Chapter 21
FINLEY
The dark surrounds me when I open my eyes. My head is still catching up with itself as I search the bed for Jayden and Elijah. The sheets have gone from smelling of Jayden all the time to a mix of the three of us in the week since we’ve returned from Miami.
Aside from training and the two home games the Comets have played this week, we haven’t left the apartment. Mostly because we’ve spent too much time exploring each other to think about exploring the outdoors.
A smile stretches across my lips as I roll out of bed, butt naked and pleasantly sore in all the right places.
Tapping the light on the bedside table, I check the clock, then pluck Jayden’s shirt from the arm of the chair where he hung it last night after the game against Toronto.
He’s so neat compared to Elijah that when I slip it on, it still feels crisp against my skin.
Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I grimace at the tangled, unruly curls clumped together from the way Jayden twisted them around his hands while he fucked me and Elijah watched.
I can’t get enough of the way he unravels. Sometimes it seems like it’s his own brand of self-torture. Like he enjoys the ache of his need as much as his release. And I love being part of what undoes him.
There’s something empowering about it. Something that wipes away all the doctrine I was barraged with for years about grace and place. I never feel less than with Jayden and Elijah. I’m their equal.
The flickering glow of the television lights up the wide archway framing the living area as I meander down the soft gray-painted hallway. I pause once more in front of the mirrored art on the wall, tying my hair up in a messy knot.
“It’s too big, JJ,” Elijah groans, sighing heavily.
“Trust me, it’ll fit,” Jayden retorts, sounding winded. A low, sexy chuckle echoes through the space, instantly covering my skin in goosebumps.
I seriously debate turning around and heading back to bed, but curiosity wins when a loud thwack slaps my senses into overdrive.
“Fuck,” Elijah grinds out. “Good God, will you just do it already?”
“I’m almost… fuck, it’s tight… need to readjust…”
My pulse quickens as I make it to the end of the hallway… and I freeze.
Mouth hanging open. Belly swooping.
Oh, wow.
My breath catches in my throat as Jayden’s eyes find me, followed by Elijah’s.
“You’re up,” Jayden says at the same time Elijah states, “You’re awake.”
“What are you doing?” I stutter, glancing between them, still processing the scene in front of me.
This was not where my brain was going. I don’t know whether to feel sheepish, awed, or disappointed. Clearly, my eager thoughts got away with themselves.
“Umm… surprise!” Jayden announces, pushing the top of the Christmas tree into place.
“Wow… that’s… it’s… huge.” My mouth drops open again as Jayden climbs down the stepladder, grinning like the cat that got the cream.
“Not the first time you’ve said that to me,” Jayden chuckles, literally bouncing with excitement while Elijah shakes his head, laughing under his breath. “Do you like it?”
I nod, ambling closer. The nearer I get, the smaller I feel with how tall the tree is behind them… and they’re already so big. I’ve never seen a Christmas tree this enormous in my life.
“It’s so… tall… massive…”
“I told him not to go overboard,” Elijah mutters, twisting to look up at it. “He can’t help himself.”
“The ceilings are too high for a seven-footer. It would look weird. Even my mom said so when I asked her,” Jayden says, plugging the tree into the power supply.
“And what did your momma say?” Elijah asks with a smirk.
“Well… she’s the grumpy elf of the family, so… I guess now she has company.” Jayden sticks his tongue out at Elijah, grabbing a small remote from the kitchen island where various boxes are laid out neatly like tubs in a candy shop.
Snatching up Eli’s hand, he drags him to my side. “Don’t be a grumpy asshole. It’s our first Christmas tree… It’s go big or go home, right, Lucky?”
“Looks like we’re going big,” I chuckle at the same time Elijah grumbles, “You’re incorrigible.”
“And you love it, Bombshell,” Jayden fires back, grinning across me at him with a cocky sparkle that makes my smile ache as wide as the tree behind them.
Elijah’s glaring, barely keeping his own grin in check. It’s so normal, so nice—perfect. Like all the pieces of us slotting together to form the most beautiful picture. And suddenly, I’m overwhelmed by it.
I’ve never been this happy or grounded. The future has never felt so clear and marvelous. I can’t wait to live it all. I’m greedy for it.
“Well, go on, sugar cookie,” Elijah rumbles, trying not to laugh. “Put it on.”
“Stop pulling my pigtails, bossy boots. It’s turning me on.”
I can’t with them.
It’s five in the morning, and I’m cackling so loud I can’t breathe. Meanwhile, they’re both standing there with the hugest, most ridiculous grins on their faces. Jayden’s holding the small remote out to me.
When I take it, he explains all the buttons and settings—different flash patterns, light colors, temperatures.
Elijah isn’t kidding. Jayden has gone completely overboard… and I love it.
Although we celebrated Christmas in Havenview, it wasn’t like this. We never got to believe in Santa or put up a tree, and we stopped receiving presents once we hit adolescence. Christmas became just another occasion to praise the Lord and give thanks for salvation.
Pressing the button for the first preprogrammed option, I watch the lights on the tree slowly twinkle to life in a steady golden glow. The entire room fills with warmth when Elijah and Jayden wrap their arms around my shoulders. We just stand there, staring at the lit-up tree in complete silence.
Tears roll down my cheeks, and it’s not until a sob hiccups out of me that we’re pulled from our trance. Elijah draws me into his chest, one arm holding me tight while the other cradles my head as he peppers my hair with hums and kisses.
When I look up, I find the same overwhelmed emotion in his eyes that’s filling my chest.
“We made it,” he mouths with a smile.
I nod. “We did.”
Hitching me up against his body, he throws me over his shoulder. His arms band around my knees, and when I wriggle, reaching for Jayden’s hand, Elijah bites my ass so hard my toes curl and my fingers claw into Jayden’s palm.
His stare glows with satisfaction as he follows Elijah and me to the kitchen island.
Even though we’re from two different worlds and have lived two different lives, he knows what this means for Elijah and me.
Our happiness is written across every upturned line of his face—in his dimples, in the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.
This means just as much to him as it does to us.
“We have something for you,” Elijah says, setting me on the counter while Jayden hands me a red velvet box.
It’s not as heavy as it looks, despite the gold latch and corner detailing. While Elijah steadies the bottom, I tug the green and blue plaid ribbon free.
“What is it?” I ask, too excited to keep my hands from shaking.
“Here,” Jayden chuckles, unlatching the box for me.
Only when I look past him do I realize there’s a fireplace flickering on the television. I don’t have to ask—it’s obviously Jayden’s doing. He’s an all-in kind of man. Elijah, on the other hand, is about the quiet gestures.
The old adage it’s the quiet ones you have to look out for couldn’t fit anyone better.
Lifting the red silk flaps, I peer inside the box. Oh, boy…
I look up at both of them with a gasp. They must be trying to suffocate me with emotion because, if the tree weren’t enough, this is too much. Too perfect. Too sentimental. Too everything.
“My… my hands are shaking too much. I can’t take it out,” I say, trying not to burst into ugly tears.
Jayden gently lifts the large tree ornament from the box, holding it under the spotlight so the stained glass glitters with iridescent purples, blues, and greens.
Lowering it, he twirls it so the painted birds seem to soar over my thighs and their bare chests.
Everything about it is exquisite—unlike anything I’ve ever owned. When Elijah pauses the spin with his finger, my heart melts completely.
The photo Jayden took of us on the Hollywood Mt. hike is intricately painted on the front.
“We agreed this was the best memory we made this year,” he says, his voice as choked as mine when Elijah spins it to show the date and location painted on the back.
Though he stays silent, I see Elijah gnawing on his lip, his eyes glassy with emotion. Jayden slips an arm around his shoulders, hauling him flush to his side as he steps closer to me until my knees press against his thigh. Elijah threads our fingers together.
“It’s glorious,” I sigh when Elijah gives it another gentle spin, letting the birds soar over us—just like when we were kids dreaming of freedom, of a better life.
When I look back, that moment painted on the glass was the beginning of our forever. That day changed everything. Our whole lives for eternity.
Not for the better—
For the best.