𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 | 𝖩𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖡𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗁𝖺𝗆

⁰⁸. 𝗌𝗇𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗋𝗎𝗇

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━   𝖠𝖫𝖤𝖷 𝖵𝖠𝖫𝖤

I SIGHED AS Layla, Ethan, and I watched José lock up the restaurant. Uncle Joe had taken off hours ago to do God knows what. Honestly, he's so immature. Sometimes I wonder how his brother managed to build a multimillion-dollar company while he gets paid well for doing practically nothing. But hey, I'm not complaining—at least he doesn't care when I'm on my phone, as long as it's not in front of the customers.

It was 4 a.m., and the first hints of dawn were creeping up on us, the summer sky in Madrid starting to lighten at the edges. I leaned back against the wall, stretching out my aching legs after a long shift. The warmth of the early morning air was strangely comforting, and for a moment, everything felt still and quiet.

Layla yawned dramatically, breaking the silence. "I swear, if we keep doing these late nights, I'm gonna pass out mid-shift one day."

Ethan scoffed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "We always close this late. I thought you got used to it?"

Layla shot him a glare. "Excuse me for being human and needing sleep. Not everyone has your endless energy, Ethan."

"Endless energy?" I chimed in, laughing. "The guy practically dozes off in the break room every chance he gets."

Ethan smirked, unbothered. "And yet I still manage to stay on top of things. Unlike some people who take twenty minutes just to deliver one drink."

"It was only today!" I protested, rolling my eyes. I already knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Yeah, but last I checked, Jobe isn't the one getting paid—you are," Ethan said, crossing his arms. "And what's with you chatting it up with Eli, anyway?"

I shot him a sharp look. "Oh, please. Don't even start with that."

"Hey, I'm just saying. You had time for a whole conversation while table five was waiting on water," Ethan teased.

Layla jumped in, grinning as she leaned against the wall. "Yeah, Alex, what's up with you and Eli? You two brushing hands and making eyes now?"

I groaned inwardly. Ever since Ava decided to open her big mouth and spread this nonsense, it's been nonstop. Claiming I like Eli? She's so weird for that. My friends, of course, know I don't like him at all, but that doesn't stop them from using it as prime teasing material.

"Seriously?" I said, shooting Layla a glare. "You know I don't like him."

"Oh, we know," Layla said with a smirk, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun."

Ethan chimed in without looking up from his phone. "Honestly, Ava might've done us a favor with that one. This is too good."

"Too good?" I scoffed, throwing my hands up. "It's not even believable!"