Page 95 of Broken Hearts

“I know,” she says, nodding. “It’s just so fucking hard with him gone.”

Tanner pulls back, smiling at her as he rests his hands on her shoulders. “I know it is. But we’re all here for you, and when you win, we’ll all be there to congratulate you too.”

“And to say we told you so,” I add, smiling.

Alana scoffs. “When I win? I think that’s a bit of a long shot.”

Tanner grins, jerking his thumb at the board. “Not with this beautiful board it isn’t.”

Alana laughs, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Oh, I see. It’s got nothing to do with me and my skill, has it?”

“Ahhh, there she is,” he says with a wink. Alana’s jaw drops, her mouth opening into a tiny O as she stares at Tanner.

“Guess you’ve got no excuse now, do you?” I say, nudging her with my shoulder.

She puts her hands on her hips, glaring at Tanner and then me. “You two are assholes,” she mutters before turning to Sage and smiling at her. “Thank you for this,” she says, blowing out a breath. “I still don’t know if I should compete, but this…this is amazing.”

“You’ll compete,” I say, pinching her side. “You know you wanna prove all those pros wrong.”

“Yep,” Tanner seconds, chuckling.

“I know what you’re doing,” she now says.

With a laugh, I cross my arms over my chest. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

Alana rolls her eyes. “You’re trying to trick me into doing it.”

I smile. “I’m not trying to trick you. I’m just telling you, you’ll do it,” I say with a smirk.

“Yep, me too,” Tanner chimes in.

Alana throws her hands up now, scoffing as she turns back to everyone and says, “Whatever. Can we just get drunk now and welcome Sage to her new home?”

Everyone cheers, Tanner and I sharing a knowing glance because there’s not a chance in hell Alana is going to be able to resist the challenge we just threw at her. She’s stubborn as hell and has always been determined to prove everyone wrong, and this will be no different.

“Better start training again,” I tease as Tanner adds, “Yeah, you’ll need to learn how to master this beautiful board.”

Alana snorts before turning to walk back to where everyone else has been watching this unfold.

As she walks away, I remember the other thing Mitch did for her. “Alana,” I call, closing the distance between us. “There’s something else,” I add, pulling the envelope from my pocket. She glances down, her eyes widening when she sees her name on the front, written in Mitch’s distinct handwriting. “I’m here whenever you’re ready to read it, okay.”

She looks up at me, her eyes filled with tears and a million questions as she whispers, “Did you…”

“Yeah, I did. Sage too.”

Alana nods, shoving the envelope into her pocket as she wipes away her tears before pushing up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “Thank you, Nate,” she whispers before joining the others, not quite ready to read it yet.

Just as we move to join them, Sage grabs my hand, holding me back. When I turn to her, she’s smiling up at me, her eyes glistening.

“You okay?” I ask.

Sage nods, tugging me closer as she wraps her arms around my waist. “I am so very okay, perfect even.”

Smiling, I lean down to drop a kiss on her lips. “You are. I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Home,” Sage corrects, squeezing her arms.

“Home,” I repeat, loving the sound of that. “Should we?” I ask, tipping my head toward the others.

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