Page 28 of Entangled

Two can play this game though.

I reach down and snag my backpack, digging through the front pocket for my phone and earbuds. Popping them in, I open Spotify and set it to shuffle on one of my favorite playlists, cranking up the volume until it drowns out everything. Determined to ignore the frustrating bastard next to me.

Surprisingly, he lets me.

The first hour or so of the drive passes without so much as a breath from him in my direction. But when the shuttle hits a sizable pothole in the road heading up the mountain and we jolt up in our seats, his arm lands halfway on top of mine on the way down. I stare at it for a moment, waiting for him to politely move it, but of course he doesn’t. Which leaves me with no choice but to forcefully jerk my arm out from under his. My annoyance with his disruption of my plan for a clean break obvious in the move. But when his arm drops down and his hand lands just above my knee I realize I’ve miscalculated.

I turn my head to check if he’s even awake and find his eyes open and waiting to greet me, dark humor swirling in their depths. His other hand darts out and plucks my phone from my grasp before I even have the chance to process what’s happening. He glances at the screen and surprise briefly flashes across his face.

I pluck one of the earbuds out of my ear and make sure to speak in a bored voice. “What?”

He lifts his eyes to mine, lips twitching. “Never knew princesses liked Nirvana either.”

“Are you really surprised after I knew The Cure the night we met?”

“You also referenced Taylor Swift for your age so I was reserving judgment.”

“I guess my taste is varied.” I roll my eyes at him. “And Taylor Swift is epic, no matter what you say.”

He huffs a quiet laugh, eyes rolling over my face. “Taylor Swift and Nirvana. Aren’t you just full of surprises?”

Our eyes lock and I know he’s referencing how I left him on the beach that morning. I sigh wearily and look down, noticing for the first time that sometime during the span of our short conversation his hand began to trace words on my knee. And that without consciously realizing it, my body answered by relaxing a little more into him. An uncomfortable feeling of defeat rises in me at the realization that he’s too good at getting me to drop my guard and I’m too comfortable with him already.

“What are you doing here, Coop?”

I look at him when he doesn’t answer right away and find his eyes on me, gaze intense with a hundred hidden thoughts racing behind his night-forest eyes. The shuttle jerks to a stop suddenly and his eyes clear, sweeping around to take in our new surroundings before returning to me.

“Just take a hike with me, okay?” He swallows visibly. “Save the rest for when we get to the top.”

I let him sweat it out for a moment before answering, but really, he’s already here, what does he expect me to do? Demand he stay on the shuttle while the rest of us hike?

As if he’d listen.

I guess I could roll the dice. Maybe even tell the tour people he’s a stalker, which given this morning he very well might be. A very sexy, mind-blowing-between-the-sheets stalker… but a potential stalker all the same. It’s probably the smartest course of action.

But instead, I just grab my backpack from the floor and give him a shrug. “Fine.”

A whisper of warning works its way up my spine and I curse myself the entire way off the shuttle. Dangerous. So fucking dangerous. I’m already giving in when I should be doing nothing but shutting him down hard.

Stop playing with fire, El.

Once everyone is off the shuttle and gathered around, the cute tour guide quickly runs through the three-hour hike we’ll be taking today. Making eye contact with everyone in the group but me. I don’t even need to look to see the smug look on Coop’s face. I can feel the satisfaction pouring off of him at my side.

Asshole.

I peek at him out of the corner of my eye as we start up the mountain, taking stock of his white linen button-down and black shorts. Unable to stop the snicker that escapes at the sight. No backpack, no water bottle. The only part of his outfit even remotely appropriate for hiking is his sneaker-clad feet.

“What are you laughing at?” he asks, eyeing me warily.

“Nothing.” I snort. “Just admiring the outfit you picked out for this hike you were planning to take today.”

“Yeah, clothes were never really my strong suit,” he agrees with a good-natured shrug as his hands go for the top button of his shirt. “Guess I should fix that.”

I watch him unbutton the first half of his shirt before whipping my eyes back to the trail. My breathing way too fast for having quite literally just started the hike. Dammit. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

“Mind stowing this for me?”

I glance at him and keep my eyes carefully trained away from his body, only allowing myself to look at his face and the shirt he’s holding out.

---