Page 158 of Chasing Hope

Layla sighs dreamily. “Me too.”

Laughing at them, I turn back to the rink, locking eyes on Caleb this time. He’s looking in my direction, but he’s not looking at me, though. He’s looking at…oh shit.

“What the fuck is up his ass?” Cindy murmurs beside me.

I grimace. “I think he just saw the jersey number I’m wearing.”

27 instead of 11.

Caleb’s head slowly swivels to Matteo, confirming what I thought.

“They get so territorial over jerseys,” Bella says as she leans forward.

Layla snorts beside her. “You’d know that best.”

Bella’s cheeks heat and I want to ask what Layla means by that but I can’t, not as I watch my brother shake his head and skate as far away from me as he can. Grayson glances between Caleb and Matteo, worry creasing his brows. Kieran then quickly makes his way over to Matteo, Grayson soon after heading in Caleb’s direction.

“They’re doing damage control,” Bella announces.

“No damage control could fixthat.” Around another mouthful of popcorn, Cindy adds, “I wish I were a fly right now.”

“Asher will tell you everything later, I’m sure,” I say. He’s already watching from the sidelines, listening to Caleb and Grayson.

Cindy snorts. “I taught him so well.”

“The men gossip more than us,” Layla adds in.

“Point proven by Kieran running to you about the elevator,” I say.

Cindy’s smirk is downright devilish. “Babe, that piece of gossip was too juicy for even a nun to keep to herself.”

Laughing at her choice of words, the girls and I continue to chat amongst ourselves as I decide that this has gone on long enough between my brother and me. Tomorrow, I’ll call him, try to actuallyspeakwith him. If he keeps dodging my calls…well, he’s just a few floors up. I’ll turn into Irving and hound him.

Stubbornness isn’t just a hockey player trait.

Layla leans back in her seat, our gazes colliding behind Cindy’s head. “Do you think they can put their feelings aside and play well together?”

“They have to. It’s their job.” Cindy and Bella give each other a look that has me doubting myself. “Right?” I add.

Iwasn’t right.

They couldn’t sort their differences out for the game—or more so, Caleb couldn’t. I’ve seen those two work together, how they practically flow as one, and tonight was nothing like how they usually are. IceHawks still won, but I could tell by Caleb and Matteo’s grim faces that this wasn’t a good game forthem.

Chapter 47

Evie—Age Thirteen

The sun warms my skin, leaving a golden glow that despite how fast it develops always fades two weeks later.

“Ugh,” Sarah groans, propping her head up on her fist as she lounges by the lake on her stomach. “Did you hear what Emma has been saying?”

Lifting myself up on my elbows, I play with the frayed edges of my towel, my sunglasses perched atop my nose. From my new vantage point, I can see more of the lake, and Matteo, whose muscles are rippling as he and Caleb throw a football back and forth. Always so inseparable.

“No? Should I have?”

Sarah scrunches her nose, her dark bronzed skin making mine look pearly white in comparison. “Probably, she’s telling everyone she and Matteo are going out.”

“What?” I squeak out, my head snapping back to Matteo, right as he glances over at me.