Page 239 of Cross the Line
“Eli,” he whispers, thumbs strumming at the corners of my mouth. His eyes are red and swimming. “Nothing and no one will ever take me away from you. I’m yours. Forever. Doesn’t matter where I am, that will never change. You and Fin areitfor me.”
“And we want you here. Weneedyou here. With us.”
From the way his churlish pout twists, I know I’m getting to him. That he understands why I can’t keep quiet anymore.
Because loving him and Finley means fighting for them with everything I have. The way that they have continuously fought for me.
CHAPTER 68
FINLEY
Before the door opens, I’m there. For once, I beat Blanca to my guys. Traipsing forward, I wrap my arms around Eli when he walks through the door.
There are so many things I want to say. So many questions I want to ask.
Yet, all I can do as he lifts me up his body is hold on tighter with every limb, and breathe him in. I fill my lungs with his scent until I’m about to burst, and it’s pumping through my bloodstream.
“Morning, my beautiful,” he croaks into my hair while taking me deeper into our home.
His voice is threaded with exhaustion. Not just the physical kind. The gravel of it rakes from the bottom of his gut. Vibrating all the way through him and into me when he perches me on the back of the couch.
“Hello, my heart,” I whisper, nudging his nose with mine.
Eli braces his hands on either side of my hips, leaning over me. His soft sigh warms through me as I peel back to take him in. My hands sweep through his hair. The strands are rough and strong, shiny like spun gold, and I can’t stop my fingers from coiling in them.
“Fuck, that’s incredible,” is all he groans when I rub his scalp, applying more pressure with every hum he makes.
The instant his head drops to my chest, I lock eyes with Jayden. He looks as weary as Eli sounds, and my chest aches to comfort him, too.
“Hi,” I mouth, stretching one of my hands to him as he stands a few feet away with his hands in the pockets of his chinos.
Even though he smiles back, it doesn’t reach his eyes when he mouths back a “Hey.”
Something big is roiling in his stare—the kind of choked emotion that has my stomach twisting with the roll of his lips as he attempts to hide the quiver of his crestfallen expression.
Since they walked out the door yesterday morning, I knew they wouldn’t return from Portland unscathed. The certainty of it is what prompted me to take today off work. That unrelenting gut feeling is what had me glued to the TV for every second of the game. And every second since I called Eli last night, the impending cloud of doom has been hanging over me. Over us. Because, like the hockey pundits and reporters are saying, yesterday got messy and ugly, and something will give.
However, I’ll be damned if thatsomethingis me. I’ll burn heaven down before thatsomethingis my men orus.
Our love is strong and biblical—patient, kind, and hopeful. It protects and perseveres—and it will not fail us. Ever.
Waving Jayden to me, I stroke my other hand down the back of Eli’s head, rubbing the stiff muscles at his nape while our man trudges to us.
When his hand grips mine, I tug him all the way into me and cup his face to bring it to mine. The dark circles under his eyes are heavier than ever, and the shadows along the sharp lines of his face give him a drawn appearance. Then there’s the crusted cut on his lip and stitched brow. The physical reminder of his fight with Presley.
“The bastard had it coming.” My voice catches in the back of my throat when he nods, and his emotions flood his eyes.
The splintering of my heart echoes through every fiber of my being. All I can do to hold my own feelings in check is swallow down all the words that fill my mouth like vomit. All the reasons why nothing he’s done or could do would be too much. There is no hit that is unwarranted or brutal enough.
Gently, I caress my thumb over the scrape on his cheek as I crane my neck and stretch to press my lips to his. I hope my kiss is enough to draw some of the languor from his bones as one long arm hugs my waist and the other snuggles Eli deeper into us.
“I love you,” the murmur rasps from my lungs as I hold them both to me and soak up all their melancholy.
I make it my own, allowing it to fill my chest until all the smithereens of my heart are pushed back into an aching jumble of endless affection.
“Love you too, Baby,” Jayden replies, resting his temple on Eli’s head as they both stand tall in front of me.
“Love you more, Angel.” Eli offers me a glistening, one-sided quirk of his lips while his arm circles JJ’s waist, holding him at his side like they’re sharing the same pool of strength.
