JAYDEN IS ON ANOTHER PLANET WHEN KIRRA APPROACHES HIM, headphones already plugged in as droplets of water cascaded down his toned body. He was texting his dad on his phone, informing him about the celebrations their team would be doing far into the night as a smile spreads on his lips, when Kieran snaggs one of his ear pods out. "Hey, J.C." he greets in his classic Kiwi accent, blue eyes turning into crescents as a wrinkled grin widens on his face. "Just wanted to introduce you to my cousin, Kirra. She just came over from NZ." the elder says as he motions towards the brunette girl standing next him, chocolate brown eyes peering through his soul. 

"Oh, nice. I'm Jayden but you can call me J.C if you want." the fullback offers a handshake to which the girl takes, dimples showing through as well as her teeth. "Kirra, as you already know, but you could call me Keers." his ears twitch at the mentioning of the familiar nickname. "Keers..." he basically whispers under his breath but Kirra catches on to the mention of her, despite the blaring music and overpowering chatter happening in the background. "Well, I'll leave you here for now, Keers. Have fun, but not too much." Kieran says with a hearty laugh but there's an underlying tone of protectiveness in his words as he glances between the two brunettes before bouncing off to another teammate. 

Kirra stands awkwardly and scratches the back of her neck, pleading with her eyes for Mickey to come and save her but the blonde purposely ignores every sign her cousin sends her. Jayden shuffles over a little bit on the bench, tossing Keano's shirt onto him to make space for himself. "You can sit down if you'd like." Jayden insists as he nods to the small space beside him but that was better than nothing and she wasn't going to openly complain. She settles next to the shirtless male and studies her nail art she'd gotten before coming, light blue french tips in the shape coffin with little diamonds to jewel it up a bit. 

"Do you usually watch league?" the fullback asks as his light green eyes pierce through her dark brown ones, instantly sucking her in. "I've been to a couple All Blacks and Warriors games but never really took time out to watch it on my own, you know?" her voice is shaky and she prays Jayden doesn't notice how her lip trembles and the way her knuckles rub roughly against each other, the anxiety of talking to someone like him eating her alive. "Fair enough, yeah..." he mumbles, ripping the strapping tape off his wrist. 

"How you enjoying the Goldie though? Better than you expected?" he smashes his boots together and instantly the mud falls out, which amazes Kirra for the weirdest reasons. "I used to live around her back when I was younger but still trying to get over how different it is." his brows raise at her sentence, patting his damp towel onto the wet parts of his body. "You're from here?" Kirra nods her head, flashes of childhood memories playing back in her head. "Not the best part of my life but yeah. Came here to both see my cousins and see my mum again. I haven't heard from her since I left." her laugh comes out strangled and almost as though she's choking, not knowing why she'd even slipped that irrelevant detail into their conversation. "That should be a good catch up then." the indigenous male tries to save the conversation with a small smile, slipping into his loose fitted t-shirt. "Sure hope so." Kirra murmured into her titans scarf she'd snagged from Kieran's drawer. 

 She wanted to punch herself in the stomach for purposely making the whole interaction awkward. Now Jayden must think she's just some awkward weirdo who usually trauma dumps on her  first interactions. Even just thinking about it makes the long haired brunette cringe, not wanting it to haunt her for the rest of her time here. As she gets up to take her leave from this absolutely horrid experience, she feels his hand on hers, as light as a feather. "Hey...umm...I don't know if this is too soon but, what're you getting up to tonight?" his question catches her off guard and she finds herself feeling a lot more heated. "I was probably just gonna go back home and watch a couple of movies or just... I don't know." she stuttered out nervously. Jayden laughed at how cute she was being before standing, unexpectedly towering over her. "If you're keen I could take you for a drive around and show you the Gold Coast, all the things that are new from since you've left."

Kirra feels as though her heart rate had exhilarated before her teeth go on to gnaw at her bottom lip, glancing between the man in front of her and her cousins who would occasionally keep an eye on her. "It's totally fine if not, by the way. I don't want to pressure you into hanging out with me." Jayden is the one to be nervous now, hand finding his nape as he massages it with his palm. "Nah, that sounds fun! I'll just tell K and then I'll get back to you." she quickly says with a dimpled smile, letting go of Jayden's hand before joining her cousins once more to discuss her night plans.

⊹ 𓈒 ۫ 𝗿𝙚𝗻 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝙚𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝙚𝘀 ─ 📝
guys i feel like i abandoned this
book so here's a mediocre chapter
with like nothing soz but at least
i got something out i guess

꒰꒰ 𝐢𝟎𝟖𝐫𝐞𝐧 𓇼