Page 92 of Puppy Love

“You just… know?” I ask, unconvinced. Hayden looks back to fields in front of us, the rolling hills shaded by the thick clouds above. A steady stream of air hisses through his lips, like a long, controlled sigh. He stares out for a minute, his throat bobbing as he swallows. I can see his cheeks sucking in as he chews on them, and my stomach twists in discomfort.

“I’m going to say something,” he says finally. His voice is quiet but strong, and he keeps looking into the distance. “And you’re not going to freak out.”

I furrow my brows, but he doesn’t glance in my direction. Hayden’s been there for me through my divorce, through the contract, all of it. The least I can do is give him this.

“Okay,” I say. “I won’t.”

I look up at him, his body towering over me, his aura sinking beneath the earth. He sighs.

“Violet, I’ve loved Cam for like, forever. I know her. So when I say she has feelings for you, I mean it. She didn’t say anything to me, and she won’t. Not for a while, but it’s obvious. And I know you don’t want me to, but I know you too.” He pauses, then glances at me, shooting me a convincing, genuine smile. “And you two? Well, you might as well get down on one knee right now.”

My heart pounds rapidly against the inside of my chest, my stomach tightening and sinking in one swift motion.

“She doesn’t know it yet, how she feels,” he says, trying to steer away from the giant-ass elephant he just put in the space between us. “But I think you do.”

I shake my head, unsatisfied. If I’ve been standing in the way of these two this entire time, I’m going to be sick.

“Hayden, I didn’t know you two—”

“We’re not,” he interjects, his chin jolting up quickly. “We never were. I asked her out once, but Cam has never felt that way about me. And that’s okay. It isn’t a thing. But you?” A soft laugh slips through his lips, his perfect white smile glimmering. “She’s head over heels for you. She just hasn’t figured it out.”

My stomach crawls into my throat.

“Have you...” I swallow, a dry lump forming. “I mean… does she know?”

Hayden shakes his head.

“No,” he says plainly. Not sadly, not painfully. Just a regular old “no.”

“Then how do you know?” I ask, knowing that I’m more so asking this question for myself than for him. “I mean, if you haven’t told her then—”

“Violet,” he says, grabbing my hand. His eyes lock onto mine, and I have never seen Hayden more serious in my life. “I know. Trust me, okay?”

I nod, recognizing the desperation in his plea. I see it now, all of it. The way he talks about her, how he glowed at the bowling alley when their fingers were intertwined. I don’t know how something so obvious could also be so hidden.

“I just know too then,” I say with completely fake confidence. Hayden cocks a brow.

“You just know what?”

“That Cam doesn’t feel that way about me either.”

Hayden chuckles, shaking his head. “False.”

A frown creeps over my face. “True.”

He grabs my hand again and squeezes it, a gesture that gives me no choice but to look into his eyes.

“Violet, you believe in crystals,” he says flatly. A crease forms on my brow as I stare at him.

“Well, yeah. So?”

“You believe in divine intervention, and that everything happens for a reason.”

I cross my arms, tapping my finger on my bicep, feeling slightly attacked by this whole interaction.

“And?”

He sighs, louder than he needs to for dramatic effect. As if, like his feelings, the answer is hidden in plain sight.

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