Page 227 of Chasing Hope

Taking the map from me, Matteo walks behind me to the blank wall in the bedroom we now share. We haven’t moved out of the apartment with Caleb yet, not when he’s…still not doing as well as either of us had hoped. When his drinking began to increase…we knew we couldn’t. My stuff is still in the other bedroom, but let’s face it, I stopped sleeping in there a long time ago. I just like the closet space all to myself.

Pinning the map to the wall, Matteo steps to the side, pulling a dart out of his back pocket and handing it to me. “Take aim and fly.”

My eyes widen. “But what about the wall?”

He waves me off. “I put a corkboard behind it. It’s fine, I promise.”

“Okay,” I murmur, shrugging off my concerns. Lifting the dart, I squint, not particularly sure what I’m aiming for.

I’m about to let it go when Matteo comes up behind me, his rough calloused hands gently sliding up my forearm. “Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let it fly,” he whispers in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

Letting his voice guide me, I do just that. Exhaling, I let the dart leave my fingertips.

“Where did you land, Dove?”

I take a step forward, removing the dart. “The Dolomites.”

Whistling, Matteo steps up beside me, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind my ears. “What a great fucking pick.”

“Pick?” I ask with a frown.

A mischievous grin lifts Matteo’s lips as he nods toward the map. “Want to go to the Dolomites this summer?”

My head flies back and forth between the map and my boyfriend before I’m jumping up and down with joy. “Yes! Oh my god!” Stopping, I turn to him with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”

His grin has turned into a full-blown smile. “It’s time you got to explore the world. Fucking figures our first trip will be a hiking one.”

Before I can stop myself, I’m squealing and throwing my body at his, knowing that he will always catch me. He spins me in a circle, laughing alongside me. “Imagine the photos you’ll take there.”

Gasping, I slide down his body. “Oh, it will be incredible.” I have to start blinking rapidly, trying to keep the tears of joy at bay.

This.

This right here is proof that you are never asking for too much, you may just be asking the wrong person. I had to beg my ex-boyfriend to travel with me, even though he knew how badly I wanted to see the world.

Yet here I am on Matteo’s big night and he’s surprisingmewith a trip.

I clasp his cheeks and kiss him before pulling back. “You, my beautiful man, are so goddamn special to me.”

“Forever and always, Dove,” he whispers.

“Forever and always.”

I’m absolutely buzzing, not just because Matteo and I are going to be planning the trip of a lifetime, but because of tonight, because of all Kieran and Matteo have achieved and will do. The impact they will make on this world, the positive change they will help create in so many young hearts.

The only thing that saddens me is that Matteo’s parents aren’t here to see all he’s accomplished.

They never made an effort before but after everything that came out in the press, they didn’t want to associate with the Ellington name at all. Despite the fact that Caleb and I had no power over anything.

It was the final straw for Matteo, receiving that call from his parents where they ordered him to leave me and keep his distance from Caleb to “protect” the Valenti name. Besides his confrontation with Marcus, I had never seen Matteo as angry and hurt as I did that day. Had never heard him raise his voice before then. It was…heartbreaking.

No one knows that he cried in my arms that night, that the last shred of hope he had been clinging to was utterly destroyed by that call.

He blocked both of his parents’ numbers after that. They have no way of contacting him and that’s how he wants it. Despite how much it broke his heart to do. I know better than anyone that although they might cause you pain, it’s never easy cutting contact with a parent, no matter how much you know you deserve better.

Sometimes I still have the urge to call my mom. That is, until I remember everything she said and did—or lack thereof.

Those moments are the hardest.