Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

I shot a quick look at Hayden, then turned to Demi, “You’re just talking crazy ‘cause you’re wiped out.”

“I’m not talking crazy. You two are total workaholics. I feel like I can’t keep up anymore,” Demi mumbled, slumping into the car seat.

“Whether you can or not, you gotta hang in there. We’re almost done,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. Earlier today, I scoped out what still needed fixing. At the pace we’re going, we should wrap this up in about ten days.

“How much longer?” Demi whined, like she couldn’t survive even one more day.

“About ten days,” I said after sneaking another glance at Hayden through the rearview mirror.

“Ten days…” Demi groaned, her voice dripping with defeat.

By the time we got to the hotel, Demi was out cold. I called her name a few times, but she was in dreamland. Finally, I leaned in close and whispered, “If you don’t get up, I’ll make Hayden carry you.” “Fine, carry me,” Demi mumbled, holding out her hand.

I couldn’t help but laugh and gave her a gentle tug. “Come on, let’s move it.”

Demi, barely awake, let me guide her into the elevator and up to our floor. Just as we got to our rooms, Hayden, who’d been dead silent the whole ride, finally spoke up. “Keira, I need to talk to you.”

My heart did a weird flip when he used my first name. “Okay.”

Too exhausted to care, Demi shuffled into her room without a second thought. I turned back to Hayden. What’s up?”

“I talked to the company. I’m staying to finish the job,” Hayden said, and all I could muster was an “Oh.” I wasn’t surprised at all. If he left, I would’ve bailed too.

Sure, the amusement park’s lighting could technically go on without us, but there was no way they’d hit the deadline. And honestly, the quality would probably tank without our touch.

Besides, I’ve got this sneaky feeling that Jace still didn’t want me quitting. The fact that he hadn’t pushed Hayden’s company to send in a replacement kinda showed he was scared I might actually walk out.

“Okay,” I replied, keeping it short.

“You planning to leave RiverwaveCorp after this?” Hayden’s question caught me off guard. I didn’t expect him to figure that out.

“Yeah, I admitted, not even trying to play it cool.

He nodded. “We can speed things up a bit more.”

“Huh?” I was confused.

Speeding up would mean more overtime, and while Hayden and I could probably handle it, I wasn’t sure Demi could.

“No need for extra hours. We’ll stick to our schedule and still finish ahead of time,” Hayden explained, making me laugh.

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Hayden said, his face just as serious.

I pressed my lips together. “There’s no need. Finishing on time is good enough.”

“You wanna leave, right? Let’s finish early so you can bounce sooner,” Hayden’s words hit me like a ton of bricks.

But I quickly shot back, “No need. Even if we finish early, I’m not leaving until the whole park passes inspection and even opens to the public.”

Hayden’s gaze deepened, but I didn’t offer any more than that.

Since I didn’t plan on getting mixed up with him, there was no point in letting him know what was going on in my head.

The next morning, Demi and I showed up at the amusement park to find Hayden already at it. I asked one of the staff, and he said Hayden had started at five in the morning.

It looked like he really was dead set on finishing early. He wasn’t dragging Demi and me into extra hours- he was taking it all on himself. This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“Good morning, Ms. Kay!” a voice called out from behind me.

“Morning!” I replied out of habit, but something felt off the second I said it.

I turned around and there was Wayne, standing there in a work uniform, hard hat and all. I froze on the spot.