Val raises her palms. "Can we remember that this is not about our egos? We're here for our best friends. This is about them."

"I couldn't agree more," I say, folding my arms on the table. Let her see the guns.

Hayden puts his hand on my thigh under the table. His thumb strokes me like he's trying to calm me down.

"Doing okay over here?" The waitress stops by, cluelessly happy. I could take her down too.

"We need more alcohol," I say matter-of-factly.

"Look..." Hayden, to my surprise, is more collected now. "I know Edwin is extroverted and he likes to party, but Harry is not like that. I've known him for a long time. He's not going to want a regular bachelor party. It might be boring to some people, but not to him."

"That's fine, but if I plan everything for Edwin and he finds out that Harry is just 'going with the flow,' don't you think that's going to make him feel guilty?" Val argues.

"No."

"It will!"

"Let's just plan Harry's night then. It's not a big deal." I try to reason with Hayden. "If you don't think he'll like Val's suggestions, then where should we go? Are they clubs in Vegas that you think he might like?"

"There are." He eyes Val and Shane.

"Oh..." I wiggle my brows. "You mean, those kind of clubs?"

"Please don't tell me you're talking about those whips and chains dungeons." Val rolls her eyes.

"Whips and chains?" I giggle.

"That's not what they're called," Hayden pinches the bridge of his nose.

"No, thank you." She pulls back as if I just suggested we should sacrifice her first born.

"Funny. I thought this wasn't about us." Hayden gives her a cruel smile.

"Not everyone is comfortable going to a BDSM club..." I whisper.

Val rolls her eyes. "Exactly."

"Oh, well I just hope you're considering the fact that Edwin might be into things that you're not comfortable with." Sassy Hayden throws her words right back at her.

She blinks a few times, taken aback. I hide my smug grin.

"Im sorry, am I wrong?" Hayden acts nonchalant.

"Seriously? A BDSM club?" She wrinkles her face. "As a group?"

"Kind of defeats the purpose of a club if there aren't any people there," Hayden says.

"Yeah, but...I don't know. I guess, Edwin would enjoy it. And if Harry would rather go there, instead of a regular nightclub..."

"It's honestly not as bad as you think," I say. "I've been to nightclubs before, where people have no sense of personal space and guys feel entitled to come up behind you and rub their dick on your ass. When I went to a BDSM club, I was asked to sign a waiver that I will respect everyone, and never once did I feel unsafe or uncomfortable."

"Really?" She looks genuinely shocked. "That's not what I've heard."

Of course. "What's your source?"

"Hm?"

"Your source of information. What's it based on?"

She blinks at me the way she blinked at Hayden. Like she underestimated us, but now she's being proven wrong. "Now that you mention it, my sources are not reliable at all, actually."

Shane chuckles dryly. "You did say she bullshits about everything."

My eyes widen. "Who?"

"Who else." Hayden mutters.

"Astrid?" I turn to Val who nods. "Oh, God. What did she say?"

"Nothing." She turns red. "It doesn't matter! I don't care what she has to say. I don't talk to her."

Well, would you look at that?

"You guys are not close?" I ask.

"No." Her laugh is disappointed. " Do I look like I'd be close with someone like her?"

I'm so stunned, I can't think of anything to say. And Hayden was worried that Astrid would avenge her cousin.

She looks at Hayden. "And for what it's worth, I don't believe all that crap she told everyone. She's always been like that. She loves to play a victim when she doesn't get what she wants. It's nothing new."

Did she do something similar to Val? To her own family? That's so messed up...

I sink in relief and look at Hayden for his reaction. He seems doubtful, a sliver of his vulnerability showing through.

"I don't believe it either, by the way." Shane raises his hand. "I mean..." He points at me. "I doubt she would date you, if you were that kind of a guy. She looks happy."

My cheeks heat up.

But I play it cool by palming the side of Hayden's face and pushing him away. "He tries."

Hayden scoffs and removes my hand, but his lips are reluctantly curving in the corners.

"By the way..." Val smirks. "Edwin told me you made her cry."

I cackle. "I sure did. But I didn't mean to! Only because she pushed me to that point."

"I don't doubt it. Why do you think I've avoided you all this time?" She glares at Hayden. "I thought only...an incompetent douchebag would choose to sleep with her."

"He's a different man since he's met me," I say like an innocent angel, earning a half-irritated and half-amused look from Hayden. "He says...he was blind before, but now he sees. He couldn't taste his food, but now everything is sweet. When he sleeps, he dreams of me and me only."

"Do I?" Hayden threatens playfully, pinching the back of my neck and pulling me against him. I laugh sheepishly, goosebumps spreading down my arms from the sensation of his calloused fingers on my skin. "Anything else?"

"No..." I am blushing hard. Jesus. Help. I press my hand against his chest to push myself back.

Shane stands up, taking Val's laptop. "Call me if you need anything else?"

"Will do." She gives him a genuine, warm smile and he returns it.

"Are you two..." I narrow my eyes after he's gone.

"What?" She freezes. "No! He's my assistant."

"Hazel." Hayden chides under his breath.

"So what? Office romances are common. Especially with women in high positions." I prop an elbow on the table. "Tell me, Val. Do you date?"

She shakes her head, her walls up and on guard. "I don't waste my time on things like that."

"Oh, sorry. You could be asexual. Why did I assume—"

"No, I'm sexual. I mean..." She laughs. "I like men. Not every man, of course. Some. A few, really. Um, just the ones in books."

"Anyway—" Hayden tries to change the subject.

"What kind of books?"

"I don't know. Fantasy? Or whatever book I bought for the weekend. I don't go out much. I'd rather stay home with my dog."

"See?" I smack Hayden's chest. They have so much in common. They're basically related.

"What?" Val smiles self-consciously. "Am I missing something?"

"Hazel's brain cell." Hayden snaps. "Have you seen it? There's only one left."

Smacking his arm won't make a difference, so I take a bite of it.

"Ow!" He flinches, but his initial shocked melts into laughter. "Did you just fucking bite me?"

"Sorry, I was hungry."

"How did you two meet?" Val chuckles.

Hayden and I freeze. We forgot to rehearse a story! One of us needs to make something up right now and improvise.

"At a cafe," Hayden says.

"Cafe?" She echoes.

"Yeah, uh..." His voice softens, earning my confused attention. "I went there to order breakfast before work. I was posting a job request on their board in the corner, when I saw Hazel smiling and talking to the waitress."

"You did?" I ask breathlessly. His face reminds me I should know that. "Of course, you did! I was there."

Hayden saw me that day? I'm sweating bricks. Why didn't he say anything when I showed up at his house for the interview?

"What happened?" Val asks. "Did you ask her out?"

This is wrong. If they start working together, it can't be built on a lie. One day, the truth will slip out and she will lose the trust she feels towards him. Hayden has been through enough already. I can't risk putting him through that.

"I did—" He begins to say before I cut him off.

"He didn't. I...I actually applied to be his housekeeper."

"Hazel." He frowns. "What are you—"

"I was living in my car, but I didn't tell anyone. I really needed a second job, because my bank job wasn't paying enough. It was a part-time shitty job that I got fired from anyway, my boss was a bitch. But it's okay. I was more sad about having to drop out college. I loved my professors. But things could be worse, right? Anyway...he hired me as his housekeeper. That's how we met."

Val trips over her tongue. "I'm so sorry. I-I'd never be able to tell. You look so—"

"Polished?" I chuckle sheepishly. "I did this to impress you. You're like an interior design queen."

"Oh, please. Anyone can do it." She sighs. "As long as you're willing to give up your time, your will to live, and your hopes of finding a meaningful relationship, it's a piece of cake."

"Well, I would never be able to tell." I try to be encouraging. "You look so well rested, like you just came out a spa—"

"I'm on three kinds of anxiety medications. They make my skin break out, so I have to get weekly treatments to show my face in public."

"Fuck your assistant. He looks like he'd be into whatever fantasy role-play you like. Let him relieve some of that stress."

Hayden's soul leaves the table, but Val bursts out laughing.

A/N
Well, well, well. Mr Hayden has some explaining to DO.