Page 92 of The Way Home

Did you do this?

A photo of the herb garden on the balcony followed, with the addition of Jamie’s finger pointing to the pots.

Nope. Someone must’ve broken in.

Jamie

Caleb!!

Lol it was me. Do you like it?

Jamie

I love it!!!

He started typing again when the messages disappeared, and acall came through. He almost declined automatically, assuming it was his dad. He’d called Caleb three times now.

“Fuck,” he muttered, staring at the screen. Sally turned and leaned over his shoulder.

“What? Who is it?”

“My sister.”

Sally frowned at the screen and said, “I thought your sister’s name was Tay.”

Caleb sighed. “My other sister, Bri.”

He hit ignore and quickly typed:

Hey Bri. At a game right now. What’s up?

A typing bubble appeared almost instantly. Caleb scrolled up and realized he hadn’t spoken to her in over six months.

Bri

Call Dad back. It’s important.

Caleb typed back a quickOkayand shoved the phone into his pocket. After the game, he’d deal with whatever the fuck that was about.

The game flew by in a whirlwind of insane goals, amazing defense, and not a single injury for Chelsea. Basically, the best game Caleb had been on the sidelines for in a while.

“FUCK YEAH, BITCHES!” Dillion yelled from where she stood on top of the bench in the locker room. She had already stripped off her shirt, six pack proudly on display, and was swinging it around in the air. “Smithy! You”—she pointed at their newest starter—“kicked so much arse I could fuckingweep.”

The young blonde blushed and ducked her head. She had played incredibly, helping Chelsea claw back from a 2-0 deficit in the first half.

Standing up and stretching his back, Caleb walked over to Angie. Her long caramel hair had fallen forward, shielding her face. “You alright, Ang?”

Sad eyes turned on him. “I’m so proud of the team. They did amazing. But…” She glanced down at her foot. Caleb had examined it yesterday, and… yeah, it wasn’t looking good. “Just wanna play, is all.”

“I know.” He squeezed her shoulder gently. “We’ll get you there.”

Even if the injury wasn’t his fault, it still felt like he was failing her somehow. “Why don’t we meet here tomorrow morning?” he said. “We’ll run some controlled drills. Just you and me.”

She blinked hard and nodded. “Yeah. Alright.”

“Bring Freya, okay? And you’re still coming to Game Night this weekend, right?”

Her lips curved into a small, slightly forced smile. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”