Chapter 42
ELIJAH
The weather in Miami is balmy as I sit out on the balcony of our hotel residence, flicking through the gratitude journal Finley made me while she and Jayden soak in the step-down hot tub..
They’re chatting away, laughing with each other, and I find myself adding to the list of things I’m grateful for in my life—the sound of JJ and Fin laughing together.
I could listen to it all day, every day, and never grow tired of it. The way his deeper voice brings out the feminine lilt of hers. It’s music to my ears.
Then there’s the sight of Finley, sitting back in that big tub, the bubbles fizzing at her chin… She’s so damn brave and strong, and I’m insanely proud of her for conquering her fear.
I don’t know where I went right to be blessed with them. I’m so grateful for their presence in my life and all the love they give me, even when I don’t deserve it. It’s why they’re at the top of the list.
1. Jayden and Finley
When Connie told me to make the list, I thought it would be easy. But the more I’ve thought about the things that I’m grateful for, the ones that bring me joy to leave the past behind, it’s like I’ve had it all wrong.
For a long time, I wasn’t looking for joy. I was using fleeting pain to gloss over the scars that were still bleeding beneath the surface. I think they’re finally scabbing over now. Thanks to Jayden and Finley.
“Fin and I are going to check out the pool for a bit, wanna come?” Jayden asks, standing over me, wet and a shade darker from the sun.
He straddles the lounger and lifts my legs onto his thighs. “I totally get it if you want to enjoy more of the peace and quiet before Rio gets here with the other guys. Christmas was crazy loud and—”
“It was great,” I tell him, sitting forward, my legs hanging over his bulging quads. I peel off his sunglasses, then mine, needing his eyes. “I loved it. Every part of it.”
“Yeah, Bibi enjoyed shoveling food down your throat,” he says with a shy laugh.
“And I loved trying everything. The eggplant dip with coconut yogurt and walnuts, the mint, and the spices—insane. I could eat it every day.” My mouth waters just thinking about it.
“Never tell her that. She’ll move in just to fatten you up, heart stealer,” JJ says with a hint of Bibi’s twang.
“What’s the word Bibi uses?” I know it; I want to hear him say it in that throaty drawl that warms my skin.
Jayden narrows his eyes and leans in, rough thumbs tracking my ribs as he enunciates, “Del-ro-ba…”
“I’m sorry…” I swallow. “Come again, I missed that.”
The green in his eyes glints with awareness as he shuffles closer, canting his face to tease my lips with his breath. “I’ll come for you anytime, Sweetheart.”
The sun blares in full force, setting me on fire. Inside and Out.
My hands frame his jaw and haul his mouth to mine. His lips are a little cracked from the Aspen cold and his nervous gnawing. When I run my tongue along them, the sensation of the rough divots has me sucking on them.
Jayden licks along my top lip, slowly dipping into my mouth.
Every pore opens to the heat when his cool fingers slip beneath the band of my board shorts and sweep down my ass.
Our tongues twist, our groans slot together, and I tighten my grip when he tries to come up for air.
I live for that breathless rasp, for his nails raking my skin, for the frantic pulse hammering against my palm. It’s like holding his perfect heart.
“God, you’re going to smother me with your kisses one of these days,” JJ pants against my mouth.
The shock of his breath mixed with the breeze snaps through me. An electromagnetic pull bringing me closer to him. I end up half in his spread lap while we straddle the seat.
“Imagine that, killing me with your kiss. Think that’s what Roberta Flack meant by Killing Me Softly?” He must see his remark go over my head, because he quietly hums the familiar tune into my ear. “Recognize it?”
I bob my head side to side with a shrug, and he sings the lyrics. The words morph to ad libs before he asks, “And now?”
“And now… I know you can’t sing for shit,” I tease, palming his flushed cheek.
“I can sing better than you,” Jayden grumbles, the playful lilt in his tone raising his voice so that Fin cracks up from the hot tub where she’s been watching us the whole time.
I love that she watches us. I can always sense the desperation of her need, building until she can’t stay away anymore.
It’s the same when I watch her and JJ together. The desperation, the need boiling over, out of control, and the ache is so overpowering that it feels like I might die if I don’t go to them.
“Doesn’t take a whole lot, Hotshot,” she coos, pushing herself out of the water.
Right on queue.
Good girl.
Jayden and I track her easy stroll in her barely-there bikini. White ruffled triangles strung at her neck.
JJ was right when he called them glorified nipple covers.
The thong panties are just as scant, with a low, ruffled waistband that sits across the flat of her belly. It hitches up over her hips so damn high that her legs look miles longer than they already are.
Our girl looks so fucking edible, I can’t resist the urge to take a bite when she reaches us.
Fin tastes like sunshine and sin with a hit of chlorine from the tub. Heaven burning on my tongue.
Finley’s arms band across our shoulders, pressing her wet, toned stomach to our faces when Jayden slaps her bare ass.
“Fuck, Lucky, are you trying to kill us?” Jayden groans into her waist when I press a kiss over the mark I’ve left by her navel.
My arm winds around the top of her thighs, slotting to the pronounced curve of her ass.
“Does it classify as killing us softly?” I tease Jayden, poking my fingers into his hip so that he almost chokes on his giggle.
“You’re an asshole,” he mutters with a belly-deep laugh when he pushes up onto his feet, tipping me onto my back while he throws Fin over his shoulder.
I hear him sucking on her asscheek as I follow inside. Finley’s in a fit of laughter, her hands reaching for me when I catch up to them. Her hair is a tangled mess of drenched waves that I fist when she loops her arms around my neck. Keeping me close to them.
“One of these days, he’s going to make you pay for that,” she giggles, squirming with every loud pop of JJ’s mouth on her ass.
“Don’t tell him, but I look forward to it,” I pretend-whisper in her ear, my free hand hooking the top of Jayden’s shorts.
My knuckles are digging into the top of his crease, and with every step he takes, I feel his muscles tense beneath them.
Ignoring me, he strides into the bedroom and heads for the white-dressed super-king bed and tosses Finley into the mound of pillows. She’s still bouncing when he turns to me with a half-bitten grin. “Careful what you wish for, Sweetheart.”
Taking a step closer, he presses the length of his body to mine. The feel of his skin on mine is electric, and when his fingers tunnel into my hair roughly, I can’t hold back my groan.
My hands anchor on his hips. Thumbs tracing that gorgeous, hard-cut V of his groin while his lips ghost across one side of my face. Settling at my ear.
“Just know that I’ve only played nice till now, Babe.” That’s all he says before he slaps my ass so damn hard, the ache echoes through me to my balls, shooting up my dick with an unforgiving throb.
Goddamn.
I know how brutal he can get. I’ve seen him let loose on Finley enough to know he’s still holding back with me. But, fuck me, all my damn wires came alive at just that one slap. And hell, if I don’t instantly want more.