Page 125 of Chasing Hope

MATTEO

I know you’re pissed at me

and continue being pissed all you want

but don’t do that to Evie, not now

I don’t think she can handle another person turning their back on her

ELLINGTON

she should have thought about that before stabbing me in the back first

MATTEO

nothing even happened until the elevator. there was nothing to tell you Caleb, I swear

ELLINGTON

I don’t believe you.

I don’t believe either of you.

do yourself a favor and stop texting me.

Could this night get any worse?

How has it gone from kissing the woman of my dreams to watching her be utterly obliterated by her family? I love Caleb likea brother—heart, mind, and soul—but that bond tonight was put to the test.

I know I’ve betrayed him. I know I’m going to have to repair what I broke, but he has things to answer for as well. When I came to, the look on Evie’s face told me I missed more than just precious minutes of consciousness. It told me Caleb ran his mouth.

I’m frightened of the damage he’s caused her. In the span of twenty minutes, I’ve watched the people that have always been there for her—her sounding boards, her rocks—absolutely obliterate her heart.

Whatever her mom whispered to her at the door was the final nail in her coffin.

Evie’s face shattered right along with her heart.

By the time I make it up the stairs and turn down our corridor, her door is shut already. My steps are muffled by the carpet so she doesn’t hear me coming. I don’t think she could over the crying that’s floating beneath the door.

My face crumples. It physically hurts me to hear her cry.

Lifting my hand, I gently knock. The second I do, her sniffles cease.

“Dove? Can I come in?” I ask before trying the handle, only to find it locked.

The loud sobs may have ended but I can hear the struggle to tame them. Her breathing is labored, gasping in lungfuls of air and failing.

“Evie, please let me in,” I plead, laying my forehead against the door. “Don’t shut me out, please. It’s fucking killing me hearing you cry and not being able to soothe you.”

The moment my lips met hers, my world changed.

I saw colors that I’ve never seen, felt emotions that I never dared to dream. All because ofher. I knew the moment I had a taste of her I’d never be able to let her go and that’s showing in this moment.

There are no more pretenses for me. No more pretending the smell of her scent doesn’t make my heart skip a beat, no more pretending her smile isn’t the most radiant thing I’ve ever seen, nomore pretending that the days I’m away from her don’t leave a cloud above my head.

There is no more hiding how I feel.

Pandora’s box was opened, and held within wasn’t misery but my love for the woman I’d grown up dreaming to cherish yet deep down utterly terrified I’d never be given such an honor.