After we cleaned up, we headed back to the Eclipse Pack villa, the awkward silence hanging between us the whole way. The place was completely empty. The housekeeper had taken the day off, and Adrian was probably still at school. Aiden looked over at me, a sly smile on his lips. “Looks like we’ve got the whole place to ourselves.” I quickly took a step back. "I’m starving. I’m going to make something to eat." He raised an eyebrow. "You cook?" I scoffed. "Of course I do. I lived abroad for years by myself. If I wanted to eat, I had to figure it out. As long as I had the ingredients, I could make whatever I wanted.” "Yeah? Is it actually good?" he asked, totally serious. I hesitated, my face flushing. "No idea." He pressed on. "What’s your specialty?" I thought for a second. "Instant noodles." Aiden went silent. Right then, his stomach let out a loud growl. That shut him up real fast. He nodded, clearly out of options. I headed into the kitchen and threw something together quickly. A few minutes later, I brought out two steaming bowls of noodles and set them on the table. "I even added a slice of ham and an egg." Aiden stared at the bowl. The ham had gone a little... dark. He sniffed cautiously. I probably should’ve watched the stove more closely. The ham was definitely a little burnt. I looked at him with eager anticipation. He couldn’t bring himself to turn me down, so he picked up a fork and took a bite. His expression slowly changed. His eyebrows relaxed. “It’s actually pretty good,” he said. “Tastes better than I expected." I lit up, completely touched. “You’re the first person who’s ever said my cooking’s good. Aiden, if you like it, I’ll cook for you anytime.” He blinked, caught off guard. "I mean... we don’t have to eat instant noodles forever, do we?" Outside, the sky had already gone dark. Aiden flipped on the lights in the living room, casting everything in a soft, warm glow. Neither of us said a word. The quiet between us turned heavy with something... more. Without hesitation, Aiden slid an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. His scent wrapped around me and made my face burn. I dropped my gaze, too flustered to look at him. Aiden gently tilted my chin up, leaning closer. Just as our lips were about to touch, the hallway light on the second floor snapped on. Adrian stood at the top of the stairs, eyes wide. "I didn’t see anything!" Seriously? Then close your damn eyes! I let out an awkward squeak, shoved Aiden away, and quickly backed off. “Nothing was happening anyway...” Aiden coughed, clearly flustered, then tried to play it off by changing the subject. "Are you hungry?" Adrian nodded, totally playing along. He came down the stairs, eyeing the food on the table and muttering to himself, "Yeah, I was looking for something to eat anyway." He took a bite—and instantly made a face. "What the h*ll is this? Is this even edible?" I glared at him. "Adrian, I’m giving you one more chance to rephrase that sentence." His face froze. He glanced at me, then stumbled over his words. "You made this...? I didn’t mean that, Raelyn..." He chuckled awkwardly, trying to recover. I took a deep breath. "Is it really that bad?" Adrian clearly struggled to come up with a better way to say it. "Not... terrible. It just needs some improvement." Translation: it sucked. I felt a twinge of disappointment. Then I remembered what Aiden had said. He’d complimented it—probably just to be nice.Wow. For someone who usually seems cold and ruthless, he’s actually pretty sweet. "Don’t listen to Adrian," Aiden said, shooting him a glare. “The noodles were good. He’s just being dramatic. What he meant was, they’re decent—and he’s going to finish the whole bowl.” Adrian’s face dropped. "Wait... eat all of it?" Aiden gave him a flat look. "Every bite." Adrian looked at me like he’d seen a ghost, then started nodding like his life depended on it. “Yup! Totally fine! Don’t worry, Raelyn—I’m finishing the whole thing.” Satisfied, I gave him a nod. Adrian choked down the noodles while we kept an eye on him. When he finally finished, he clutched his stomach and ran upstairs without a word. Aiden’s stare trailed him the whole way. "Wait." Aiden called after him and tossed a card up the stairs. Adrian caught it, confused. "Take it," Aiden said simply. "That race car you’ve been talking about? Go ahead and buy it." Adrian lit up. He turned to me with a huge grin and gave a dramatic thumbs-up. “Raelyn, those noodles were amazing. Next time you make some, count me in!” I turned to Aiden, deadpan. Seriously? Instant noodles for a limited-edition race car? You really think I didn’t see through that blatant bribery? I couldn’t decide if he was being supportive or just messing with me. Either way, Adrian was clearly over the moon. When I got up the next morning, Adrian was acting weirdly obedient. He even acted kind of clingy. For a second, I seriously wondered if those noodles had messed with his brain. "Oh right," I said, remembering something. "Are you free today?" It was Wednesday. Tammy’s request popped into my head, and I decided to ease into it. Adrian nodded. "We’ve got the week off. I’m free today.""Great. Can you come somewhere with me?" He looked at me, a little suspicious. "Where?" I didn’t want to tell him yet—he might change his mind. “You’ll find out when we get there. Trust me. Just go get dressed—and wear something nice.” He squinted at me. "You’re not dragging me to some blind date, are you? Because I’m not doing that." I rolled my eyes. Where did that even come from? "No. Relax. It’s not a blind date." It was a setup.