Chapter 15: Simple Lift and Fall
I woke up and sighed, remembering everything fromst night. I needed to stop thinking of Hayden
romantically if I was ever going to be able to continue living with him. I walked to the kitchen to find a
blonde girl in one of Hayden’s shirts. She looked back at me curiously. “Who are you?” she asked. I
rolled my eyes and moved to the fridge.
“I’m Jordyn… I live here. Who are you?” I asked. She gave a tight smile.
“I’m Fiona,” she introduced herself. I would’ve said ‘nice to meet you’, but that would’ve been a lie. I
grabbed a cup of juice and looked away from Fiona. It made my chest hurt looking at her. I heard a
door open. Fiona perked to attention as Hayden came in the kitchen. He gave her a sly half-smile. She
skipped over and kissed his neck. I took a silent deep breath and looked away from them. I set my
drink down and headed back to my room.
“Hey, Jordyn, how was your date with Lewis,” Hayden asked. I stopped. A sigh left my lips and I closed
my eyes.
“All we did was talk about Thomas,” I said softly. I could practically feel his smugness leave him.
“Are you okay, Jo?” he asked. I stayed quiet. I walked into my room and locked the door behind me. I
open and close. Momentster there was a knock on my door. Tears ran down my face, making my
eyes red and puffy. I wiped the stubborn tears away as Hayden knocked again. “Jo, open the door,” he
said. I sniffled and wiped my cheeks again.
“I’m not opening the door, Hayden,” I said.
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“Jordyn,” he begged. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Go away,” I said defeated. I heard him sigh before he left. Iid down and closed my eyes. I didn’t
want to cry. I didn’t want to cry over Hayden.
A few hourster, there was more knocking on my door. “Luca wants us toe to practice,” Hayden
said. I sighed and sat up before I went to my bathroom and washed my face. I walked over and opened
my door before I turned towards my drawers. Hayden walked in and grabbed my arm.
“Hayden, stop,” I said softly. I pulled my arm away and rummaged through my drawers for some
workout clothes. I grabbed a pair of Nike pros and a crop top. I sighed and turned back to Hayden. “Get
out so I can get dressed,” I said.
“Jordyn, look I-”
“Stop talking, Hayden,” I snapped lowly. I was seething by this point. I made the mistake of looking into
his eyes. I wasn’t sure why he looked hurt. He was the one who hurt me. I red at him. “Hayden,
out… now,” I said through clenched teeth. He gave me onest pleading look before he realized that I
wouldn’t budge. He left and allowed me to get dressed. After I was ready, we drove to the warehouse.
It was an awkward and silent car ride. When the truck stopped at the warehouse, Hayden turned to me.
“Jo,” he practically begged. I got out and mmed the door behind me. Once I entered the warehouse,
I stered a giant phony grin on my face. I stretched and got ready. Hayden came over just as we
started pairing up. We were working more on putting together the contemporary routine. Hayden stood
behind me.
As the music started, his hand went across my chest and then my stomach. It took everything in me not
to flinch away from him. I covered his hands with mine and turned my head. I spun out of him and
stopped. I spun back into him and brought my knee to my chest. Hayden held my wait and my thigh
before I lifted my leg the rest of the way. I felt Hayden’s breath on my neck. The next part was
supposed to be a lift. I couldn’t do it. I stepped out of his grip and sighed as I ran my hands up my face.
Sophia stopped the music.
“Come on, Jordyn. It’s a simple lift. Let’s do it again,” she instructed. I looked at Hayden before I shook
my head.
“I can’t do the lift right now,” I said. She rolled her eyes.
“We don’t have time for tea-time dramatics. Line it up and let’s run it again,” Sophia said.
“Soph,y off,” Hayden said, defending me. Sophia red at Hayden and he red back. I was looking
away from both of them.
“Let’s go ahead and call off the rest of practice. A few of you need to cool off,” Luca said. I was all too
happy to walk out of there.
“Jordyn,” Hayden yelled from behind me. I only stopped when I reached the truck. He wouldn’t unlock
it.
“Look, thanks for defending me, but I didn’t need your help,” I said. He sighed.
“Okay, fine, then why wouldn’t you do the lift?” he asked.
“Because that calls for me to trust you… and I don’t,” I said as frustrated tears stung my eyes.
“Is this about Fiona?” he asked. Iughed once humorlessly and rolled my eyes.
“What do you think?” I said sarcastically. I sighed and took a beat. “Look, go ahead. I’ll just grab a cab
or something,” I said softly as I wiped my cheek.
“No,” he said stubbornly. “I’m going to drive you home and we’re going to talk,” he demanded.
“No, Hayden. I don’t want to ‘talk’ to you right now,” I seethed. He grabbed my arms and pressed me up
against the truck with his body. Despite myself, my breath caught. I looked away from him.
“Look, Jordyn, I didn’t mean to hurt you… okay, so I did, but I had no idea what was going on,” he said.
Stubborn tears fell from my eyes as I finally looked at him.
“I was falling for you,” I admitted in almost a whisper. Hayden froze and just stared at me. I slid away
from his grip but my gaze never faltered. “Was, being the operative word. If you want to take me home,
go ahead. ” I said, getting in the truck. Hayden paced for a moment before he walked over to the
passenger side and threw my door open. He turned my legs towards him and pulled me against him. I
thought about pushing him away, but his arms were around me securely.
“Jordyn, I was jealous, okay? You drive me crazy sometimes, you know that?” he said. My eyes were
locked with his. Even with what he did, I couldn’t deny my attraction to him.
“Hayden, I don’t want to y this game,” I whispered as a tear trickled down my cheek. He wiped it
away and left his hand on my cheek.
“I’m done ying,” Hayden said softly. He kissed me gently at first, but it because progressively more
aggressive. It was like he was willing me to care for him again. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was
working. My hand went to his chest as I kissed him back. His hand on my back pulled me even closer
to him. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I knew that I wouldn’t mean it. I pushed him away gently.
“Hayden, I’m serious,” I said softly.
“So am I,” he replied quickly. “I want you, Jordyn. I just want you,” he said. I sighed and bit my lip
gently. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to, I really did.
“Hayden, you just slept with somebody else less than 24 hours ago,” I pointed out. He looked away for
a moment.
“I’m not as much of a yer as you think I am,” he said. I rolled my eyes.
“I heard you, Hayden. How can you still stand here and lie to me?” I asked, slightly bewildered. His
hands moved to the top of my thighs.
“Can we please move past this?” he asked. I let out a quick breath and shook my head.
“No, Hayden, I can’t ‘move past this’, I just can’t. Sex actually means something to me. I’m not like you!
I can’t just go sleeping around like you,” I said. I felt his grip tighten on my legs. “Hayden, you’re hurting
me,” I whispered. He let go of my legs and took a breath.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” he apologized. I faced forward in the seat and curled my legs up to my chest. I
tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. Hayden calmed down and leaned against the opening of the
truck. “I really am sorry, Jordyn,” he said softly. Iughed once humorlessly as tears left my eyes
silently.
“You know, I had this crazy idea that you would change somehow, or maybe just care for me enough
to… it was a stupid idea,” I stopped myself. “Just, drive us home… please,” I whispered. I didn’t look at
him at all. I kept my eyes trained on the dashboard.
He let out a breath before he went around to the driver’s side. He drove silently and didn’t dare utter
another word. Hayden and I virtually didn’t talk for a week. I didn’t talk to Lewis anymore than the
asional conversation. The only person I still talked to was Quinn. She was my best friend after all.