Page 85 of Cross the Line
He stops abruptly at the same time his phone goes silent.
A chill crawls down my spine before he and Finley come into view. She’s pale, and her expression is on the verge of tears.
What the fuck? “What happened?”
I’m on my feet and in front of her before she can answer. Jayden’s arm wraps around her shoulders as I take her face between my hands and lift it to mine.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask—any attempt to restrain my worry goes out the window when she blusters out a watery breath. “Who hurt you?”
Finley shakes her head. She’s sobbing so hard she can’t speak, and if Jayden didn’t have her tucked into his side, I’d be shaking the answers from her right now.
“Fin, you have to talk to me. Now.”
Jayden’s hand cups my face, bringing my eyes to his.
“Relax,” he mouths, kissing the top of her head.
Relax?
She’s falling apart in front of us. How can I relax?
“Fin, Baby, you have to breathe. Catch your breath for me.” Jayden guides her to his stool while I walk backward to mine, refusing to take my eyes off our girl.
He sits her on his lap. The way he engulfs her eases the tension in my limbs a notch—enough to sit back down and wrangle my emotions into check while her sobs subside.
It feels like forever before Finley finally speaks. “Is that the tea you ordered?”
“Mhmm,” Jayden hums, using the sleeve of his Henley to clean her face.
“Smells so good. Does it taste good, too?” she asks me with a sniffle.
“It’s surprisingly nice.”
“See,” Fin murmurs to Jayden. “I told you he’d love it.”
The sound of his chuckle and her faint smile make it easier to relax a tad more.
“Eli said it was nice, Fin.”
“And in Eli speak, ‘nice’ is equal to love,” she retorts. Her hand finds mine on the kitchen island, and her fingers thread with mine. “Right, Love?”
“Right,” I say, waiting for her to finally tell us what had her in tears when she walked in. When she goes silent again, I try to coax it out. “How was your day, Angel?”
Finley instantly chews on her lip. It’s all I need to know that whatever upset her is bad.
“Fin, you have to tell us if something is wrong. If someone hurtyou…” Tear-logged eyes flit between Jayden and me as he adds, “Please, Baby.”
“Umm…” She peels herself from Jayden and goes back to the entry hallway to grab her cell from her purse on the sideboard. After fixing her hair into a messy ponytail and checking her face in the mirror, she returns. “This morning, when I got to work, I went to the coffee shop. I do it every morning. It’s sort of my routine.”
“Okay,” Jayden coaxes while I sit straighter, swiveling my seat to face her with him.
“Today, when I was leaving, I bumped into Ryker,” she rushes, the words so fast it takes me a moment to catch up.
“Ryker?” It’s a growl that cuts through Jayden’s, “The fuck was he doing there?”
I’m on my feet, ready to storm out of here and find the asshole. He can fuck with me, but not Finley. She’s out of bounds, and?—
“What are you doing?” I snap at Jayden when he pulls me back by the crook of my arm. “Let go.”
