Page 7 of Cross the Line
“No.” I cut Christina off as the doors open, and I rush to mine and Elijah’s door, only to pause partway.
Jayden.
My heart stutters while I stare at his door.
Jayden.
The keys bite my palm. My thoughts sprint in a dozen directions. Jayden knows Elijah. He knows everything he is. What he’s capable of. What he’s afraid of…
Still, my thoughts spiral back to the hospital, back to every moment we’ve shared where I’ve felt his want… his need… his love for Elijah and, with it, the hopelessness and hurt of the doubts of whether Elijah feels it, too.
“Let’s get you inside,” Christina says, prying the keys from my fist.
“No, I have to go to them. I have to see them… to… to… make sure that Elijah is okay. To make sure that Jayden knows, that he sees it’s not real. It’s not true.”
“Finley, a photo doesn’t lie.”
I yank back the keys. “That photo does! I know Elijah.I know him.”
“Sometimes you don’t know people as well as you think you do!”
“Elijah is notpeople. He is my heart, Christina. And I know right here—” My hand beats my chest. “—that whatever that picture is, it’s not the truth.”
“What if it is?” she whispers as I open the door and Samson launches into my arms.
“It’s not.” I set Samson down and pull up the photo again, zooming in, shoving the screen toward her. “Look at him.”
Her frown slips. “Holy shit. That’s…”
“Yeah. So maybe Ryker was stalking me. Maybe Alice was right all along…”
“Sick bastard.” She steps inside and shuts the door. “Still, Finley… that photo…”
“Is off. Elijah is all wrong. All tense, Tina. Besides, think about it. Like, if he and Ryker—” The name tastes like rust. I swallow and move deeper into the apartment, Samson circling our feet. “Don’t you think it’s all so oddly coincidental that he was at the restaurant last night and then at the bar. Now, this article comes out of nowhere…”
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Christina grumbles.
I turn back. Her phone is in her hand; her face is hard. “Elijah’s changed, Christina. He’s not the boy I used to sneak around with anymore. He’s… distant. A whole lot more guarded. But he is not a liar or a cheat or… or… God, he’s still the best part of me. He’s still my heart.”
“Fin—”
“I know my heart, Christina. I know where its affection lies and who it beats for.”And it’s not for Ryker. Not ever.
I grab a glass of water and check the group chat. Nothing new—just last night’s photo and our call bubble. I type and delete the same greeting three times.
Fin: Hey…
Delete.
Fin: Hi…
Delete.
Silence is a fist, hitting me second by second. I know they’re locked in for the game. Jayden will be warming up; Elijah will be watching him. Because he cares. Because heloveshim.
Elijah loves Jayden.
And Ryker? He’s nobody.
