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

2 | Arden

Jason's fingers brush against my thigh for what feels like the hundredth time, and I grit my teeth, doing my best to ignore the way my body reacts to even the slightest touch. The plane hums steadily around us, the soft chatter of other passengers and the faint drone of the engines creating a background noise that would normally lull me into a calm state.

But nothing about this situation is calm.

I keep my gaze locked out the window, trying to lose myself in the vast expanse of sky, but it's impossible to escape the fact that Jason is right there, his presence impossible to ignore. Every time he shifts in his seat, I'm acutely aware of his proximity, of the heat radiating from his body, of the way his arm brushes against mine whenever he shifts.

I scowl harder out the window, the clouds seeming to get the brunt of my ire, keeping my arms crossed in front of me. The bump of his knee against mine has my head whipping to stare at him, and, of course, he's looking at me, that damn smirk toying at his lips.

"Are you enjoying this?" I snap, my voice a harsh whisper, not wanting to draw the attention of the stranger seated on the other side of him.

"Immensely," Jason replies without missing a beat. "I didn't think you'd actually show up, to be honest." He tilts his head, "you seem to always be busy whenever Matt organizes something."

"I am a nurse." I mutter. But it's true, I always found a way out of attending every event my brother organized. I swear I wasn't a bad sister; I just didn't want to have this exact conversation. Call me a coward, but it's true. "Looking for me, were you? I didn't realize little me had such an impact on you." I murmur.

"You know exactly what effect you have on me, Arden." Jason says, his eyes steady on mine. "Are we ever going to talk about that night?"

"No." I mutter, "It was a mistake and we won't be repeating it. You're Matt's best friend and it shouldn't have happened." I say quietly but quickly. "Just forget about it."

He doesn't reply right away, just looks at me with those deep green eyes that always seem to see more than I'm willing to show. I hate how he does that, how he can just look at me and know. It makes me feel exposed, vulnerable, and I don't like it one bit.

"You know," he starts, his voice low and thoughtful, "you can keep pretending, but we both know it's not going to work."

My jaw tightens. "If you keep bringing it up, it won't."

He huffs a laugh, a hint of amusement creeping back into his eyes. He reaches for his headphones and slips them on while I stare out the window, content to ignore everything for the rest of the flight.

Ass.

I close my eyes, willing myself to relax, to ignore the man beside me.

Getting involved with him was a mistake, something I'd known from the start but had chosen to ignore in the heat of the moment.

It was supposed to be just one night. One more night. One night to scratch the ever present itch, to get him out of my system so I could finally move on. But instead, it had only made things more complicated. Because no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it didn't mean anything, my stupid heart couldn't get the memo.

I open my eyes and turn to look at him, finding that he's staring straight ahead, his expression unreadable. There's a tension in his jaw, a tightness in his shoulders, and I wonder if he's remembering that night too. If he's as haunted by it as I am.

By the time we land, I'm a bundle of nerves, and I practically leap out of my seat the moment the seatbelt sign turns off. Jason just watches me with that same inscrutable expression as I stare at him, willing him to move with just my eyes but sadly I haven't acquired the power of persuasion yet, and I can't tell if he's amused or frustrated or something else entirely. I huff quietly and slowly sit back down to wait and ignore his amused eyes on the side of my face.