Page 41 of Cross the Line
“What’s going on?”
“Lex wants me to make a statement on my social media.”
He nods, tucking his hands into the back pockets of his chinos, bending a fraction for headroom. “When was the last time you posted to your socials?”
Never. “Lex has a PR person who does it.”
“Exactly. Your socials are the most impersonal feeds. Even Dylan posts personal shit with Lily and her kittens and his sunrise runs. Yours are just endorsements. So why suddenly make apersonalstatement?” His eyes widen, shoulders hunching.
I didn’t expectthisreaction. “Why are you mad?”
“Because…” He scrubs his face, rough enough thatIwince. “Fuck, Eli, this isn’t about your career. It’s not about hockey or the court of public opinion. This is aboutus.You, me, and Fin.”
“I know, and if you’d let me get a word in, you’d know Idon’twant to put out a statement.”
His mouth twitches, sheepish. I step in, take his hands, and thread our fingers.God, I love this. The contact. The closeness.
“What I want is to figure out what this is and what we’re doing, because I need to tell Lex where I’m at. I need him to understand that whatever is said cannot undermine our future.”
“You don’t need to justify yourself to the fucking world,” he says, stepping into me. “I never announced my sexuality to the world. I did me and let it catch on. The people who matter know who I am, and that’s all I care about.” He rests his forehead on mine with a sigh. “The worlddoesn’t get this part of you or me. It doesn’t get a say in what we do. It sure as fuck doesn’t get to judge us.”
“I can’t fly by the seat of my pants, JJ. I need an idea of what’s coming so I can make a plan and protect you and Finley and?—”
“Sweetheart, you can’t see the future and you can’t protect us from it.”
I know.But I also know I have to protectmeenough to be the man they deserve.
“Can’t we take it one day at a time? Screw the world and what it thinks…” He brings our hands up, sets mine on his chest, and cups my face. “I only care about you and Fin. I only want you and Fin. The rest is either a bonus or background noise.”
I slide my hands up to his shoulders. “So whatisthis? What are you doing?”
Color rushes his cheeks, boyish and perfect. A grin tugs at my mouth as his hazel eyes trace my face like a map.
“Well, you did call me your boyfriend…” His voice softens, playful. “I mean, I kinda really fucking liked that.”
Heat blooms up my neck. My insides swoop when his thumbs graze my lip and our bodies align.
“I want to kiss you,” he groans over my mouth, the tip of his nose brushing mine.
I stroke up his throat, rake my thumbnails along his jaw. The scrape of his stubble sends a bright shock up my arms.
“So fucking bad,” he murmurs, ghosting my lips.
“Me, too,” I whisper, breathless.
“But we can’t,” he whines, fingers pushing into my hair, like he might do it anyway.
He doesn’t. We both know we can’t. “Not until we talk to Fin.”
“Talk to me about what?”
Jayden and I both turn to find Finley standing in the opening to the lounge. Her eyes are stuck on us with wonder rather than surprise. I don’t know what happens in the few seconds we’re silent, but her face falls and her posture sags.
“Why do you need to talk to me about kissing each other? I don’t mind. I promise… I promise I don’t. I…”
She swallows down the rest of her words when I step forward to bring her into the room, closer to Jayden and me. Her hands are wringing together while her gaze darts between us. Before I reach her, the torrential downpour soaks down her face.
Fuck, she’s terrified as I wrap my arms around her and hold her to my chest.
