Page 74 of Cross the Line
CHAPTER 20
JAYDEN
It feels good to be home.
Even better to be home with Eli and Finley sitting next to me on the couch while we watch last night’s game. There’s no one ogling us, and the world is firmly shut outside. I needed this time together to let everything sink in for real.
Whatever Lex is doing behind the scenes is working. Aside from a few photographers snapping shots when we drove up to our building late last night, the press has been silent.
“I can’t watch it.” Finley crawls backward, up the couch, covering her face with the copy ofDorian Graywe bought from that tiny bookshop near the hotel in Miami. Peering over the top, she squeals when Torres slams Eli into the boards, headfirst. The sickening crack makes my stomach twist harder now than it did in the game. “I thought your neck snapped…”
“I might still get on the red-eye and snap Torres’ neck,” I grumble, watching the replay and wondering how the ref had the audacity to call that aminor. “Look at it. I mean?—”
“For Christ’s sake, JJ, you can’t get mad every time I take a hit.”
Eli fast-forwards through more replays, the commentators agreeing with me because, clearly, Torres went too far.
“You know, when people realize we’re together, it’s going to be hard enough to convince them our relationship won’t interfere with our game, so—” He stops and glances between Finley and me, gaping at each other at his casual declaration. “What? Why are you staring at me like that?”
I huff out a laugh at his obliviousness. He looks between us again, frowning.
“What?” he presses, rubbing a hand over his face, then raking it through the longer strands of his hair. “What did I do?”
“Nothing,” Finley chortles, leaning forward with a grin aimed squarely at me.
How can he not see what he’s doing to me? What his wordsmeanto me?
I’ve loved him for so long. Waited forever for him to see me this way—to love me this way. I never thought it would happen.
“What did I say?” He looks genuinely panicked now. The only thing I can do is lean forward and kiss him.
Eli melts into me instantly. My hands cradle his face as I deepen the kiss, licking into his mouth like I can taste his words straight from the source. His hand clutches my thigh, body twisting closer, a throaty sound rumbling from him.
Nothing else exists but the taste of his breath, the rough slide of his jaw against mine, and the intoxicating friction between us. I’m just starting to shift, ready to pull him closer, when the goal horn blares—so loud it startles us apart.
Eli’s face is flushed, his lips kiss-bruised. My skin tingles where he touched me, and the grin on my face refuses to fade. I’ve never felt this happy. I’m not sure it’s even possible to feel better than this.
When Eli lies back, his head finds the crook of my neck, his body fitting perfectly against mine. My arm wraps around his waist, holding him there.
My stare slowly traces the length of his body to Finley’s curled form. Wide eyes greet mine with a mix of awe and lust that makes the fire in my blood pound harder.
“What?” she croaks, eyes darting between us.
“You tell us,” I murmur past the thrum in my chest.
“Nothing…” Her lips curve as she looks at Eli. A silent understanding passes between them, soft and sure. Then, still watching him, she whispers, “I guess… I guess I love watching the two people I love also love each other.”
I was wrong. This feelingcanget fuller. My chest feels like it might split from how much I love them both.
Finley’s gaze finds mine again, bright and hopeful. I reach for her, tugging her over Eli until she’s straddling his hips, her chest hoveringnear his face, her face close to mine. With one arm wrapped around them both, I brush my thumb across her lips and lower my mouth to hers.
Their scents mix as I breathe them in like oxygen. Her kiss tastes like heaven and fire all at once, and suddenly I’m unraveling. I need her. I needthem.
I’m lost to the desperation of my unyielding need as I trail my hand down the curve of Finley’s spine to the top of her ass. Pushing my hands into the elastic band of her loose shorts, I grip the juicy globe.
“JJ,” she mewls into my mouth when I knead her flesh, inching my hand down to the back of her thigh and then round the inside. “Jayden…”
“Tell me,” I murmur, the light brush of my fingers across the apex of her thighs above Eli’s thick bulge cutting off my word supply to embellish my demand.
