Page 170 of Cross & Crown

wedding ring. Represents eternity.”

Kelly finally leaned away and turned to meet Nick’s eyes.

Nick couldn’t tell what color his eyes were tonight in the low

light of the restaurant. He thought they might be gray.

Nick kissed him before Kelly could speak. “I love you,”

he whispered. His words came out almost desperate and he

wasn’t entirely sure why. Kelly had just seen a part of him he’d hoped no one would ever see. He didn’t know what Kelly

would do with that.

“Do you two need to go to your room?” Julian asked with

a long-suffering sigh.

“Soon,” Kelly answered, his voice hoarse and serious.

He gave Nick a barely perceptible nod and they both sat up

straighter. Kelly cleared his throat. “This says the circles can represent anything from eternity to fidelity to the meeting of

the spirit and matter.”

“Spirit and matter?” Julian repeated. “Why?”

“The solid line encircling the inner part that’s made of

nothing,” Kelly summarized as he read what he’d found on his

phone. He clicked it off and put it away.

“The sideways arch?” JD asked.

“It’s probably just an arch,” Nick guessed. “They had to

work in the confines of their task, which was to make it look

like a clover. Instead of a straight line, though, they chose to curve it to make it an arch. What numbers did we end up

with?”

JD handed him the napkin. He had drawn the star, with

circles representing each gem. He’d shaded in the pieces that

were red or green, and copied the writing on the diamonds.

They weren’t numbers after al , but more symbols.

“You’re sure this is right?” Nick asked.

171

JD nodded, looking a little perturbed that Nick would