Page 205 of Cross the Line
Then I freaked out, almost jumped out of Eli’s car and…
“What’s up? Why’re you all quiet?” Jayden asks, each of his hands gripping the cart on either side of mine.
Canting my head to the side, I glance up at him, giving him my best what-are-you-up-to stare. “You’re being weird.”
“He’s always weird,” Eli sighs, grabbing the largest pot of his favorite hummus. “It’s weird you’ve just noticed that he’s weird.”
“Yup, something is up,” is all I have to say before Jayden blurts, “Maybe we have a surprise for you.”
“Jesus, Jayden, what happened to the big hurrah when we get home?” Eli throws a double-tipped carrot at him.
JJ catches it with a smirk, holding it up between us. “Are you trying to imply a different kind of surprise, Sweetheart? Is this code for playtime?”
Of course, being this giddy from passing my driving test means I burst out into a full-blown cackle that has the other shoppers staring at us faster than JJ’s slap shot.
“Sorry,” I whisper, quickly navigating us out of the produce aisle, straight to the bakery section.
Picking me up, Jayden sits me on the large crate of water Eli puts in the cart when we’re done in the bread section. The man is like an excitable kid on a sugar high as he races us around the store, making all kinds of car noises.
“What the hell has gotten into you?”
“Must’ve hit his head when I wasn’t looking,” Eli retorts, slapping his face with the celery bunch.
“Did you?” The worry is real. It’s always there because I’ve seen how rough these guys go at it.
I’m running my hands through JJ’s coarse hair, checking for any lumps when Eli murmurs into my ear, “I was joking, Angel. But he has hit it enough times that there could be a screw or two loose.”
“What about you? What’s your excuse?” Cupping his face with one hand, I take a moment to lose myself in his dark stare.
It’s my way of making sure he’s as okay as he’s making out. I don’t care how dark his eyes are, or that it’s hard to see the shift in them. I know the different depths of his gaze.
Right now, I see nothing but the endless affection he showers JJ and me with.
“I’m happy,” he murmurs back with a gentle peck to the tip of my nose. “And I’m proud of you.”
“I’m happy,” I whisper back. “And proud of me, too.”
“Okay, let’sSupermarket Sweepthis shit and head the fuck out before we get more of an audience,” Jayden croons, navigating us toward the deli.
It’s obvious that we’re buzzing off each other’s moods. I can’t keep a straight face, and neither can they. The only way to stop ourselves from causing a ruckus is to grab what we need and get out of here before we draw more attention to ourselves.
***
“Are you sure about this?”I clutch Eli’s keys in my hand while he holds the driver’s door open for me. “I don’t want to wreck your car.”
“You won’t. The whole point of you getting your license is so you can drive, right?” I nod, and he ushers me into the seat with his hand at my back. “So drive.”
Is it weird that I’m more nervous to drive them home than I was taking the practical test with the examiner staring at me the whole time?
“Take your time,” Jayden says from the back seat while Eli rounds the front to the passenger seat beside me. “Check that the mirrors are where you need them. Adjust the seat and the wheel so you’re comfortable and?—”
“JJ, our girl’s got this. You’re good, Fin.” Eli changes the music on the stereo to my favorite upbeat playlist while I go through the checklist in my head and make myself comfortable.
My heart is pounding harder than the beat of the dance track when I turn the engine on and the whole vehicle comes to life around me. It’s a beast. A brute rumbling beneath me as I slowly edge out of the parking space and leave the store parking lot.
It takes me a moment to adjust to the power of the engine; the insane pull of it with the slightest nudge of the accelerator. The braking is what takes me the longest to get a handle on. I barely press the pedal, and it slams to a stop.
“I think this might be too much car for me,” I say when I turn into the gates of our building.
