𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 | 𝖩𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖡𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗁𝖺𝗆

⁰³. 𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗎𝗉 𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗂𝗇

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖱𝖣 𝖯𝖤𝖱𝖲𝖮𝖭

ETHAN ROLLED HIS eyes at Alex as Layla laughed, the three of them lounging in her living room with a random Netflix movie playing in the background. The film was more for ambiance than entertainment.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," Alex said, tossing a pillow at him. Ethan caught it effortlessly, smirking.

"It's hard not to when my best friend insists on being delusional," Ethan shot back.

Layla snatched the pillow from his hands. "She's not delusional—I literally saw it with my own eyes."

"What you saw was complete nonsense," Ethan retorted, grabbing the pillow again. "If I wasn't there, it didn't happen."

Alex crossed her arms, unfazed. She didn't care whether Ethan believed her or not about what had happened the day before. He refused to accept that Jobe had tried striking up a conversation with her at the restaurant. In fact, Ethan hadn't even believed Jobe had been there at all—until he saw the evidence on the iPad. Even then, he was convinced Jobe wasn't talking to Alex specifically.

"Jobe barely says two words to the waitstaff," Ethan said, mocking her with an exaggerated expression. "He just orders and moves on with his life."

"Just because he doesn't talk to you doesn't mean he didn't talk to me," Alex replied, snatching the pillow back and placing it firmly in its rightful spot on the couch.

Ethan opened his mouth to respond but hesitated, his brow furrowing. "You're seriously telling me Jobe—the Jobe—decided to break his no-talking streak just for Alex? I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous."

Layla rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Why is it so hard for you to believe? Not everything revolves around you, Ethan."

Alex smirked, leaning back into the couch. "See? Even Layla knows I'm special."

"You're not special," Ethan shot back, pointing at her. "You're just... conveniently placed. He probably needed directions or something."

"Sure," Alex said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Because he looked super lost while asking me how long have i been working there."

"That's what he said?" Layla asked, leaning forward, clearly intrigued.

Alex nodded smugly. "He actually said i'm doing great for my first shift."

Ethan groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Oh, come on. That doesn't mean anything! He was probably just being polite."

"Polite?" Layla laughed. "Polite for Jobe is saying 'thanks' and leaving a decent tip. This was different, Ethan."

"Thank you," Alex said, gesturing to Layla. "At least someone sees the truth."

Ethan shook his head, still unconvinced. "This is insane. Next thing you're gonna say is that he gave you his number."