Infinite Cashback System

The opening credits rolled over shots of a crowded subway station. People rushing past each other. Everyone isolated in their own worlds. Then the camera focused on a woman missing her train and a man offering her his coffee.

Chloe settled back into the couch. The blanket was still draped across both of them. She’d never actually moved away from Jordan after the scary movie ended. Her shoulder rested against his side. Natural. Easy.

Comfortable.

Too comfortable.

She should probably put some distance between them. Create space. Remember the rules she’d laid out yesterday. Neighbors. Nothing more.

But moving now would make it obvious that she’d been thinking about it. Which would make it weird. Which would make everything awkward.

So she stayed.

Jordan’s arm was still stretched along the back of the couch. His fingertips rested maybe an inch from her shoulder. Not touching. But present.

Chloe focused on the movie. The couple on screen was having their meet-cute moment. Spilling coffee. Laughing about it. Exchanging numbers.

"Ten bucks says they lose each other’s numbers and spend the rest of the movie trying to find each other again," Jordan said.

"That’s too obvious."

"Want to bet?"

Chloe looked at him. "What do I get if I win?"

"Satisfaction of being right."

"That’s a terrible prize."

"Okay fine. Loser has to buy the winner coffee."

"Like actual coffee? At a coffee shop?"

"Yeah."

Chloe’s stomach flipped. That sounded like a date. Or date-adjacent. Which was bad. Which broke all the rules they’d established.

But also it was just coffee. People bought each other coffee all the time. Kyle probably bought Jordan coffee. That didn’t mean anything.

"Deal," she said.

Jordan grinned. "You’re going to lose."

"We’ll see."

They watched the movie in silence for a few minutes. The couple exchanged numbers. Started texting. Made plans to meet up.

Chloe relaxed slightly. Maybe this would be a straightforward romance without any contrived miscommunication plots.

Then the woman’s phone died right before she could save the man’s contact information.

"Called it," Jordan said.

"Oh shut up. There’s still an hour left. They could find each other."

"Through what? Telepathy?"

"Maybe they’ll run into each other again. New York is big but not that big."

"That’s literally the plot of every romance movie ever made."

"Because it works."

On screen, the woman was asking her friends if they knew anyone matching the man’s description. No one did. The man was doing the same thing on his end with identical results.

Chloe grabbed a handful of gummy worms from the bag on the coffee table. "Okay fine. Maybe you were right."

"Maybe?"

"Definitely. You were definitely right."

"Thank you."

She threw a gummy worm at him. It bounced off his chest.

Jordan picked it up and ate it. "Five second rule."

"That’s disgusting."

"My apartment. My germs."

"We’re in my apartment."

"My germs still apply."

Chloe laughed and threw another gummy worm. This one hit his forehead. Jordan caught it mid-air on the rebound and popped it in his mouth.

"Stop that," Chloe said.

"Stop throwing food at me."

"Stop being annoying."

"You invited me over."

"Worst decision of my life."

Jordan’s smile faded slightly. Not gone but softer. "You keep saying that."

"Because it’s true."

"Is it though?"

Chloe’s breath caught. She looked at Jordan and found him already looking at her. Those amber eyes were doing that thing again. Glowing. Warm. Focused entirely on her face.

Her heart was beating too fast. Way too fast for someone just sitting on a couch watching a movie.

"I don’t know," she said quietly. "Ask me again later."

Jordan held her gaze for another second before looking back at the TV. "Deal."

Chloe forced herself to breathe. To focus on the movie. The couple on screen was still searching for each other. Meeting near-misses. Walking past each other without noticing.

The universe was conspiring to keep them apart.

Chloe knew how that felt.

She glanced at Jordan out of the corner of her eye. His jaw was tight. His shoulders were relaxed but his hands weren’t. One gripped the armrest. The other had moved from the back of the couch to rest on his thigh.

He was nervous.

Why was he nervous?

Chloe shifted slightly. The movement made her leg brush against Jordan’s under the blanket. Just the barest contact. Her bare thigh against his sweatpants.

Jordan went very still.

Chloe didn’t move away.

The movie continued playing. Dialogue filled the silence. But Chloe wasn’t listening anymore. All her focus had narrowed to the single point of contact between her leg and Jordan’s.

She should move. Put space between them. Remember that this was just neighbors watching Netflix.

But her body wasn’t listening to her brain.

Her leg stayed right where it was.

Jordan’s hand twitched on his thigh. Like he wanted to reach over. Touch her knee maybe. Or her hand. Something.

But he didn’t.

He just sat there. Watching the movie. Pretending nothing had changed.

Except everything had changed.

The air in the apartment felt thicker. Warmer. Charged with something Chloe didn’t want to name.

On screen, the couple finally found each other again. They were laughing. Hugging. Kissing in the rain like idiots.

"This is so unrealistic," Jordan said. His voice sounded strained.

"What part?"

"All of it. People don’t just randomly run into each other in a city of eight million people."

"Maybe they do."

"They don’t."

"You ran into me."

Jordan looked at her. "That’s different."

"How?"

"We live next door to each other."

"Yeah but we never saw each other for four months. Then suddenly yesterday you knocked on my door. Today we’re watching movies on my couch. That’s pretty random."

"That’s not random. That’s just, I don’t know. Timing."

"Isn’t that the same thing?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Jordan’s eyes dropped to her mouth. Just for a second. Then back to her eyes. "Because random implies chance. Timing implies something else."

"Like what?"

"I don’t know. Fate or whatever."

Chloe’s stomach did a full somersault. "You believe in fate?"

"I believe in making your own fate."

"That’s not the same thing."

"Isn’t it?"

They were so close now. Chloe didn’t remember moving but somehow the space between them had shrunk to nothing. Her leg was fully pressed against his. Her shoulder fit perfectly against his side. She could feel the heat coming off his body through his shirt.

The movie was still playing. The couple on screen was walking through Central Park holding hands. Happy ending music swelled through the speakers.

Chloe didn’t care about any of it.

All she cared about was the way Jordan was looking at her. Like she was the only person in the entire world. Like nothing else mattered.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table. Three times in rapid succession.

The moment shattered.