Play With Me ✔️|| 2 || Off the Ice Series

29 | Arden

I wake from my nap, feeling a heavy weight in my chest. The events of the previous day still linger in my mind, and as I reach for my phone, I know I have to face the aftermath. Opening a news app, I search for the latest articles, hoping against hope that they haven't tarnished my name beyond recognition.

But as I scroll through the headlines, my heart sinks further with each passing moment. The articles are filled with sensationalism, exaggerations, and outright lies. They focus solely on Jason, referring to him as the "Hockey's biggest player," while I'm reduced to a mere footnote, labelled as his "latest conquest."

I guess that's not too bad, it could be worse.

In the hours that follow, I witness the true aftermath of their intrusion. The articles that grace the pages of tabloids and online platforms barely acknowledge my name, reducing me to a mere accessory in Jason's life.

I read the article header again,

'Has 'The Challengers' best player - on and off the ice found his island Princess?'

My own face stares back at me, fresh off the plane we'd flown back on, but it was like I couldn't see, my eyes dissociated to the space around me. Another shows me through one of the windows before I'd shut the blinds.

The photos leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

My identity, my privacy, all stripped away and replaced by the false narratives spun by their pens and cameras. Rumours spread, portraying me as an obsessed fan, a manipulative schemer who orchestrated our entrapment on the island.

I click on another one, my own curiosity my worst trait at this moment. A startled laugh burst out of me, in this one I'm an obsessed stalker, a crazy ex from high school who never got over him.

But with each click, my heart sinks further. The articles, the headlines, they all paint a picture of me that bears no resemblance to the truth.

They paint me as a gold digger, motivated solely by the allure of fame and wealth, tarnishing my reputation.

Siting a close source. My eyes close, a headache building behind my lids and I know I should click away, focus on something else but I can't force myself to.

I just want to be left alone.

I collapse back onto the mattress from exhaustion even if I had just woken up, closing my eyes against the ache. I don't have anything else to do beside sleep.

Groaning, I throw a hand over my face and force myself to rest, hoping when I wake the zoo outside my house will finally be gone. Maybe I'll wake up and this whole thing would've been just a dream.

Forcing my mind to shut off, I slip into another slumber.

The cheers echo around the hall, his name falling from people's lips like a prayer but his eyes are only on mine.

"Jason!"

"Jason!"

Giddy delight fills me as I watch the man of the hour saunter through the wedding party towards me, a wicked gleam in those eyes of his.

He smirks when he sees he's captured my attention and all I want to do is know how his lips taste. My eyes fall down his tux covered chest and my stomach tightens.

Scratch that, I want to know how all of him tastes. It had been ten years since the first time . . .

I stop my eyes from venturing further and bring them back up to Jason's.

It's a wedding, surely a woman can have a little fun at a wedding?

I clutch the bouquet tighter as the MC's voice echoes around me,