Page 255 of Cross the Line
Pulling at my tie, I grab my car keys from the bowl by the door and shove the tie in the pocket of my slacks.
Because Fin hates it when I leave my keys, my ties, my cups…
“Where are you going?” Jayden’s voice stops me. The lost-puppy look hits like a suckerpunch.
“I have to look for her. We have to?—”
“She’s here.”
I blink.
It’s palpable she’s not. Our home feels emptier and colder, and—I balk at the pin on his phone.
Pulling up theFind Myapp, I hold our phones next to each other. Sure enough, they both tell me our girl is right on top of us. The pins from her AirTags are all practically stacked minutely to the side of our two overlapping dots.
Relief and anger collide in my chest. A push and pull that makes it impossible to think. Impossible to rationalize.
I’m moving before my thoughts catch up with my logic. Jayden’s chasing me with Blanca leaping at his heels with pleading whimpers not to be left behind.
“Wait,” he tells me, gripping my hand as I head for the stairs leading up to the rooftop garden. “Just… I don’t know… take a breath…”
“What?” When I attempt to shake him off, JJ claws his fingers into my hand.
“You’re mad and…”
“I’m not—” I stop abruptly at the knowing cock of his brow.
“Exactly,” he murmurs. “When Momma found out she had cancer, she needed time alone to percolate her feelings and sort through them. Presley is the worst kind of disease, Eli. Give Fin time to compartmentalize and…”
Dark, mossy eyes flit past me, over my shoulder, lightening with a soft smile that trips my heart into an unsteady stutter.
I feel her before her perfume whispers in. Before her soft steps sound on the stairs.
Then, slender arms wrap my chest, and her cheek finds the crook of my neck. My pulse fires when Finley breathes me deep.
Cool fingers lace with mine. I wrap my hand around hers and tug Jayden closer. He kisses each of her knuckles, then playfully pecks the tiny Comets decals on her ring fingers with our numbers.
She’s so fucking cute about game-day nails. It’s frivolous, but thesight loosens the knot that’s been choking me since I couldn’t find her in the stands.
When JJ kisses the back of my hand, my lungs finally unlock. Warm air floods in, laced with her florals and his peppered cologne. It’s so darn good that my stomach flips. Their scents, the closeness… completely ground me.
“I’m sorry I missed the game,” Finley whispers into my ear with a kiss. “Today got crazy.”
“It did.” A weary sigh escapes as Jayden tightens his grip on my hand. “We were worried about you.”
“I’m so sorry, Love,” she rasps as I turn in her arms and lift her off the step, tucking her between us.
“Don’t apologize,” I say, as JJ adds, “All that matters is that you’re okay.”
“For a moment, I was overwhelmed, and I… I…” She looks down, tugging the hem of her custom Comets hoodie. “I needed to work through the crap in my head.”
“Why didn’t you call?” Jayden tips her chin up.
“Because I had reporters following me when I was driving home from work, so I kept driving. Ended up at Christina’s place, but she wasn’t there, and I had to run errands for Summer this morning, so the charge on the car was low…”
“Where’d you leave it?”
“At a parking lot close to Tina’s place. I left it on charge there, thinking you could drive me to pick it up after the game. I had an Uber bring me home to get ready. It was insane out front, and when I was leaving for the arena, it was worse. So, I… I…”
