Page 237 of Cross the Line
“Oh, I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“It’s life…” Turning her body toward me, she tucks herself into her sweater as she leans into the window. “What is it they say about power and responsibility?”
“With one comes the other,” I offer.
“Yeah, and responsibility is definitely the killer of sleep.”
“I guess it is.” It’s also why I’m sitting here with her instead of in my usual seat, snuggled up to Jayden. “Is it okay if I talk to you right now?”
“You can always talk to me, Eli.” In spite of what she says, Connie glances around at the others on the plane. When her eyes find me again, she gets up and gestures for me to do the same.
Without explanation, she heads toward the back, where the flight staff are gathered. Her expression turns partly annoyed when she looks over her shoulder at me, then she points at the lavatory.
“Not quite our usual meeting space, but it’ll do,” she sighs, slipping in after me.
The space is tight, and I have to sit on the actual toilet, so I don’t crouch over her while she perches on the edge of the small sink.
Now that we’re alone, I’m nervous. My hands are clammy; a cold sweat beads on the back of my neck under her expectant gaze. The temperature in here is sweltering.
With a long inhale, I try to center myself before I blurt, “I can’t let him go. JJ… Jayden… I can’t lose him, Connie.”
The soft smile on her face slips with the wrinkle of her nose. “Did you and Jayden have an argument? Is that why you’re not sitting next to him?”
What? “No. Jayden and I are…great.” It takes a beat to settle on the word; with everything going on, we’re both on edge. Still, when it comes to me and him, we’ve never been better.
“All right, so what’s the problem? Why are you afraid of losing him?”
“Because Gerry’s called him in for a meeting, and after last night…”
When I shrug, she slips off the edge of the sink and crouches in front of me. Big honey-colored eyes bore into mine. “I see.”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” My eyes sting with the question.
“I don’t know, but Bobby isn’t confident that it’s not.” The sorry look hits harder than the words.
My mouth opens to speak, but a quiet sob escapes from that place inmy chest that’s been hurting all damn night. This is the moment I’d usually run—as far and fast as I could from the ache, from the sickness churning in my stomach, from the voice that tells me I can make it hurt less, I can bleed it out.
“Eli…” The tenderness in her voice makes everything hurt more. “Why don’t we go through all the scenarios playing out in your head?”
“No, that’s okay.” I already know what I need to do, and there’s nothing Connie can say that’s going to change my mind. But… “I need you to help me.”
“Help you how?” she asks, catching her lip between her teeth as her brows knit.
Fuck, my heart is pounding into my ribs, the bruising force staggering my reply. “With Coach.”
***
Coach Bobby Nilssonis a solid six feet of brawn, and right now, he looks like he’s about to drop to the floor—or maybe have a heart attack. I don’t think I’m far off the latter as I chug one of the waters Connie got from the flight attendants before Coach asked them to give us the galley.
“Bobby.” Connie nudges him with her arm, then leans in on tiptoe and murmurs, “Say something.”
“Uh…” His eyes go wide, the blue so dark they’re almost black as he takes a step forward and then another back. “Fuck.”
“Not what I meant,” Connie mutters, giving me a sorry look before turning him by the shoulders. “Get it together, Robert.”
“What?” His stare stays glued to me the whole time she scolds him. It’s obvious he isn’t listening when he gently moves Connie aside and approaches me with more caution than ever. “Are you okay?”
I nod, incapable of speaking past the throbbing lump in my throat.
