Page 39 of Chasing Hope

“Would you actually stop if I asked?”

Matteo pauses in the kitchen, the drawer open in front of him forgotten as he pretends to think before saying, “No.”

I turn to the girls. “This is exactly what I’m saying!”

“Nice of you to start showing your face again,” Kieran says to me before wrapping his arms around Layla and planting a kiss on her cheek. The sudden blush that crawls across her skin almost matches the color of her hair.

Bless her heart, she’s smitten.

And from the way Kieran can’t take his eyes, or hands, off her, so is he.

“Looks like I missed a lot,” I reply with a coy smile. “You look good all loved up, Ashford.”

Kieran flashes me one of his famous grins. “I do, don’t I? Have you met my little girl?”

“The one being chased by the golden?”

Bella chuckles. “That’s my and Grayson’s dog, Bambi. Where one is, the other is close behind.”

“Practically stuck to each other like glue,” Cindy explains beside me. “Now, is there a reason you men are in here bombarding our girl time?”

“Food’s ready,” Matteo declares gruffly.

The way he says it, you’d think we were about to extract teeth from him.

Rounding the kitchen island, I clap him on the shoulder as I pass him. “Don’t get too excited, Valenti, you’ll pop a blood vessel.”

Kieran’s snort rings out behind me as Cindy links her arm through mine, leading me down the patio steps. “Girls at the left end!” she calls over her shoulder. “We have lots to catch up on. That includes your precious Layla, Kieran,” she adds.

“Stop trying to steal my woman, Cin!”

“She’s too gorgeous not to try.”

Heading toward the table filled with food that the guys will probably consume within seconds, I’m about to grab a plate when one is handed to me, the contents almost toppling over the sides.

“Eat,” Matteo grunts out before leaving.

Scoffing, I look down at the plate he made for me. “So fucking demanding,” I mutter under my breath. About to turn on my heel, I catch the way Cindy is staring at me out of the corner of her eye. “What?”

“Nothing,” she says slowly. “Just…interesting, is all.”

“Here, baby.” Cindy, finally looking away, shifts to O’Connor, who holds out a plate almost as full as mine.

“Hey, O’Connor.”

“Shit, Evie, is that you?” As soon as Cindy takes the foodfrom him, he’s wrapping me in a bear hug, his frame towering over mine, though he’s careful not to knock my plate I hold out to the side. “It’s been a while! We all missed you. How have you been?”

Pulling back, he wraps a protective arm around Cindy’s waist, and I can’t help but note how she all but melts into him. They move around each other like water—languid, fluid, and so in tune it’s obvious they’ve been together for years.

I wonder why they aren’t married yet.

“Better now,” I say with a smile.

“Good, I’m glad. I know Caleb has missed you like crazy.”

A pang of guilt unfurls low in my belly, the little seed planting, taking root, and blossoming until I stomp on it and wave off O’Connor’s words. “He’s okay. He’s preoccupied with you lot.”

“We’re family, of course, but it’s not the same. You know he brings you up nearly every practice and family dinner?”