Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right
Hello 36

Chapter 36

I never thought in my wildest dreams that a guy I'd only met twice would want to marry me. Meanwhile, the guy I'd loved for ten years was secretly seeing someone else. After a moment of shock, I smiled at Hayden. "Isn't this a bit too sudden?"

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Hayden stayed serious. "Isn't dating supposed to lead to marriage? Since you don't want to date, let's just get married."

'He has a point. But seriously, who casually suggests marriage to someone they barely know?

This might work in fiction, but this was real life.

I raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Do you propose this quickly to every girl you meet?"

The setting sun cast long shadows, and Hayden's shadow wrapped around me. "You're the first."

A tickle of discomfort rose in my throat. "We... don't know each other well."

Hayden didn't say anything more, and we stood there in silence. Heat crept over my skin, and even my nose started to sweat.

As I nervously scratched at the wall behind me, trying to come up with something to say, Hayden broke the silence. "I'm heading out to buy the fish."

"I don't eat cilantro." I blurted out without thinking.

Hayden just nodded and walked away.

Watching him walk away, I couldn't help but notice his tall, straight posture. At over six feet, he gave off this vibe of security under the evening sun.

A bold thought suddenly crossed my mind. Maybe a marriage with someone like him wouldn't be so bad.

After all, he had been a soldier, a guy tested by the nation, probably tough enough to handle anything life threw at him.

When I got back to the rented place, Macy was nowhere to be found. Otherwise, she would've cornered me with questions or tried to sell me on Hayden's virtues.

I pushed open the door to my room, and my phone buzzed on the bed.

It was a call from Lena.

"How was the first day of your trip? Any fun or new discoveries?" Lena's voice sounded tired. She wasn't called a medical prodigy for nothing, often spending five to six hours straight in surgery.

I lay on the bed, thinking back over the day's events. Finally, I replied to Lena, "Does a romantic encounter count as a discovery?"

"What? That sounds exciting!" Lena's voice instantly perked up like she'd just had a shot of espresso.

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I chuckled and told her about Hayden.

Lena sighed, "Rea, when one door closes, another one opens."

"You haven't even met him. How can you be sure it's a door? Besides, I'm not in the right time for this," I said, feeling a cold draft pass through my chest.

"A guy who wants to marry you right away can only mean one thing: he fell for you at first sight," Lena said like she knew it all.

I snorted. "Why not just say he replaces me attractive?"

I was confident in my looks, having won a beauty pageant.

"You said he was a soldier. Trust the nation," Lena's logic matched mine.

I didn't respond, so Lena kept going. "I was worried you'd be lonely on this trip, but with this romantic twist, I'm sure you'll get over Jace's betrayal soon enough."

Just hearing Jace's name made me feel a mix of resentment and suffocation.

I didn't feel like this yesterday.

Now, the feeling made me a bit nauseous, like I might need to run to the bathroom.

For some reason, whenever I was nervous, upset, or unsettled, my stomach acted up.

"Rea, if I were you, I'd marry the soldier, bring him to meet the Johnstons, and show that jerk what he's missing. It'd save you the trouble of dealing with his family," Lena said. Despite being an angel to newborns, she could be pretty savage. Comments