Page 83 of Break the Ice
The whole game I waited for them to click, for their magic to fire up the game, but it wasn’t there. Elijah was distracted and Jayden appeared lost without him.
I watch the play the pundits are dissecting while I wipe down the kitchen island, making sure all the paint is cleaned up from the last few hours I’ve spent painting the mural sketches for Summer. I’m completely zoned into what is being said when the door to the apartment clicks and a few seconds later Elijah walks in with a box in his hands and Jayden following behind him.
Both Elijah and Jayden look exhausted, and there’s a loaded aura about them that closes the air in the room.
Elijah’s eyes cut down my body—down his paint-stained, crisp white shirt and black boxer briefs—with a crooked grin when he places the box down on the kitchen side and grabs two bottles of coconut water. It’s his go to electrolyte replenishment after a game.
“This is for you,” he says by way of greeting me with a tender caress to my shoulder as he throws Jayden one of the bottles.
“For me?” I give the box a shake on the counter trying to determine what it might be while mouthing to Jayden a silent “hello”.
“Hey, Lucky,” he mouths back with a sigh that wrenches my heart into my throat when he plops down onto one of the barstools in front of the painting drying on the breakfast bar. “These are amazing.”
Eli leans in so that they’re both pouring themselves over my watercolor mockups. “So amazing, right?”
Oh God, the look they exchange is brimming with loaded playfulness that thickens the air some more.
“Yeah,” Jayden says, glancing back down at the woodland illustrations. “I love the wintery feel of this one. Reminds me of my family’s place in Aspen. It’s always so quiet and still when it snows there. Sometimes it’s like the silence has an echo of its own.”
Elijah’s stare lifts to mine. “This one—” He points at the first sketch I did. The one that resembles the woods behind his father’s church. “—is beautiful. The spectrum of greens is peaceful.”
“The badger is cute as fuck,” Jayden adds.
Oh no.Elijah’s eyes light up. “This one time, Fin chased a skunk thinking it was a badger.”
“Aren’t badgers super aggressive in real life?”
“Yeah, and skunks really do stink in real life,” he chuckles.
“And I was single digits years old when it happened. It was the worst. My grandma had me soak in a baking soda bath for ages and then she scrubbed me with dish soap. I smelled lemon Joy fresh for days.”
“A little goes a long way,” Elijah croons the slogan for the brand with a grin.
Something’s off about it though. About Jayden too. Like there’s something unfinished between them, and after tonight’s game, I want to give them a little more space to get back in sync. It’s how I like them. How they’re meant to be.
Besides, my curiosity is piqued by the parcel. After our video conversation yesterday where I told Christina about dinner with Elijah and Jayden, Elijah’s kiss, andafterwards... When I was too worked up and my head was obviously a mess because I couldn’t think about Elijah without thinking about Jayden.
It felt good. Touching myself, thinking about them. Better than fighting it in the moment and even though I felt guilty afterwards, Christina assured me it’s normal and healthy.
Obviously, not before she teased me and promised to send me something to help withselfcare. Taking the box, I head towards the bedroom with an “I’ll be right back.”
“What do you want for dinner?” Elijah calls after me, knowing that I’ve waited to eat with him.
“Whatever you’re having.”
I’m traipsing down the corridor to my room when I hear Jayden tell him, “I found something more to say other than amazing, I get to pick dinner.”
“You said ‘these are amazing’.”
“And then I added, ‘I love the wintery feel’and‘the badger is cute as fuck’.” Eli huffs at Jayden’s retort. “Also, you made fun of her skunk ordeal.”
“Actually, that skunk disaster got me a lot of time with her. None of the girls wanted to hang out with her for a long while, so we got to hang out together instead. We would sneak to the woods behind the church, and we’d spend hours talking and just being.”
We did. And Elijah would always bring me a flower to put in my hair. That’s when he became my best friend. From then on, day by day, he became more until he was my everything. My love.
I drop the box on my bed before I go to the bathroom and grab the nail scissors. I’m still lost in my memories when I spot the small, dark stain on the lilac duvet and the corner of the box.
Odd.
