Page 156 of Chasing Hope

Valenti.

27.

Unraveling it from its neat fold, he holds it up between us, revealing it to be my size.

“Will you do me the honor and wear my jersey?”

Matteo’s heart is on his sleeve, his emotions written stark across his face. The wall I always wanted him to drop around me is eviscerated as he shows me his vulnerability.

He’s scared.

Clasping the hem of the jersey I’m wearing, I slowly take it off. The moment my skin and bra are exposed, Matteo sucks in a hiss of air. My blonde hair cascades over my shoulder as I lean forward and gently take the jersey he’s offering me.

For the first time in my life, I’m not filled with anxiety or dread as I undress in front of someone.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispers, his eyes on my face as he repeats like an answered prayer, “So fucking beautiful.”

Smiling to myself, I slip into the new jersey. Once it’s on, I splay my hands across his chest, soaking up the warmth and contact of his skin against mine, savoring the way he stops breathing entirely at my touch and how right this feels between us.

How nothing has ever felt right unless it was with him.

I slide my hands up his body, my nails gently scratching the nape of his neck and scalp. My heart skips a beat as he groans, eyes fluttering.

It does something to my body to see him so turned on by me. The power is heady, and it oddly makes me feel in charge, to know that I affect him just as much as he affects me.

Lifting onto the tips of my toes, I whisper against his lips, “I’m yours, Matteo. Every part of me is yours. Are you mine?”

“I’ve been yours since I was seven years old,” he admits before bringing our lips together and kissing me in such a way I feel as if he’s pouring every emotion he’s ever felt for me into it.

The kiss is gentle yet demanding. Soft yet invigorating. Languid yet heated.

It’s a promise.

A vow.

One I doubt he will ever break.

He pulls back, resting his forehead against mine as he declares, “I’ve always been yours, and I’ll continue to be for as long as my soul exists. In every lifetime, I’ll choose you. Always you, Dove.”

I pour everything I have into the kiss, the tirade of emotions swelling in my chest, the need to touch him overpowering and the waves of love limitless.

Walking into Totti’s, the girls take one look at my face, then the jersey I’m wearing with the number 27 on it, before they all start clapping.

Rolling my eyes, I take a seat beside Cindy, chuckling. It feels good to have girlfriends, ones that are genuine and kind. Learning so much about them through the group chat has honestly eased my heart. Soothed a trust wound I didn’t realize was there. I suppose you can’t have your best friend backstab you like I did and jump into new friendships without some hesitancy, though.

Cindy lifts the fruity pink cocktail to her lips with a smirk. “I can’t fucking wait to hear this.”

Bella leans forward, grinning. “Layla said you and Matteo made out in the elevator.”

“Is it true Caleb caught you?”

Cindy snaps her head to Layla. “I didn’t hear that part. You were holding out on me! What the fuck?”

Layla’s cheeks heat, turning as crimson as her hair in itsgorgeous half-up, half-down hairstyle. “I didn’t want to share details in case Evie didn’t want us to know.”

Cindy fixes me with wide, imploring eyes. “You want us to know, right?”

Snorting out a laugh, I scan the barcode on the table to order a cocktail for myself. “You girls are like a hurricane.” I nod at Bella. “Yes, we kissed in the elevator.” Next, I look at Layla. “Yes, Caleb saw.” Finally, I smirk at Cindy. “And of course I want you to know.”