But he’d had reason to doubt me. They were his family and Phoebe was important to him. If the situation had been flipped, I’d have had a hard time accepting what was in front of my face, too. “Can’t we just move past this?”

Hayden stared, eyes darkening to a shade of night.

Frustrated, my arms dropped to my sides. “Don’t you like me anymore?”

“Yes,” he said immediately. “Of course I do.”

“Then can’t we be friends?”

Hayden moved his hand to his chest, rubbing a spot by his heart. “Em, it’s hard being friends with you.”

My stomach dropped. Not a pleasant feeling. I thought of my effect on Phoebe and winced. What had Kurt said? I was getting to Hayden, too. “I… well, wow. I have no idea how to respond to that.”

“I don’t mean it the way you’re taking it.” He glanced around the room, sighing. “Look, I’m not explaining this right. Aren’t you tired?”

I shook my head. “Are you?”

His dark eyes flicked to my face, impossible to read. “I’m wide awake now.”

I admitted to myself right there, I had no idea where this conversation was going. “Um, you can stayif you want to.”

He stared at me in silence, and then headed over to the balcony doors. Somewhat mystified, I watched him draw the shades over the door. There was a barely there smile on his face when he locked the bedroom door.

“I doubt anyone will check on you, but better be safe than sorry.” He gestured at the bed. A faint blush tinged the tips of his cheekbones. “You first?”

I hurried to the bed and scooted to the far right side, suddenly nervous. My eyes felt impossibly wide as I watched him come back to the bed. “Do you want to practice with the plant some more?”

Hayden made his way to the side I’d escaped to and sat on the bed beside me. “No.”

“Oh.” I bit my lip, racking my brain for something to say. I came up empty.

“There are a couple of things I want to clear up.” His eyes found mine and held them. “Phoebe and I aren’t seeing each other. In fact, there’s never been anything romantic between us.”

A ridiculous amount of elation swelled in my chest, but I pushed it down. “But I’ve seen the way she looks at you. And the night of the arrow accident, I… saw you two together in the living room.”