Page 38 of Cross the Line
‘I’m leaving for Dallas tomorrow,’ he announces as we cross our shared driveway. ‘I need to get some time on the simulator at headquarters.’
My stomach drops. He insisted that I fly all the way home, and now he’s abandoning me? ‘Oh. I thought we’d be here until we headed to Canada.’
‘You can say you’re gonna miss me, Willow. It’s okay.’
I almost scowl, but then I catch sight of his grin, so I elbow him in the ribs instead. ‘Shut up.’ But I guess this means he’s over the little fit that talking to his mom sent him into. ‘I just thought you wanted to do more content creation together. Kind of seems like a wasted trip.’
‘Sorry.’ He doesn’t sound sorry at all. ‘I didn’t know the team wanted me back there until last night.’ His easy tone turns bitter in an instant. ‘Guess they’re worried about how I’m going to perform, even though Nathaniel’s the one who crashed out the past two times we were there, not me.’
I observe him, taking in the tension around his eyes. ‘I’m getting the sense that you two aren’t besties.’
Dev snorts as we step up to my front door. ‘You could say that.’
When he doesn’t elaborate, I cross the threshold into my house and wave to my dad in his home office off the foyer. The lanky man is hunched over in his ergonomic chair with four computer screens in front of him. Before Oakley started racing, Dad was a software engineer, and now that he’s no longer managing my brother’s career, he’s gone back to his roots. Mom is a top cardiothoracic surgeon, so there’s really no reason for him to work, but I think he does it just to keep himself occupied. I know he misses Oakley’s racing days.
Dad returns our greeting with an enthusiastic wave of his own but is quickly distracted by something on one of his screens. I smile to myself as he turns away, then I head upstairs with Dev following close behind me.
‘So, we’ll meet up in Montreal?’ I ask him when we reach the top landing. I’m disappointed that we’ll be apart for nearly a week, but at least we have this time together. For business, of course.
‘If that’s okay,’ he answers.
I nod and push into my bedroom. ‘Yeah, it’s fine. I have enough content for daily posts and stories until we’re together again. But if you wouldn’t mind snapping a few pictures while you’re gone, I’d be grateful.’
‘Anything for you.’
It takes a second, but then the words and their potential meaning hit me square in the chest. As I turn to him, Dev seems to have the same realization about what he’s said, because he quickly follows it up with, ‘I mean anything you need for the job.’
After his slip-up yesterday and whatever he said to his mother this morning, I don’t quite buy it. But I force myself to, because the alternative is having another discussion about why we need to keep things appropriate.
‘Thanks,’ I say, flashing him a tight smile. I shuffle over to grab my laptop from my bedside table, then bring it to my desk and open it. ‘Give me a second to pull everything up.’
Dev grunts his assent, and I swipe through the photos, bringing up the ones I want to show him. I edited everything into black and white, except for the last photo I’ll include in the carousel. It’s Dev with his surfboard under his arm. He’s walking away, but he’s turned enough that his trademark grin is on full display. It’s a little crooked, and he’s squinting against the sun, but he looks . . . happy. It’s the Dev I’ve known my whole life.
The Dev I want the whole world to know.
‘Oh my god. You still have this?’ he asks from behind me with a laugh.
I freeze, still examining the photo, because who knows what he’s found. This room is full of relics from my childhood. When I turn, he’s holding up the small plush elephant I’ve had on my bedside table for more years than I can count. Ellie has been in residence in this space for so long that I barely remember she’s here any more. But suddenly, I’m very much aware of her again.
All because she was a gift from Dev a long time ago.
He won her for me at the county fair. Our parents had tasked him and Oakley with watching me that day, and when I laid eyes on the display of stuffed elephants at one of the game stalls, I couldn’t be dragged away. While Oakley threatened to get Mom when I wouldn’t comply, Dev shrugged and said he’d win one for me if I wanted it so badly. And so, he did.
Even at twelve years old, he had better hand–eye coordination than most adults, and less than five minutes later, the woman running the stall handed over the toy. Dev held the elephant for a moment, savouring his win, then he handed it over to me. If I had to pinpoint when I fell in love with him, that might be it.
Gasping, I surge up from my chair and then rush toward him. ‘Put her down!’
Dev holds Ellie above my head and gazes up at her. ‘I can’t believe you kept this thing.’
‘Of course I kept her.’ I scowl, reaching for the toy, but he keeps her just out of reach. ‘Ellie’s too cute to get rid of.’
‘Ellie?’ he repeats, still laughing. ‘Ellie the elephant?’
‘I wasnine, Dev. Children aren’t exactly known for giving things the most creative names. Now give herback.’
I jump for her, pressed up against him in order to give myself a better chance, but Dev whips an arm around my waist and sweeps me off my feet. Then he unceremoniously drops me on my bed. It’s not pretty, but he’s gentle enough that it doesn’t hurt anything other than my ego.
Still, it leaves me spluttering in offence. ‘Oh, you asshole!’ But holy shit, that move has set something ablaze inside me.
