Page 187 of Cross the Line
“You should totally bring her in tomorrow, and I’ll bring Dex. They can make friends and—” She cuts off when the bell rings again.
Parker, her husband, waltzes in. He’s tall, but not like Eli and JJ. He’s a solid six foot—five to seven inches shorter than my men.
He pauses, looking around the office while Blanca skulks back to us. Male strangers give her the heebie-jeebies.
“Still think you don’t need a bigger space?” Parker greets Summer with a laugh, followed by a tender, sweeter-than-sweet kiss as his hand molds to her belly.
I swear, I about die when Eli’s big hand rounds from my waist to my stomach while he buries his face in my hair with a deep inhale.
“Wanna grab your things and head out?” he asks, fingertips clawing into my flat tummy.
“We can picnic on the beach and then take missy to the pet store to get her some chew toys,” Jayden offers, reluctantly releasing me. “I was reading up on Boxers, and if you don’t give them something to chew, they’ll find anything. Also, I want to get her some doggy supplements. Apparently, the breed is prone to heart issues…”
“She needs an elevated feeding station, too,” Eli adds as they continue noting the list that they’ve clearly already made.
Goodness, I leave them alone for one morning…
I make quick work of packing my belongings while Summer continues fussing over Blanca, and the guys fall into an animated conversation with Parker.
“That was a great streak,” Parker says, taking Summer’s large purse and hoisting it over his shoulder.
“Could’ve been better without the loss to Chicago,” Eli huffs with a hard clench of his jaw.
I don’t miss the way Parker watches them when JJ wraps his arm around Eli’s waist. The anxiety that hits me at the possibility that he’s judging my men makes me feel sick.
“Can’t win them all,” Parker says with a light chuff. “We’re still in a good spot for the Playoffs. I think that’s all any of the real fans care about.”
There it is, the knowing smile that says he watched the postgameinterview, and he doesn’t care one bit about the noise the reporter made on their relationship outside the game.
“It’s going to be an explosive end to the season, for sure,” Parker adds before shifting the conversation. “I’ve been meaning to ask if the stills from the footage were of any help?”
Oh, God.
The air chills so fast that I shiver into JJ’s side. His hand clamps on my waist with the same death grip that I have on my purse.
“If you want the real-time footage, I can email it over. It’s not something that I usually do. I don’t want our patrons thinking that we’re spying on them, you know? But I’ll make the exception for friends,” Parker gives me a reassuring smile.
“Our people are trying to get the source’s information from The Chronicle. We’re pretty certain it’s the same guy from the bar, but no tangible proof, so…” JJ blows out a long breath.
“Same guy that showed up here,” Parker mutters. “You’d think those two incidents would be enough to raise a red flag, but the law makes it so damn hard to protect?—”
“Parker, Babe…” Summer murmurs, with a diffusing kiss to his bicep, before she tells Jayden and Eli, “This fight is not new to us.”
“The Chronicle won’t help you.” Parker glares at the floor. In his expensive suit, with his hands on his narrowed waist and Summer’s flowery purse on his shoulder, he makes quite the juxtaposing picture. “I had some similar issues with them when my ex was feeding them false stories to make a quick buck. Ended up asking one of my friends to help me out.”
“My agent gave them exclusive photos of us for nothing. It created more chaos for a screenshot of the source email they got their article from.” Eli’s voice is deep and dense; the anger simmering beneath it palpable.
“If you’d like, I can ask my friend to help you out, too. It’s not remotely above board, if you get what I mean, but they get the job done.”
“I…” Eli drags in a deep breath. He wants to chomp at the bit and take Parker up on the offer. It’s written all over his face as he looks between JJ and me. “We’re in a precarious position as it is. A lot of people with a lot to say watching us…”
“Shit,” Jayden groans. “We can’t afford to create more whirlwinds around us.”
“Would you give us a chance to talk it through with our people?” Eli asks.
“Of course, just no names,” Parker replies.
“No names.” Eli and Jayden nod.
