Page 201 of Cross the Line
“Is it all gone?”
“It will be when JJ’s done loading up your plate,” he chuckles,looking around the offerings while I carry on making up Fin’s plate with some of the dishes everyone always loves.
“Give her the hearts,” he places a skewer on her plate before I can tell him ‘no’ to his mom’s traditional chicken hearts. “She’ll love them, and when Andersen gets to them, they’ll be gone.”
“Umm… not sure Fin will—” I start, only for him to turn and holler across the cafeteria to where Fin is sitting with Livia and his mom, “Amish!”
Fuck. Me.
Her head spins faster than ever, along with every other head in the place, a deep blush blazing on her cheeks when she finds us.
“You up for trying new cuisine?” he calls, only to be met with a “Mine!” from Andersen as he makes a beeline for us.
It’s a freaking circus as I push past the crazy assholes trying to get to the hearts before Andersen. On the way to the table, I snag a few of the grilled veggie and marinated tofu kabobs I made this morning with Fin’s help and some of Scott’s balsamic arugula and strawberry salad. It’s Fin’s favorite and one of the best salads he makes.
By the time everyone is dished up and sitting around the long banquet-style tables, the cacophony of all the different conversations has died down to almost silence, with only the hum of chatter from the kids’ table.
“Have you and Tina figured things out?” Fin asks Matheo when he pushes between her and Livia.
He looks at me and, with a shrug, tells her, “She’s playing hard to get.”
Oh, boy, I see the instant she prickles at his remark. I don’t know what’s going through her head or why she’s bothered, but I feel totally responsible for his misstep.
“Matheo didn’t mean that in a bad way,” I say, skimming my thumb along the back of her neck.
“I’m sure you didn’t.” With a narrowed stare leveled on his, she spears her fork into one of the hearts. Gesturing between them with it, she goes on, “Because Christina isn’t a game. She’s a highly defensive person with very real and deep feelings… and she hurts big.”
“Dude,” Matheo groans at me.
“I didn’t tell you she was playing hard to get,” I grumble, focusing on my plate so I don’t have to watch Fin turn her glare on me.
“Really, Eli?”
“Oh, shit, trouble in paradise,” Andersen mutters to Reinhardt.
The only date these morons have had to the family skates in the last couple years is Reinhardt’s son. It’s safe to say they know nothing aboutparadise.
“Man, he’s all flustered and shit,” Ansel laughs back at Erik.
“Preacher, man…” Erik snickers.
“Fuck off!” I snap at the stooges, turning to Finley.
Big mistake, she’s still glaring at me.
“Don’t take it out on him,” Livia sighs. “My idiot brother has a way of misinterpreting things. You could put the translation right in front of him and he’d call a gerbil a donkey.”
“What the fuck, Liv?” Matheo jumps from his seat, fork clattering onto his plate as he yelps like a girl, rubbing his chest. “You fuck! What the hell?”
“For God’s sake, keep your hands to yourselves,” their mom groans, hiding her face in her hands like this isn’t normal.
“You’re such a baby. It was literally the worst titty twister ever,” Liv grumbles.
I’d feel bad for Matheo, but Finley’s totally distracted by his outburst. Laughing so hard that she’s snorting. “Oh, God, I’m going to pee myself. So bad…”
After she excuses herself for the bathroom, Matheo sits down, still scowling between me and his sister.
“I can’t believe you. Either of you,” he mutters, going back to forking his food with so much gusto that the cherry tomato he stabs squirts everywhere.
