Page 188 of Break the Ice
I’m happy, and there’s nothing that could rob me of it.
Nothing at all.
CHAPTER 57
FINLEY
Elijah’s chef sets down a plate in front of me like it’s the crown jewel of the morning—golden breakfast quiche steaming beside a berry-and-arugula salad dressed in something so tangy-sweet it has my mouth watering before the fork even lands in my hand.
It should lift my spirits. It almost does.
But Mother Nature decided to show up early this morning, and between that and the guys being gone for practice already, I’m sitting here with sore muscles and an empty ache in my chest that throbs louder with every second they’re not here.
I stab a strawberry like it insulted me personally.
“It’s not going to run off your plate,” Scott says lightly, sliding a coffee in front of me, all creamy foam and much needed caffeine.
“Thank you,” I murmur before I take a bite. The sweet-tart berries, the peppery greens, the maple-balsamic dressing—it all sings on my tongue, a thousand times better than it has any right to be.
Like Elijah, Jayden, and me. Three things that shouldn’t make sense together but do. Perfectly.
And yet, under all the sweetness, there’s the bite of something sharper. Guilt, maybe. Or the ghost of it. That old voice from The Fellowship whispering in the back of my mind about sin and temptation, about how love was supposed to come through The Elders, through God, through rules and arranged marriages—not like this.
I grip my fork tighter.
Scott is halfway through explaining the meal plan he’s loaded intothe apartment’s system when the door bursts open and chaos barrels in on four legs.
“Samson!” Auguste barrels in behind him, voice full of apology. “Sorry—he doesn’t know he’s basically a small horse now. Only nine months old. Still thinks he’s a lap dog.”
Elijah snorts, catching Samson’s collar before the dog knocks me clean off the stool. “More like a wrecking ball with fur,” he says, smirking down at the dog.
Auguste laughs, shaking his head. “Yeah, Courtney keeps saying he’ll calm down once he hits a year, but…” He gestures at Samson, who is now trying to climb into my lap with zero shame. “Not holding my breath. She’ll be around for a couple weeks during the holidays, so we’ll all have to hang out.”
Samson barks like this is the best plan anyone’s ever had, tail wagging so hard his whole back end wiggles.
Elijah catches him before he knocks over the empty stool. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him laugh like this.
When he turns his beaming smile on me, I melt.
“Want a roomie while the team’s on the road?” he asks.
I blink. “A roomie?”
“Yeah, if you’re okay with it,” Elijah says, crouching to ruffle the pup’s head. “Coach sprung the road trip on me last minute. With Jayden and me being away and Christina not being able to take time off work and school to stay with you…” He glances at me, soft around the eyes. “Figured Samson could stay with you. That way neither of you are alone.”
Samson noses at my hand like he already knows the answer.
“I’d like that,” I murmur, scratching his ears as he leans his full weight against my leg like we’ve been best friends forever. “What about work?”
“You can leave him here, he’s used to being home alone some of the day.”
Auguste grins, leaning on the counter. “He’s a big goof, but he’s a sweetheart.”
“Only if he doesn’t steal Finley’s breakfast,” Elijah coos at the pup.
Too late. Samson’s already licking at my empty plate, tail thumping.
Auguste groans. “Yeah, that too. Sorry. He thinks anything unattended belongs to him.”
