Chapter 2
The man's grip on my chin went still. For a moment, something flickered in his deep eyes, complicated, fleeting. It was gone so fast I almost thought I'd imagined it.
Then he let go and gave a mocking smile. "Boyfriend? Selena, have you lost your mind?
"I'm Jayden Waters."
"Jayden Waters?" The name didn't ring a bell at all.
"Jayden, what are we to each other?" I pressed.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall, all lazy indifference. He shot me a look. "Your best friend. Your ride or die. Happy now?"
My head spun. Then what was with the contact named "Baby" in my phone?
I held up my phone with trembling hands and opened the only contact saved. "Then explain this."
Jayden's eyes landed on the screen, and for a split second, his expression froze.
Then he burst out laughing, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
His shoulders shook, and for the first time, that cold face of his actually looked alive.
"Oh, that?" He straightened up and leaned in close, his voice dropping to a low murmur, his warm breath brushing my ear. "You changed it yourself when you were drunk.
"You were clinging to my leg, crying that you'd never marry anyone but me.
"What, you don't remember?"
My face went crimson, heat creeping from my neck to the tips of my ears.
I got drunk and clung to his leg. How humiliating.
Jayden saw my embarrassment, and his eyes gleamed with amusement. He straightened up and went back to his usual relaxed posture. "All right, what did the doctor say?"
His question caught me off guard. I repeated what the doctor had told me.
Jayden listened, his brow barely twitching into a frown.
He walked out to find my doctor, and they talked in low voices by the door for a while.
I couldn't see his face, only his tall, straight back. Somehow, the unease in my chest eased a little.
When he came back, he was carrying a cup of warm chicken broth and a small bowl of apple sauce.
"The doctor said you're fine. You need to rest." He set them on the nightstand, his voice still flat. "Eat."
I looked at the broth and apple sauce, then at him, my feelings tangled.
His mouth was sharp, but maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
I reached for the spoon, but my right hand was in a cast and useless. My left hand was weak and shaky. I tried a few times, but the applesauce kept sliding off the spoon.
Jayden let out a sigh and snatched the cup from me.
"You're hopeless," he muttered, but he sat on the edge of the bed, lifted the cup of broth to my lips, and tilted it carefully.
His movements were stiff, almost awkward, but I opened up without a word.
I drank slowly, the warm, salty liquid soothing my raw throat and my heart, too.
I ate in small bites, stealing glances at him.
His lashes were long, casting soft shadows under his eyes. His profile was sharp. From this angle, he was seriously handsome.
"What are you staring at?" he asked without looking up.
"N-nothing," I stammered, dropping my head as my cheeks burned again.
He set the empty bowl aside, grabbed a tissue, and wiped my mouth without much ceremony.
"I've got things to do. I'm leaving. If you need anything, call the nurse," he said, already halfway to the door.
"Wait!" I blurted.
He turned back, one eyebrow raised.
"W-will you come see me again?" I asked, my voice small.
In this strange new world, he was the only person I knew.
Jayden looked at me, pausing for a few seconds in silence.
"We'll see," he said, then left without another glance.
The door closed behind him, and the room was quiet once more.
I lay in bed, a hollow emptiness settling in my chest.
Then his phone, the one he'd left on the nightstand, lit up with a message notification.
Without thinking, I craned my neck to look.
On the screen was our chat window.
And at the top was the name he'd saved for me.
Those seven letters, Dearest, burst in my mind like tiny fireworks.
Dearest? I turned the word over and over, my thoughts scattering.
If "Baby" was some drunken joke I'd made, then what about Dearest? I certainly didn't set that myself.
What kind of guy gives his so-called best friend a name like that?