Page 89 of Break the Ice
“Oh, is it the photos for the new fan packs?” I’m debating how to tell him that they’re photos of us—of me and Ryker in the car park and of us at the restaurant—when he tells me, “Last week they had me sign almost two-hundred photos and then some merch.”
I’m beyond grateful when we get in his car. The tinted windows together with my sunglasses, knockout the bright rays of the sun.
“Here.” Jayden offers me his baseball cap, when I don’t take it, he gets in and leans across the center console to gently put it on my head, pulling the bill low, over my eyes. “Better?”
I part my lips to reply, but my mouth is so dry at his closeness that all I manage is a gravelly whisper. “Yeah.”
“Good. Close your eyes, take a nap.”
If I wasn’t on the verge of vomiting again, I’d pull him up on his bossiness. However, I don’t have the energy to tease him, and I don’t know, I like this side of him. That he finds it so easy to care for others and show it. That he doesn’t give a shit about the world or what it preconceives of his actions when it comes to taking care of the people he loves. Of me.
He is in love with you.
The conversation with Finley after the dinner comes back again. Whispering over the relentless pulse in my head, my chest…
Closing my eyes, I focus on the faint rustle of Jayden’s movements. I can tell he’s driving as carefully as he can because I barely feel him slow and accelerate at the stoplights. When his phone rings, he quickly declines the call only for it to ring again a few seconds later.
After he declines it a second time, I tell him, “You can answer it.”
“It’s Kailey, she can wait until I get home.”
Clearly, she can’t because she rings again and this time, I answer the call on the screen before he sends it to voicemail.
“Dude, why are you declining my calls?” She instantly asks, her voice echoing around the cab so loudly that I shrink back into my seat.
“Fuck, Kiki, take it down a notch,” he tells her with a stern tone that makes her pause when she’s about to talk over him.
Jayden turns the volume for the call down to a murmur while Kailey asks, “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he replies.
“For real? I saw the game last night and it didn’t look that way. Sylkes was distracted and you were a mess. The two of you kept looking at each other like it was the first time you met or something and?—”
“Keeks, it was one bad game. We’re exhausted from the hard start.”
“Guess you’re not ready to be invaded for the next few days…”
He chuckles lightly, and the sound has me peering at him, over the top of my sunglasses. It’s no wonder he tops The Comets’ heartthrob poll year in and year out. The dimples that bracket his smile soften the chiseled lines of his profile so that even in his perfect good looks, there’s a grounding of warmth and approachability.
“It’s going to be a crazy couple of days,” Kailey snickers as their diatribe of Thanksgiving traditions and plans wraps up. “I can't believe you’ve invited Eli and his girl.”
“Kailey—”
“What? I know you said it’s nothing, but you can’t stop talking about them, and I mean I know you’re loyal to Eli and well… the two of you... I don’t know... What if his girl is into you too, an?—”
“Kailey…” Jayden interrupts her brusquely with his wild eyes flashing to me.
I could pretend I’m asleep. Maybe I should so that things don’t get awkward again, but I don’t.
“I’ve got to go,” Jayden tells her, ending the call abruptly with an, “I’ll call you later.”
With the pounding in my head still going strong, I don’t make the first move. Which might be callous on my part because it panics Jayden as he continues turning into the underground car park of our apartment.
When he’s parked, he finally says, “About what Kailey said… it’s… I’m not…”
I nod, peeling the sunglasses from my face when he slumps in his seat. Sometimes reality is best left unspoken. This is one of those times. For all of us.
“They’re not from PR,” I tell him, holding out the rolled envelope to him. “Cecilia said reception handed it to her.”
