Hayden just stood next to me and smiled brightly as he brought an arm up and ced it over my shoulders, hugging me to his side. My whole body froze.
"Oh…who’s this?" one of my girl friends asked with clear interest.
"He’s so hot…he’s so hot…" another one whispered to the girl next to her.
"Who is he, Malissa?" Jenny asked as she stared at me.
Why did he have to turn up here? I just told these girls that I waspletely single and had no time for dating. This is so misleading…
"Umm…this is…" I said as I struggled toe up with something that would be believable.
Now what? Do I tell them that he is my friend? My distant cousin…?
"I’m Malissa’s boyfriend. My name is Hayden," Hayden said loudly and clearly as he pulled me roughly against him. I felt both of his arms around my neck as he hugged me from behind and rested his chin on my head.
Oh…shit.
"Wow! Really?" Jenny eximed excitedly while the other girls had simr reactions of shock.
"Malissa…you never told us that you had a boyfriend?" a girl said as she narrowed her eyes at me.
Well, that’s only because I didn’t have one. I mean, I still don’t have one.
I got her hidden message immediately. They’re going to grill me for not telling them and get me to tell them all the details about thister. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell them anything about the debt, the contract, or the mafia.
I nced at Hayden and cursed him internally. While I was worried about being discreet, this guy was so used to attracting attention.
"Oh, sorry about this. I didn’t know that you were bringing a plus one. Seriously, you should have told me so that I can book another seat," Jenny quickly said politely after recovering from her initial shock at Hayden’s sudden appearance.
"That’s ok. I’ll bring a chair over," Hayden said as he smiled his angelic smile at my friend.
I sighed softly to myself as I watched a bright red blush take over my friend’s face at the sight of Hayden’s mesmerizing smile. Another victim down. I guess this was why they say the devil is bewitching.
I sat back down in my seat as I tried to figure out how to deal with Hayden. He’s not going to say anything weird that will expose our twisted contract, right? I nced over at Hayden who was bringing a chair over to our table.
This is a disaster. This is a disaster. This is a disaster. These words kept on reying in my head.
Hayden brought a chair over and sat down next to me at the table. My friends couldn’t help but stare at Hayden and I guess that I could understand their reaction. Hayden and his looks truly stood out from the crowd.
"So…Malissa, why don’t you tell us more about your boyfriend?" my friend asked.
"Umm…actually, he’s not really…" I began denying.
"Oh, there’s no need to be shy!" my girl friend said excitedly.
"Malissa’s pretty shy about telling people about us. We just started dating a few weeks ago," Hayden said smoothly.
"Oh wow. So…how did you guys meet?" my friend asked eagerly.
Herees the ssic question. I can’t believe we’re going through this. What am I supposed to say? That we met because the head of the Torex mafia gang forced me to live with his son for 30 days to settle a huge debt?
"Umm…we…." I struggled to answer.
"We met at a church. After that we started talking and went on dates," Hayden replied, wlessly.
I guess, we did meet at a church. I would never forget that disastrous wedding ceremony.
"A church? I didn’t know that you were so religious…" Jenny said as she turned to look at me.
"What do you do, Hayden? Are you working now or are you still studying?" my other friend asked.
Clearly, they were serious about getting to know everything about Hayden. While they had their attention on Hayden, my brain was busy trying to figure out how to excuse ourselves and get out of here as soon as possible.
"I work for my family’s business. It’s not very interesting though," Hayden said, sounding super humble.
My friends kept on bombarding us with questions about our rtionship. Thankfully, Hayden managed to somehow answer them all. By this time, I was relief that Hayden seemed to want to keep our twisted rtionship a secret. I guess Hayden doesn’t want to exin to other people about hisplex family background either.
"I think we have to go. Sorry girls but I have to wake up early tomorrow to visit my grandmother at the hospital," I said as I got up to leave.
Grabbing Hayden’s hand in mine, I started pulling him to his feet too. Hayden looked at me innocently and for a moment he looked like he didn’t want to leave.
"Hayden, please…let’s go," I whispered to him.
"You owe me one," Hayden whispered into my ear once he got up to his feet.
"Bye girls. It was great catching up with you. I’ll see you girls another time soon," I said.
"It was good seeing you all. Thanks for taking care of my Malissa," Hayden said before shing the girls his killer smile.
"Did you hear that he called her ’my Malissa’ just now?" my friend started teasing.
I couldn’t stop myself from blushing a little at their teasing. Without further dy, I started dragging Hayden behind me out of the restaurant.
"Why did youe here? How did you find this ce? Did you follow me?" I fired questions at him the moment we stepped out of the restaurant.
"Chill out. Too many questions at once…" Hayden saidzily.
"Why did youe here? What do you think you’re doing? Why did you introduce yourself as my boyfriend?" I asked rapidly.
"I just told you…too many questions all at once…" Hayden said, still refusing to answer any of my questions.
"You can’t do this to me…" I hissed angrily.
"Let’s go home. I’ll drive," Hayden said and this time it was his turn dragging me.
"Wait! The men can drive me back," I said as I tried to pull my wrist away from his grip.
"They’re no longer here…" Hayden replied, sounding bored.
"What? Why?" I asked with a mix of shock and confusion.
"I sent them back already. Let’s be environmentally friendly and carpool," Hayden said with a smallugh.
He sent them back?!
--To be continued…