Page 204 of Cross the Line
“Well done,” the examiner finally tells me with a big grin.
He’s a big, burly man—the kind that would fit in the new show JJ and I are binging. Sons of something or another; I haven’t paid much mind because it’s not for me. I don’t think JJ likes it all that much, either, because it’s sort of background noise while he and Eli go through game tapes obsessively, and I keep on top of work, and my never-ending reading list.
“Well done?” I ask as he holds up the paper that says I’ve passed. “I did it?”
My emotions get the better of me in an instant. Since Eli told me what Presley and Ryker did to him, it’s like I’m surviving on my hyper-emotions. Jayden made a remark about me going through the seven stages of grief; I suppose he’s right.
I’ve felt it all—shock, pain, guilt, anger, the what-ifs, the awful sadness that made it hard to breathe and even harder to get out of my head—and now I’m at a place where I’ve accepted what I can and can’t change. What I could and couldn’t do.
I’m in awe of Eli and of how strong and resilient he is. And loving that beautiful man means supporting him however he needs.
Feeding his gorgeous smile. Relishing every touch. Because in spite of this dark cloud, we are happy together.
We’re a real family—Eli, Jayden, and me—the kind we talked about being when we planned all versions of our getaway under our tree.
Every time I see them, I can’t resist the urge to run to them like I am now.
The nerves have dissipated, and I’m high with excitement when I launch myself at them.
“I did it,” I squeal, latching my arms around both of them when they catch me.
My hand is fisting the interim license tight as Jayden sing-songs about how he knew I would do it, meanwhile Eli chuckles at him quietly, one of his hands stroking my hair.
“This calls for a celebration,” JJ croons, crouching to set me on my feet with a playful peck to my lips.
“I can’t believe it, I swear to God that I thought I failed. The examiner was giving me this sorry smile and?—”
“It’s their job to make you sweat.” Jayden laces our hands together while Eli heads for his G-Wagon.
“Yeah, I guess so. Speaking of sweating,” I venture while jumping into the front passenger seat. “Have you heard anything from Parker?”
I’ve made a point of not asking Summer. She doesn’t need any more pressure or stress with how busy we are and how heavily pregnant she is.
“Not yet. He said it could take a while depending on how busy his friend is and the security infrastructure of the system being hacked.”
“What does it matter?” Jayden grumbles, threading my braid through the gap between the seat and headrest. “We know the prick did it.”
“Knowing it on a feeling and knowing it because it’s black-and-whiteproof are two different things,” Eli says. “And he had the gall to tell me to prove it.”
“Lex and Dad are on it. They’ll find something soon enough. Something we can legally use to nail the bastard.”
“They will, and we said we wouldn’t talk about any of this today.” Eli gives my thigh a squeeze. “We’re meant to be celebrating.”
Jayden tugs playfully on my braid as he asks, “You want to go grab lunch at the mall?”
Mulling his question over, I ogle the license in my hand. Focusing my energy back on the giddy feeling in my chest. I’m proud of myself. It’s nice to have something positive to fixate on, an achievement.
“We could go to the grocery store, grab some snacks, and picnic in the indoor garden,” I give him a better idea that won’t have us eating lunch as fast as we can, so we don’t attract the attention of the reporters and photographers.
The other day, there were two outside the office when Jayden picked me up. It was late, and the flash of their cameras was so jarring that I jumped with every snap. It feels weird how, instead of losing interest, they seem to be more eager for a piece of us.
“That works out great,” Jayden says with an excitable whoop.
“Good God, man, keep your cool.” Eli gives him a look in the rearview mirror as we pull into theWhole Foodsclose to our place.
The two of them have been acting shifty all morning. They never pick me up out front of our building; they always drive into the garage. Not today.
Usually, after training, the two of them spend the rest of the day in shorts and team t-shirts because they literally live and breathe Comets hockey all day, every day during the season. I’m not sure why they have so many clothes, given they’re always in team gear. Except today, they showed up in normal clothes. All cleaned up. Freshly shaven, smelling like a walking commercial for sex in a bottle.
