Chapter 238

Cole was trying to flirt, and I could totally play dumb and ignore him, but meeting Thorsten couldn't wait.

Still, him texting this late wasn't a great sign. If I replied now, he might use it as an excuse to ask for something else. And if I said no, he could use it as an excuse to back out of our deal to meet his dad.

The best move? Do what I did last night and just leave him on read.

I tuned back into my conversation with Lena, who was saying something I'd obviously missed because now she was asking, "So you two made it official and that's it? No next steps?"

"What next steps?" I asked, still half-distracted by Cole's texts.

"What do you think I mean? The next step in a relationship. Obviously, I'm talking about that," Lena said, her voice dripping with mischief.

I caught on immediately. "Hayden's a gentleman, okay?"

"Gentleman or not, he's still human, isn't he? He's gotta have desires. Or is he just not interested in, you know, doing his part to solve the population crisis?"