Page 280 of Cross the Line
Our simultaneous inhale echoes between us as Eli threads his hand with mine.
“Time to go get our girl, Baby.” With a tug, he guides us around the line of the trees, through the soft gossamer drapes over the long banquet table already set out for dinner.
The same lilac, baby blue, and white blooms from our buttonholes are arranged all the way down the table, draping from the tree branches and wrapped around the thick trunks. More candles and twinkle lights offer the most perfect golden hue.
It doesn’t matter that I’ve walked through the woods already, that Iknow how beautiful everything looks, because with every step I take with mine and Eli’s hands tethered, it hits differently.
All the emotions I’ve kept under control since I opened my eyes this morning, my limbs tangled up with Eli’s and Fin’s, bubble up to the surface. I can’t swallow them down fast enough. Every chirp of the birds around us, every wisp of the evening breeze that brushes my skin, every gallop of my heart makes it harder to breathe past all the feelings coursing through me.
Then, we reach the edge of the woods. The path to the cabin is decorated with petals and hanging lanterns wrapped with lilac, green, and light blue ribbons and tulle. Floating candles bob around the surface of the small lake in the backyard. And I’m completely overwhelmed.
Eli’s hand tightens around mine when the back door opens and Bibi files out, followed by Momma, Mom, The Sire, and Dad. Behind them, Taylor and Wendy hold the door open for Christina and Kailey.
They stay behind while our family follows Bibi in procession. It’s one of the Iranian traditions she asked us to include, along with the round table ceremony that fits with the handfasting ritual.
“Hey,” Eli whispers as they near us. “Umm… âsh-egh-etam…”
Uncertainty pinches his face while I watch him silently, allowing his remark to settle along with the babbling emotions threatening to burst from me if I open my mouth to speak.
“Shit… shoot…fuck… Did I say it wrong?”
Shaking my head, I swallow down the brine burgeoning behind my eyes. Then, with a shaky breath, I reply, “No. You said it perfectly.”
“Good.” A smile spreads across his lips when I wrap my arm around his waist and pull him into my side. “‘Cause when I asked Bibi to teach me how to say it, she started talking about eating your liver or something, and?—”
Silencing him with a kiss, I sink my fingers into his waist, coiling my arm tighter around him. Because if I could, I would find a way of permanently living beneath his and Fin’s skin. I’d find a way of never ever having to be apart from them, not even for one second of the rest of our lives.
“I love you, too, Sweetheart.”
His smile broadens, and when I glance up into his eyes, they’re swimming with the same untamed emotions rushing through me.
“But you don’t want to eat my liver, right?” The wet laugh pulls a snicker from me.
“The liveristhe utmost expression of love in Persian culture…”
“Well, not really a meat person, so...”
“Depends on the meat, no?”
“Jayden Sylkes-Morrow, get your head out of the gutter,” he laughs, poking my side so that a stupid giggle bursts from me at the same time.
Motherfucker!“No. No. There will be none of this bullshit today. Keep your fingers to yourself.”
“Are you sure youreallywant me to do that?” The cock of his brow is loaded with promise.
“Whose head is in the gutter now?” I ask, turning towards the footsteps ahead of us.
“Only because you took it there,” Eli whispers back when Bibi and the rest of the family circle behind us.
Silence settles around us only to be filled with the erratic thrum of my pulse when Kailey takes the bouquet Christina is holding and starts down the porch steps with Blanca prancing at her side with a big tulle bow around her neck. It’s a miracle she doesn’t jump Eli and me with the excited mewl she lets out when she nudges her way between us, waiting for our girl with the same bubbling excitement wobbling her butt that’s thrumming through my veins.
The sun has disappeared behind the expanse of trees, leaving a thin gradient of gold and purple in its wake. Yet, when Finley steps outside, the world has never been brighter.
“Whoa,” Eli murmurs, knotting his pinky finger around mine, between us.
“Yeah,” is all I can manage, because all my words scatter at the sight of our girl walking towards us.
A dainty smile quirks the edges of her lips the closer she gets. With all the candles, the glow highlights her silhouette beneath the ivory tulle of her dress. She’s all long legs and soft curves. So perfect that my heart stops for a beat when she finally reaches us.
