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

09 | Arden

The afternoon sun beats down on me between the leaves, glaring at the layers of my skin like it had personally affronted it. I breathe out slowly, trenching further through the underbrush, crushing leaves under my footsteps.

My hand lifts to push a large branch out of the way, and I limp under it, breathing a sigh of relief when the sun is momentarily blocked by the towering trees. The air is cooler here, less oppressive, and I relish the brief respite.

Jason walks a few steps behind me, and I can hear his footfalls, the soft rustle of foliage as he moves. But he's quiet, too quiet, and it makes my nerves prickle. I glance over my shoulder, catching sight of him as he steps gracefully between the trees, his movements fluid despite his bulkier physique. His eyes meet mine instantly, and his lips quirk into that familiar, infuriating smirk.

I snap my gaze away, stepping further inland.

"After the gift you gave me last night, I figure I at least deserve a smile back," he says, his voice cutting through the stillness like a knife. As if we haven't just ignored each other for the last half hour.

I turn back to him, squinting as I force a fake smile onto my face. "Happy?"

He returns it with one of his signature grins, the kind that makes me want to punch something. A little lopsided, a whole lot of irritatingly attractive.

Argh.

"You never should've gone on that date." His voice is all knowing, as if I don't already regret the choices I've made in the last few days - scratch that, the last twelve years.

"Yeah, lot of good that advice does me now." I mutter back, ignoring his eyes on me as we trek through the trees and brush. I turn, the sound of rushing water reaching my ears. "I can hear something," I say, trying to focus on the sound over the pounding in my ears.

"You can hear voices? That's a sign of psychosis," Jason says, his voice laced with amusement.

"No, I can hear a fucking idiot, though," I retort, rolling my eyes as the sound grows louder. I push through another branch, feeling Jason close behind me, and stop dead in my tracks as I finally see the source of the noise.

"It's a lagoon," Jason murmurs, stepping beside me. "Like in Blue Lagoon."

My eyes sweep over the scene in front of me, taking in the crystal clear water, enticing and inviting with a short waterfall on the other side, the water rippling from the movement. It feels like a mirage, too perfect to be real, but the smell of fresh water in the air tells me otherwise.

Jason walks past me, reaching behind him to pull his shirt over his head. He flings the material at my feet, a playful smirk on his lips as he glances back at me. "Coming for a dip?"

I narrow my eyes at him as he turns away, the muscles in his back contracting as he dives into the water. I watch him surface, shaking the water from his hair before he turns to look at me, his eyebrow quirking in challenge. "Or are you going to stand there all day and watch me? I didn't take you for a voyeur, Arden."

Says the man who fucked his hand in the shower, knowing I could hear each groan and grunt that left his lips.

I don't say that, turning my back on him even as I feel his gaze burning into me.

"Stop looking," I mutter, my voice more flustered than I intend.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he says, his voice carrying a teasing note that makes my cheeks heat despite myself. You're better than this, Arden.

I glance over my shoulder, watching as he swims further away, his attention turning to the soft waterfall that feeds into the lagoon. I pull my gaze away.