Page 25 of Worth the Chase

I stood there with my mouth open as Addi suddenly filled my vision with her shocked face.

“Are you kidding me, Miss Bella Sanchez? That man is gorgeous.”

“Tell me about it,” I agreed because he was.

“And he was flirting with you!” she informed me, as if I hadn’t put two and two together for myself.

“I know,” I whisper-shouted.

“What are you going to do? If Matthew finds out—” she said before stopping the rest of her thoughts completely.

“I don’t belong to Matthew,” I said, but the words felt wrong the second they came out of my mouth, like my mind and body were not in agreement with the sentiment in the slightest.

“I didn’t mean it like that. Of course, you don’t belong to anyone. I’m just…” She stumbled on her thoughts before waving a hand in the air. “I love my future brother-in-law, and I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Like what?” I asked because a part of me enjoyed hearing this kind of thing. Especially from Addison. She wasn’t the kind of person to say something because she thought you wanted to hear it.

“He basically stalks you. Matthew doesn’t stalk. He doesn’t chase. He doesn’t have to.”

None of that was news.

“I’ve noticed,” I said because there was no sense in denying the obvious.

“Do you like him? I mean, we all know you did when you were a teenager, but that was a long time ago,” she said, and my face heated.

“Does everyone know I used to have a crush on him? That’s so embarrassing,” I admitted as I reached for West’s glass and started rinsing it out in the sink.

She nodded her head. “We all knew. But the thing is, I always thought Matthew liked you back.”

I practically burst out laughing at the insinuation. “No. A three-year age difference might not be a lot now, but back then, it was way too much.”

“I know.” She nodded her head in agreement. “I honestly think that’s one of two reasons why he never pursued you.”

One of two reasons, I repeated in my head.

“What was the other reason?” I asked, feeling completely clueless.

“Your brother,” she said like I should have absolutely known that already. “Leo was his best friend. And he told Matthew to stay away from you.”

“What? When? Why?” I started stuttering on the words as they left my mouth.

Addi only shrugged. “I don’t remember exactly what he said, just that Leo had definitely warned him off. Matthew told me and Patrick one night when I was grilling him about you. He said something like, ‘Leo told me he’d kill me if I ever touched her, and she’s just a kid anyway.’”

I sat there in silence, absorbing the words. My brother had always tried to sway my crush, but I’d never suspected that he’d told Matthew to stay away from me. Never thought he’d have to say something like that to him.

“Leo used to try to get me to stop liking Matthew after he left for hockey.”

Addi leaned forward, her elbows on the bar, as she gave me an inquisitive look. “Really? What did he do?”

An annoyed huff left my lips. “He used to print out all of the articles about Matthew and other women and leave them on my bed for me.”

Her jaw dropped. “That’s just cruel.”

“It used to make me cry.” I pulled the glass from the soapy water and moved it underneath the fresh water.

“I can imagine. What do you think Leo would say about you and Matthew now? Think he’d be upset?” she asked.

Honestly, I hadn’t really considered Leo’s feelings in the matter. I’d been too caught up in trying to figure out my own.

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