𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 | 𝖩𝗈𝖻𝖾 𝖡𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗁𝖺𝗆

¹¹. 𝗃𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗈𝗎𝗌?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 𝖠𝖫𝖤𝖷 𝖵𝖠𝖫𝖤

LAYLA AND ETHAN stared at me, completely floored by what I was saying. Well, they believed me—how could they not? But still, it was Jobe we were talking about here. We were sitting outside the restaurant on our break, the dark Madrid sky lit up by the glow of city lights. It was almost peaceful, if not for their constant reactions.

I'd almost forgotten about the security guards stationed nearby. They stood stiff and professional, but I could tell they were definitely eavesdropping on our conversation. Not that I blamed them—it was juicy.

"He actually said his first impression of you was that he wanted you?" Layla asked, grinning as she took a bite of her sandwich.

Ethan rolled his eyes, laughing. "That doesn't even answer the question. That's just him spitting game."

"He did answer," I said defensively, the memory of the FaceTime call replaying in my head. A small smile crept onto my face. "But that's not the important part."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? What's the important part then?"

I couldn't hide my grin now. "He called me."

Layla nearly dropped her sandwich, her face lighting up with amusement. "He called you? Out of the blue? This man is playing no games."

"Where's shy Jobe? I miss him," Ethan teased, leaning back as he sat on the edge of the sidewalk, his legs stretched into the street.

Layla, sitting next to him, swatted his hand as he reached for her sandwich. "Touch it again, Ethan, and I'll make sure you regret it."

I side-eyed Ethan, crossing my arms. "You didn't even believe he was into me, so why are you acting all invested now?"

He smirked, unbothered. "I didn't. But now? I'm here for it."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "Well, for your information, shy Jobe only comes out in person. Or so he says."

Layla burst into laughter, nearly dropping her sandwich. "Oh, so he's got different settings? What's next, mysterious Jobe? Cool Jobe?"

"Please, spare us from angry Jobe," Ethan quipped with a grin. "But shy Jobe? Definitely a fan favorite."

"Hey! Only I can make fun of him," I said, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear as the cool breeze swept through, making it sway.

"Alex, relax. We're not making fun of him," Ethan said, his tone almost mocking as he leaned back on his hands, smirking up at me. "We're just... analyzing."

Layla raised an eyebrow, taking another bite of her sandwich. "Yeah, 'analyzing.' If that's what you wanna call it."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Uh-huh, sure. Well, stop analyzing him."