Page 38 of Break the Ice
The easy warmth in his smile lightens the weight in my chest. When my breathing settles and I step down, I notice Elijah’s attention snagged on our hands—Jayden’s hanging close to mine, a breath of space between our knuckles.
I look down too and, for one strange second, wonder what it would feel like if his fingers brushed mine as we left together, three across.
“I think the treadmill has earnt a rest,” Jayden says, lightly, and holds the door for me and Elijah.
The sheen of sweat from earlier has soaked his tank now, making it cling in ways that erase any memory of softness. We pause at the elevator. Both of them pull out their phones. Elijah flicks away notifications, jaw set. Jayden scans his, lips pouting into something churlish and oddly charming.
“You down for a FIFA tourney? Rio’s setting it up for this afternoon. Erik and Ansel are in. Think Oliver’s in too…”
“Can’t today.” Elijah ushers me into the elevator as the doors slide open.
If Jayden’s pout was sullen before, it’s tragic now. His bottom lip juts. I feel myself wanting to fix it before I think better of it.
“We can go to the mall another day,” I offer, too quickly—anything to smooth his expression.
“There won’t be another day if Christina kills us for cancelling on her,” Elijah says before before telling Jayden, “You and Rio can team up.”
“Yeah… no. Soccer is his obsession. Last time I played on his team, he was an overcompetitive asshole. I like all my anatomy in all the right places.”
Elijah chuckles. “If you want, you can come with us to the mall.”
Jayden glances between us. “Nah, I don’t want to third wheel.”
“I’m already the third wheel,” Elijah chuffs. “So, technically you’d be the fourth.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Jayden looks across Elijah to me. “Lucky?”
“Of course,” I say, meaning it.
“Beats getting verbally abused for fun…” Jayden muses. “Yeah, okay. I’ll tag.”
A flutter swoops through my belly at the change of plans. Even so, a small voice needles at me:
Is Elijah inviting him, so he doesn’t have to be alone with me? He’s an expert at building space where touch might happen.
I don’t know how to stop it. I only know I’ll have to learn.
CHAPTER 12
FINLEY
The mall is huge and busy, and every couple of steps, I check for Elijah. I was so eager to leave the apartment, but now that I’m outside, I can’t stop looking over my shoulder. Questioning every lingering look, every questionable stare.
I hold on tighter to Christina’s hand as I glance behind us to find Elijah and Jayden following us. They’re carrying all the bags of clothes Christina helped me shop for. She’s going crazy with Elijah’s credit card, and I’m not comfortable with that, either. He’s done so much for me already, and I have no real means of repaying him.
“What’s wrong, Amish?” Christina asks, dragging me into another store while Elijah and Jayden stay outside.
When I look around at the various mannequins, I freeze on the spot.
All the lingerie makes my body flush. This is the kind of underwear my mother would have a heart attack over. I’ll probably go straight to hell by stepping foot in this store.
“Don’t look so scandalized. It’s lace and silk, and?—”
“It looks expensive,” is all the reply I can muster when an attendant approaches us.
