do.

Now he's laughing and patting my back and giving me water. I could've died on that couch.

After we're done eating, I wash the dishes. Hayden puts the leftover salad in the fridge, then wipes the kitchen counters and island.

"By the way..." I say, drying my hands. "If at any point, you change your mind and want your space back, please tell me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you lived with anyone before? Besides your parents?"

He keeps himself busy. "No."

"Exactly. I mean, I'll probably be able to tell if you no longer want me here. But I'm not sure. So let's just agree that you'll be honest. Okay?"

"Why wouldn't I want you here?"

"I'm just saying. I don't know, if you want to swing your dick around in the comfort of your home—"

"What?" Hayden gasps, clutching his pearls. "I can't do that anymore?"

"Shut up." I laugh. "You know what I mean."

"How in the world do you expect me to live without swinging what God gave me?"

Such a dork. "I'm serious. What if you want to bring a girl over? What if you want to fuck her on the couch? You can't do that while I'm here."

This might be my petty way of trying to find out if he is planning to see other people, because I'm too insecure to just ask directly.

"Right. Because that's what I want to do. I want to tell the world that we're dating, then cheat on you. That'll help my reputation. Why?" He scowls. "Are you going to see other people?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. I want to go on a date and share my top ten tips on how to survive in a car when your mom is a raging alcoholic. Can't wait."

He looks away. "Okay, just making sure. I don't think either of us should date. We don't want to get caught."

"No sex for three months." I give him a thumbs up, then point between us. "That applies to you too. If I'm not having sex, you're not having sex either. We're in this hell together."

He sits by the kitchen island and rests his forearms—oh my God, would you look at those muscles...

Yeah. Better than the burger. Bet they taste better too. Am I a cannibal?

"I should go to bed." I rush to leave the premises and Google it.

"Wait. Um...what, what did you and my mom talk about? Before I got home."

I'm shocked he's brought her up! Maybe he wants to talk now.

"Not much. She was shocked to see me. Shocked that I was living here. She thought it was my idea." I grumble the last part.

"What did you tell her?"

"That you're obsessed with me."

"Of course, you did." He hides his laugh behind a groan, rubbing his face tiredly.

"How about you two?"

"She wanted me to talk to my dad."

"You don't want to?"

He lowers his head, gaze distant. Wherever his mind has taken him, he's alone in there.

"Does that mean she doesn't believe your ex anymore?" I try to bring him back.

"Apparently she never did."

"But she didn't reach out for months."

"Because I'm the one who left."

I should major in dentistry, because talking to him is like pulling out teeth. Or solving the world's most complex puzzle by the most impatient person. Me.

"She could've reached out," I say.

"She was waiting for me to call her."

Why? Because he's younger? That's such an old-fashioned way of thinking. Especially given the circumstances. But I don't know enough.

"How come you didn't?" I ask.

Sadness clouds his eyes, his voice, his entire body. "I didn't think she'd answer."

I have to say, when I met Hayden and walked into his perfect house, I thought he had it all. His own company. An incredible physique. Confidence. I thought that's why he's so uptight.

But now I think it's more than that. Hayden has insecurities. Maybe even trauma. Just like me. Except I usually hide behind humor and chaos. He seems to hide behind temper and silence.

"Sorry." He straightens. "I didn't mean to dump all this on you."

"You told me that I can talk to you, if I ever want to. I wasn't just being polite when I said 'you too.'"

His brown eyes soften and make me melt.

"But I charge." I open my hand. "Five dollars a minute." He chuckles. "See? We're bonding. The more we ask questions about each other, the easier it'll be to act like a couple. We should turn this into a game."

"I'm down."

"Yeah? Okay. How should we do it?"

"Whoever cooks answers three questions."

I narrow my eyes. "I'm cooking tomorrow."

"Are you?" The mischievous smirk that always catches my breath is back. He clicks his tongue with pity. "Then I guess you better be ready."

My heart beat is unhealthy. But outside, I am cool like a sliced up, Persian cucumber.

"Whatever, I'm an open book."

A/N
I swear you'll learn more about Hayden, he is SO hard to open. I have trieddddd.

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