But Claire just chuckles, rubbing Hanna’s head. “She got into this excited squealing in school. All her friends do it.”
“Right.”
My own screams echo in my ears.Notthe happy kind.
I shake my head.
We go toward the food court, and Claire grips my arm.
She bites her lip. “Remember how you used to talk about Caleb all the time?”
I blush. I didn’t talk about himallthe time. But if we were talking about our pasts, which we did often—trading war stories, as it was—then… yeah, I mentioned him.
She gives me a knowing look, and then she’s right back to watching me with an odd expression. It takes a minute to place the emotion on her face, because she so rarely shows worry or concern. But now both are flashing across her features.
We watch Hanna skip ahead of us, then circle back.
“I didn’t realize…”
I glance at her. “What?”
“I recognized him.”
Her words aren’t computing. “Huh? Who?”
“Caleb. I… I don’t know. I’ll keep trying to remember, but it’s weird. I saw a picture of you and him on Instagram, and he just seems so familiar.”
“There’s a picture on Instagram? Of us?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah. Some girls at Lion’s Head are obsessed with the Emery-Rose hockey team. They have a fan page for them because our hockey team apparently isn’t good enough. Anyway, they reposted that photo…”
My mouth drops open. First, that he’d post a picture of us. Second, that he has afan page. What?
“That’s… weird.”
She shrugs. “He has some pretty rabid fans, if you ask me. Just search his hashtag.”
Caleb has a hashtag?
Hanna slams into me again. I failed to mention my stomach, so maybe it’s my fault that I suddenly can’t breathe. But then Riley is there, gently prying Hanna off. Claire shoots Riley a dirty look but otherwise stays silent.
I take a shaky breath.
Lenora is slower to come up, her brows furrowed with concern. “You okay?”
“Yep.” I straighten.
“We’ve got to get going.” Claire takes Hanna’s hand, tugging her backward a few steps. No hug goodbye for us, then. “I’ll talk to you later.”
They make a beeline for the closest exit. They’re pushing out the door, and it occurs to me that I didn’t get to ask her more.
Hashtags? Rabid fans? Where have you seen Caleb before?
We pile in Lenora’s car. I let Riley take the front seat so I can stare out the window the whole way home. It starts raining halfway there, and I remember to check Instagram. I pull up his profile, biting my lip until it loads.
He posted a photo of us that someone else took a couple of weeks ago. His arm is around my shoulder at that football game, and we’re both… we seem happy. That’s probably the most shocking part. I’m grinning, leaning into him, and his gaze is on me.
His attention is always on me.