Page 98 of Fear of Falling

My cheeks flamed but my heart stuttered at his words.

My girl. I like the sound of that.

At the sound of a loud whistle, we all turned towards the exit where a group of Mateo’s teammates stood, waving him over. He pulled out of Wyatt’s hold.

“Gotta go.” Glancing back at me, Mateo shot me a wide smile. “Nice seeing you again Josie.”

“You too. Congrats on the win.”

He flashed us a smile, walking backwards.

His smile is exactly like Wyatt’s.

“See ya later!” With that he turned and ran towards his friends, all of them cheering.

“Would the two of you like to grab dinner with us?” Evelyn asked after a moment. I hesitated, not sure what to say, but thankfully Wyatt jumped in.

“Sorry Ma, we actually have plans.” He draped his arm around my shoulder, drawing me into his side. I looked up at him, wondering what plans he was talking about, but said nothing.

“Next time.” She gave us a kind smile. “Come by the house any time Josie, you’re more than welcome.” Once again, she pulled me into a hug, only this time, I returned it instantly. Saying goodbye to Landon was a little more awkward, but at least he’d stopped glaring at me.

Baby steps.

I waved to Evelyn over my shoulder as Wyatt pulled me in the direction of my car.

“Why such a rush?” I questioned. “Didn’t want to have dinner with your mom?”

“No.”

“No?”

“What I have planned for you is not family friendly. Plus, I’m not hungry for food,” he gave me a wicked grin over his shoulder.

33

WYATT

Josie: See you tonight.

Ismiled at the heart emoji Josie sent, her profile picture smiling back at me. I took it the other day as she lay on my couch, clad in one of my sweatshirts, smiling over at me. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and her face clear of makeup, leaving her cute freckles on display. She looked downright beautiful.

We had a date tonight and I planned on finally asking her to be my girlfriend. I’d wanted to ask her sooner, but a part of me was nervous she would say no. I knew her past relationships hadn’t been the greatest and I didn’t want to push her. If she wanted to keep things how they were, I would do that, even if I wanted to make her mine in every way possible.

Before I could do that, I had to take care of something first.

Pocketing my phone, I opened the door to my brother's ice rink,Hockey Haven. My footsteps echoed as I walked through the lobby. Cases lined both sides of the walls, filled with pictures and trophies. A mix of Landon’s trophies ranging from when he was a kid, right through to uni, and some from the past teamsthat played at the rink before he bought it. There were even a couple from the last two years of little and junior league Landon started up.

The chilly air from the ice hit me as soon as I stepped through the double set of doors. The sound of skates on the ice made me smile. Coming to the ice rink always felt like coming home. There’d always been something soothing about the rink, long before Landon bought the place.

It was mid-afternoon on a Thursday, so it was no surprise that the rink was half-full with kids. By the looks of it, the Junior hockey league was warming up for practice. I knew they caught sight of me when the whispers started. I gave them a little wave as I passed, enjoying their excited gasps.

As they chatted animatedly in my wake, I made a mental note to come back and say hello to them once I’d finished talking to Landon.

Stopping in the doorway of Landon’s office, I found him typing something on his computer. I knocked on the door frame and walked in.

“Hey.”

“Wy.” Landon looked up, surprised to see me. “Didn’t know you were going to drop by. Is everything okay?”

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