Page 39 of Cross the Line
“We should get going,” he says to Elijah. “The team is loading the bus. It’s the perfect distraction to get everyone out of the hotel and in the cars.”
“Yeah,” Lex agrees as his stare lands on Christina. “And you are.”
“With them.” Christina’s reply is quick, curt, deadpan enough to lift his brows.
Before Lex can argue, Elijah says, “Christina is our friend.”
“We could do without the entourage.”
“You could do with a Valium or a Xanax.” Christina slings on her backpack, then hands mine to Elijah. “Thought we were leaving?”
“Let’s get out of here,” he says, giving me and Jayden a soft smile.
Okay. Breathe.
Day and night.
Seasons.
Science.
I slide my hand into Jayden’s and touch Elijah’s wrist as we turn to go. They’re mine. I’m theirs. Undertow and all.
CHAPTER 10
ELIJAH
The toll of the last twenty-four hours is starting to show. My mind is lost somewhere along the timeline between yesterday morning’s practice and the present. Being mindless feels good. It’s liberating, and for once, I’m not cowering between the stringent lines that keep me in check, breathing, functioning.
This feels a lot like living, and the little taste has me addicted. The color, the air, the buzz burning through my veins…
I never imagined it would feel like this to let go. To stop running. The world feels different—better—when I’m not being chased down and hunted by my own fears.
That doesn’t mean I’m not terrified of where this path is leading. Like when my mother texted earlier.
Straight to hell.
It took me a minute to work through it before I realized: hell is exactly where I’ve lived the last seven years.
Hell is where that night left me. And where I am now feels a lot like my kingdom has finally come.
I sit up in the light leather seat and listen to Lex run through the damage control he’s put in place. With the aftershock of my migraine diagnosis still shadowing us, he’s determined to take the brunt of the publicity.
So when he showed up at the hotel with Taylor after Finley and Christina, I wasn’t surprised he’d already arranged with Coach and the team to keep a low profile and fly us to Miami on his jet.
“Look,” he says with a long sigh. “Fake news comes and goes, and the team has a handle on it now.”
“You mentioned my sponsorships. The Prayer app and The Christian Children’s Society…”
“When a door closes, a window opens. They weren’t your largest sponsors, and The Prayer app especially wasn’t something you wanted to be the face of long term, right?”
“Right.”
“Personally, I think distancing yourself from the religious context isn’t a bad thing,” Taylor says. “I think you need to give yourself room to grow and explore without the fear of letting people down.”
“What does that mean?” I focus on the glossy chestnut grain of the table.
“It means the three of you need to figure out what you are to each other. What you’re doing…” Lex laces his fingers in my line of sight, as if I need reminding he’s here. “A buddy and I had lunch a while back. He’s got Hollywood clients. He said one of them is seeing two people at the same time. He called them a throuple.”
