Page 136 of Break the Ice
This level of earnest coupled with his touch is overwhelming.
“I want to be better for Fin, JJ. To be… I…” Dark eyes search mine desperately. “I want… I?—”
The sudden ping of the elevator doors echoes around us, and too quickly we’re pulling away from each other. Eli’s usual stoic mask is in place when the doors open.
“Morning, guys,” Auguste’s girlfriend greets.
“Hey,” Eli greets them as we get in, and he spins to face the closing doors.
“Welcome back, Bambi,” I greet Courtney while bumping fists with Auguste.
The way he’s holding on to her coupled with her disheveled hair explains why the elevator took so long. It’s not the first time they’ve held it up, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Turning, I stand next to Eli. We’re not touching, but I swear I can feel the crackle of his presence all the way to the marrow of my bones. I can still feel his hold on me. And I wish I knew what he was going to say. What he wants. Because I would move every goddamn mountain to give it to him.
“You feel that, Masterchef?” Courtney croons from behind us. “It’s kinda warm in here.”
Auguste chuckles. Knowingly.
I’m reminded that the guys talk, and Matheo made it very clear what they suspect goes on between Eli and me.
It couldn’t be further from the truth. But fuck, after the way he looked at me up there. The way he touched me…
I want to inch closer to him. To brush my hand over his just to feel his skin.
Instead, I stare ahead, counting down the floors until we reach the garage.
CHAPTER 42
FINLEY
Never in my life have I seen so many different samples of fabric, paint, wood varnish, and every other finish you can imagine. I’m certain that when I walk back into Elijah’s apartment, I’m going to see it in a completely new light than when I left this morning.
“I have some more coming next week for the summer collections. It’s going to be mostly fabrics, and I have a couple new suppliers that work with some popular European brands. There’s an Italian one that has this whole fresh lemony yellows and vibrant blues collection I’m dying to get my hands on.” Summer pauses, her nose wrinkling while I look at her completely awed by her passion.
When I arrived this morning, I was bleary eyed and exhausted from tossing and turning all night. Overthinking Jayden’s kiss and Elijah’s openness with us yesterday.
Something’s shifted with him, and I can’t put my finger on it. Since his migraine episode, he’s lowered his walls a tad.
Still, I can’t help going back to our conversation before Thanksgiving when he told me that Jayden is the better man.
I agree that he is an amazing man, but for all his brilliant qualities, I do not think that he is better than Elijah.
Not one bit.
“I know this is a lot to take in... Probably doesn’t help that I haven’t stopped to take a breath...” Summer drops into her desk chair, hugging her cute bump. “It’s so nice having another person here. It’s usually just me and Dex.”
At the mention of his name, her dog meanders over with a yawn.Placing his head in her lap, he noses her belly. It might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“He’s as bad as his daddy with the bump fussing,” she groans, but her tone and facial expression are amused rather than annoyed. While she continues stroking Dex’s head, she asks, “How's Eli doing? Christina said you couldn’t make it to taco night because he’s still recovering.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him. Jayden was away with the team, and it was the first game he missed... I couldn’t leave him on his own.”
Not to mention that the last thing he needed was the stress of me being out in LA with all the weird stalkery crap that’s going on. The thought of it has me reaching into my jeans’ pocket for the Air Tag I slipped in there before I left the apartment.
It’s weird how something so small gave me the ease I needed to leave home on my own and feel relatively safe.
“It sounds weird, I know, but I’ve started watching the hockey with Parker lately. I don’t know how you survive watching your man getting hit and—uuuugh,” she says with a shudder.
