Worst Cupid Ever

Haruto's Request

"Hey."

Genevieve looked up from her phone when Ray waved a canned drink in her face. She couldn't make out his expression because his back was against the bonfire. They had been invited to a beach party by Veronica, one of the volunteers with a bubbly personality and a heavily tattooed boyfriend with kind eyes.

She took the drink. "Thanks."

Ray settled next to her, his focus fixed on the gathering of about twelve people ahead. Loud pop music played from a boombox, and one of the dudes was doing a silly dance with lots of energetic hand and head movements. Genevieve chuckled.

"I thought you'd be over there as well," Ray said as he opened his drink and took a sip. He had on shorts and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. So far, Genevieve had done a stellar job at keeping herself from gawking at his sinfully defined chest—another unfair advantage Ray possessed.

Dragging her attention away from his face, Genevieve focused ahead once more. Before Ada left about four hours ago, she had begged Genevieve to remain within Ray's line of sight. Her logic was simple: the more he sees you, the more he can't stop thinking about you. Ridiculous.

The more Genevieve considered Ada's advice, the more tired she felt regarding the whole thing.

If Genevieve were to be real with herself, she had never seriously considered the end; all she had been focused on was the thrill of something new and exciting happening. Sure, she found Ray insanely attractive; even his broody personality felt refreshing, but Ada's goal was to get them married. Married! Genevieve didn't know about that. The heartfelt prayer she made in the past that drew the cupid's attention... no way was it about a spouse. Or was it?

There was pressure as well. Ada treating Genevieve like her only hope was beginning to feel a tad overwhelming.

Put yourself within his line of sight, my ass. Genevieve didn't know if it was because of her pride or tiredness, but there was no way she'd do that. From the start of the party to the present moment, she had kept to herself and thought about her life instead.

Her mum had called these trips juvenile. Maybe she was correct. After the trips, what next? Go back to work with Ray. That was a stupid plan. As much as she liked Ray, the idea of returning to—

"Your mother said she already had something set up for you and was pretty confident I'll fail to get you to work for me again."

Genevieve glanced at him. He appeared relaxed as the sea breeze ruffled his shirt. "She did? When?"

"When I visited," he said, his focus still fixed ahead. "Tell me what she set up. I'd love to know what I'm up against?"

"Why?" Genevieve opened her drink and took a sip. It was an okay frizzy grape juice.

Ray shrugged. "I'm curious."

"It's a code camp for kids with a massive signage that reads 'Donated by Senator Amanda Johnson'. Cool, yeah?" Self-aggrandising signage aside, her mum had pleasantly shocked Genevieve with that one. "A two-storied facility equipped with the best hardware. My eyes nearly rolled out of my skull when I toured the place."

Ray whistled and shook his head. "How am I supposed to go up against that?"

Genevive waved away his words. "You're already doing a good job."

An idea suddenly struck Genevieve. She leaned closer with an impish smile. "Tell you what? Now that I've confirmed you're not a conceited nitwit, I'll make things easy for you. Once we're done with the trips, let's..." Her words faded when Ray's focus dropped to her lips.