Darren's voice was sharp as he muttered, "Just because I like him doesn't give him the audacity always to ruin our peaceful conversation."
"Darren," Kayden called his name firmly, trying to steady the tension between them. "Ariz doesn't even know if what we were talking about was peaceful. He just joined us because of you, and deep down, you know that."
Darren's jaw tightened, but Kayden pressed on, his tone calm but serious. "Stop acting this way towards him. Ariz is actually a nice guy. For someone with such a high standard, someone older than us, our senior, he still lowers himself just to spend time with us. Don't you think we should appreciate that? Especially you, Darren."
