Page 83 of Cross the Line
‘I don’t care.’ Anyone on this floor who sees me knows to keep their mouth shut. ‘I can stay as long as you want me to.’
She snuggles closer, a contented sound escaping her lips. ‘Good. I don’t want this night to end.’
Neither do I. And I can only hope all of our nights from now on look exactly like this one.
I press a kiss to her forehead, then litter more across her curls until she giggles and pushes my face away. With a grin, I pull her in and pin her down to steal all the kisses I want, but the muffled buzz of my phone in the pocket of my jeans on the floor distracts me. I consider ignoring it, but it could be Howard, and I’m not about to miss the call that could shape the rest of my life.
‘I’m not done with you,’ I declare, planting one more hard kiss on her lips before leaning over the edge of the bed.
Except when I yank my phone free, Howard’s name isn’t the one flashing on the screen. It’s Oakley’s.
Willow lifts a hand to my chest, a concerned crease between her brows. ‘Who is it?’ she asks.
I don’t want to wreck her peace, but I won’t be dishonest. ‘Oakley.’
As I anticipated, she stiffens beside me, though to her credit, she doesn’t pull away. ‘Answer it,’ she instructs.
Without second-guessing it, I slide my finger across the screen and say, ‘Hey, man.’
All I hear at first is the rush of air, like he’s driving fast with the windows down and the call on speaker. ‘What time are you getting into town tomorrow?’ Oakley shouts over the noise.
I frown, watching Willow. She can likely hear his side of the conversation in the quiet of our room.
‘Are you in San Diego already?’ I ask.
‘Got in earlier,’ he answers. ‘Our moms have already force-fed me at least six meals. I had to get out for a drive before they made me eat another.’ He snorts. ‘Good thing I’m not the one racing these days. I wouldn’t be able to fit in the car.’
I force out a laugh. ‘Maybe I’ll put off coming home for a few more days, then. I can’t risk it.’
‘Nah, fuck that. Get your ass back here ASAP. I’m bored without you, and Neha Aunty is starting to go a little wild with all this wedding stuff. I need reinforcements. Which brings me back to my original question: when will you be here?’
I glance at the clock on the bedside table. It’s two a.m., which means it’s five p.m.yesterdayin California. I’ve been travelling the world for most of my life, and the time zones still get me wildly fucked up.
Today is technically the first day of the summer break. I promised Oakley and my family that I’d come home as soon as I could so that I’d have plenty of time with them, plus some time to relax before the whirlwind of Alisha’s multi-day wedding starts. I’m supposed to get on a California-bound plane at some point today – along with Willow and Mark and Chava – but I’d be hard-pressed to say when. I was a little too busy having sex with this guy’s sister to bother looking up my itinerary last night.
I squeeze my eyes shut, then open them and focus on Willow’s perfect face. ‘I don’t know,’ I mumble. ‘Check with Chava. He’s the one running my life.’
‘Already called him like three times. He didn’t answer,’ Oakley counters. ‘Maybe Willow knows. She’s usually an organized control freak about this kind of stuff. I’ll call her now. Talk to you la—’
‘No!’ I blurt, just as Willow’s eyes go wide. Shit, now I have to cover. ‘It’s like two in the morning here, man. Stop calling people and waking them up. When I find out, I’ll text you.’
Oakley heaves a sigh that’s almost lost in the wind. ‘Fine. Just don’t leave me here alone for too long. I miss you, you dickhead.’
Even though my stomach is roiling with guilt, his words make me smile a little. ‘Miss you too. See you soon enough.’
I hang up and toss the phone back to the floor, groaning as I scrub my hands down my face.
When I open my eyes again, Willow has her chin tucked to her chest and her lower lip pulled between her teeth.
The phone call has officially burst the bubble we created for ourselves.
‘How is this supposed to work, Dev?’ she asks. Her voice is small. Scared. ‘How are we supposed to do this?’
I run a hand over her hair, wanting to soothe her, but I’m just as terrified. ‘How do you want to handle it?’
‘I don’t know,’ she murmurs. ‘I want to be with you. Iamwith you. But I’m afraid of telling Oakley.’ She takes a breath and lifts her chin, even if it wobbles a little. She’s being as strong as she can right now. ‘Can we keep this between us for a little while? I want us to be sure about this – all on our own – before we tell anyone. No distractions. No doubts. No one trying to talk us out of anything.’
I’m already sure, have been for entirely too long now, but she’s right. There can’t be a single doubt from either side when we take the plunge. The waves we make will be big, and loving each other might not be enough to keep them from drowning us.
