Page 158 of Cross the Line
“Finley-James, you’re the only woman that’s ever going to carry this family’s babies.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I turn her to face the wall while I sud the lengths of her hair.
I love the feel of it tangled around my fingers so damn much that, coupled with the baby talk, I’m having a really hard time keeping thebaby-maker down. And when she pushes her ass up into me, restraint taps out.
***
“Aren’twe meant to open presents with everyone?” Finley asks when I hand her and Eli the small boxes with part of my gift, keeping the other two.
Not gonna lie—it’s a present to me, too.
“Not these ones,” I say, shuffling back on the bed as Eli sets a near-matching box in front of me and says, “This is from Finley and me.”
“Okay, so if we’re opening gifts now, I want to give you mine, too.” She disappears into the closet and returns with two glittery nutcracker-wrapped boxes with different ribbons.“This one is yours,” she says, handing Eli the one with the green ribbon, before holding out the one with the blue ribbon to me. “And this one is yours.”
I place it in front of my crossed legs as she and Eli join me on the bed. “How about I open your joint gift, and you open mine?”
Finley pats his thigh, pulling a cute face at Eli. “Okay!”
I love how excited she is while the three of us open our boxes at the same time in hurried silence. The quiet grows heavier as I stare down at the key in my box and then glance up to find them staring at the key in each of theirs.
“Snap,” Fin giggles as Eli sighs in relief. “I guess that’s a yes all round.”
A laugh bursts out of me. Bouncing between us. Because of course they’d have the same idea about us moving in together. We’ve spent the majority of our time back and forth between our apartments. At least living on the same floor across the way from each other makes it less sketchy and awkward.
But still, it’s not official, and I want it to be.
“So this one is for you,” Eli says, producing a small jewelry box for Finley, then an envelope for me. “And for you.”
Fin opens hers first and gasps. “It’s beautiful, Eli.”
She lifts the gold necklace—an anatomical heart with a cluster of gems.
“They’re our birthstones,” she coos, placing it in my hand and pointing them out. “Peridot for August.” With a flicker of her eyes tomine, she gives me a heart-stopping smile. “For you. Then there’s amethyst for February and me… and aquamarine for March and Eli.”
“They’re also our colors,” I say as she lifts her hair and Eli clasps the chain around her neck.
“Thank you, Love,” she whispers into his ear with a kiss. “It’s perfect.”
It is. Like her. And on her, it looks gorgeous.
“Open your present,” Eli tells me, settling beside me.
I can sense he’s eager for me to do it. His hands are clasped tight as he braces over his thighs. Squirming.
Eli Sylkes is squirming for me.
And if I weren’t curious about what’s got him like this, I would hang out opening his present for a little bit longer.
Instead, I slit the top of the envelope open with my finger as he watches me closely.
“Holy shit!” I pull out a VIP invite and blink to be sure. “Where did you… How?”
“I know people.” Eli grins at me. “Well, I know Lex, and he knows people. Which is basically the same thing.”
Finley leans forward. Nose crinkled. “What is it?”
“Every New Year’s Eve, this group of DJs plays an exclusive gig, invite only. Until this year, they’ve only played in Europe.” I focus back on Eli. “How did you even know about it? How the hell did Lex get a private suite?”
Eli shrugs, like it’s no big deal when the waitlist is insane. Days away from the big night, and there are fuckers still trying to sell their souls for an invite.
