Chapter 296 Hotter, Hunkier Man

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Chapter 296 Hotter, Hunkier Man

LUNA

“You were just a dare,” Joshua said.

you.

“Sorry, Luna. It was your fault. You should’ve known I wouldn’t like someone like However, our time together was fun.” He smirked. “We should do it sometime again.”

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There were snickers behind him. I lifted my chin and saw his friends standing in a loose half- circle behind the wall of our ssroom’s building. I narrowed my eyes.

Were we in high school? Because this certainly felt like it.

We were supposed to be adults! We were already in ourst year of college, but here they were, ying games that belonged to bored teenagers.

From the very beginning, I’d known something was off. Joshua Saint–pardon the name, because he wasn’t a saint at all–had approached me out of nowhere after we got partnered up for a Physics project. The irony still made me want tough. He called it teamwork. I called it babysitting. fnb69c Follow current nov?ls on FιndＮovel/fnb69c

I did all of the thinking from the equations to the graphs, up until the final report. Meanwhile, he merely smiled, flirted with me, and imed he had “helped.”

I’d never been the kind of girl people noticed. I was usually more concerned with merely trying to exist than interacting with others.

So, when Joshua started walking me to ss, sitting beside me during lectures, and buying me coffee with a bright smile, I hesitated. Maybe, for once, I wasn’t invisible.

He’d pursued me relentlessly for the past month. Fuck, I even told him about my dream of getting into astrophysics research someday. He’d listened attentively back then. Or at least, pretended to.

Now, standing in the middle of the campus with the wind teasing the edges of my hair, I felt nothing but a slow, tired ache.

“Okay,” I said finally, ncing down at my watch. My shift at the diner started soon. I was already going to bete because he held me back, and I couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

His eyes narrowed slightly, confusion seen in his eyes. “Okay?”

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Chapter 296 Hotter, Hunkier Man

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“Yeah,” I said, raising my brows. “What do you want me to say?”

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He bit his lower lip, the same way he used to when pretending ito /ibe vulnerable. I was about to turn away when his hand shot out, wrapping around my wrist.

“That’s really all?” he demanded. “After everything I’ve shown you?”

I froze, then tilted my head, letting my gaze flick past him to the idiots still smirking behind his back. Then, I redirected my gaze to him.

It’s funny how fast attraction can evaporate when you see someone for what they truly are. He looked… tacky now. I straightened my shoulders, ignoring the way my heart hammered.

At times like this, I hated how short I was. It made me look smaller. But when our eyes met, his breath hitched just slightly.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked softly. “Cry?”

His jaw tightened.

“You’ve already made up your mind,” I continued. “You got what you wanted–a story to tell your friends, a darepleted. Congrattions.”

His fingers tightened on my wrist. “I hate that you wasted my time,” I said. “But I guess…. thanks foring clean. I’m sure you and your friends have time to celebrate.”

And with that, I pulled my wrist free.

Then I waved at him with a small smile before finally walking away.

Theughter behind me blurred into the wind, fading into the background noise of traffic and the distant hum of my own heartbeat.

I scoffed as I got far enough that the school wasn’t in my vision anymore when I turned around.

Gosh. Did he want me to cry about his revtion?

I know I wouldn’t.

Things like that were already a daily part of my life. I’d gotten used to them, like background noise you eventually stop hearing.

I smiled faintly as I walked toward the diner, the cool afternoon air brushing against my cheeks. It had always been like this for me. When you’ve been let down enough times, you

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Chapter 296 Hotter, Hunkier Man

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start to build a shield. You get used to it, like therapy sessions that stop working, or braces that dig into your gums until pain just bes another routine.

Only, in my case, it wasn’t the kind of getting used to that makes you better. It was the kind that just made you… immune.

The chime above the door rang as I stepped into the diner. The familiar hum of chatter and the smell of grease and coffee bombarded my senses.

“Ugh, finally you’re here.”

The voice hit me before I even had time to breathe.

She stood behind the counter, arms crossed. “Mop the floors, will you?”

I bit my lip and forced a smile. “Sure, Princess.”

The irony wasn’t lost on me. That was really her name–Princess Lincoln. My stepsister. And true to it, she carried herself like the world should bow down every time she walked into a

room.

Her mother–my stepmother–was no different. Queenie Lincoln. Of course, that was her name. She stood near the cash register,ughing a little too loudly as she entertained a group of regrs. Herughter stopped briefly when she saw me, and for a second, her smile faltered.

Then she red. It was just a sh, but it was just enough to let me know she’d seen mee inte.

I pressed my lips together and looked away, walking toward the back room. I didn’t need to give her another reason to talk about how “ungrateful” I was.

The mop was in its usual ce, leaning against the supply shelf. I grabbed it and set it down, exhaling softly.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” a voice said behind me.

I turned. Marceline or Marcel for short. I had called her Celine once, and it didn’t end on a good note. However, it was also the reason why we became friends today. It was one of the best mistakes I’ve made in my life because I considered her as my one and only person in this ce.

She had her hair tucked neatly under a, her apron slightly crooked, and her cheeks flushed from the rush. Her presence was the only thing that made this job tolerable.

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Chapter 296 Hotter, Hunkier Man

“Your sister and mom are here today,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

“I noticed,” I said quietly.

Marcel leaned against the lockers and sighed. “What happened? You’rete.”

I hesitated for a moment. “I got held back by Joshua Saint.”

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Her brows shot up. I had told her about Josha Saint’s attempt to flirt with me, and she was ecstatic about the idea and demanded updates every now and then. “What? Don’t tell me–did he finally ask you to be his girlfriend?”

I shook my head. “Nope,” I said as I grabbed my apron from my locker.

“It’s actually better! He told me I was a dare.”

Her hands froze mid–motion. The hai she was fixing slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor. “He what?”

I shrugged. “He said I should’ve known someone like him wouldn’t like someone like me.”

??

Her jaw dropped. “That jerk.” Then she started muttering curses under her breath, each one louder than thest. “I knew that guy was up to no good. He has that smug face. The kind you just want to punch. Ugh!”

I smiled faintly, trying to make light of it. “Yeah. Good thing I didn’t invest too much in that.”

Marcel straightened up, hands on her hips. “Hell yeah! You didn’t lose anything. It’s not like he was even that handsome.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” she admitted, lowering her voice. “He’s handsome. Like, objectively. But that doesn’t matter! Handsome men are statistically proven to cause brain damage in women. We should stay away from them.”

Iughed softly. The sound felt strangeing out of me. “Statistically proven, huh?”

“Absolutely,” she said, nodding. “Somewhere out there, a hunkier, hotter man is waiting for you. A real one. One who won’t treat you like a dare.”

I shook my head, smiling at her ridiculousness. “You’re too optimistic.”

“I’m realistic,” she said. “You just have terrible luck.”

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“Yeah.” I murmured. “That part I can’t argue with.”

零

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The moment felt normal again. At least, until Princess‘ voice interrupted our conversation.

“Oh, please.”

We both turned. She was standing at the doorway, arms folded, and a fake smile stered on her lips. “We both know Luna isn’t going to have something like that.”