Sweet Hope (Sweet Home 3)

All the blood drained from my face.

No… It’s… it’s not possible…

Elpi’s tanned bearded face turned ashen as I stared at him, mouth gaping and his always-stern eyes widened in alarm.

We both stood there, frozen to the spot.

Unmoving.

Silent.

Just staring…

Elpidio is… Axel Carillo?

I flitted a glance to the left and caught sight of Lexi’s worried face.

Forcing myself to react, I held out my shaky hand. Elpi, I mean Axel’s mouth tightened at the action.

“Hi,” I whispered shakily, flinching as his warm palm met mine and sent the usual bolt of electricity shooting up my spine.

Axel dipped his head in greeting, just as Lexi added, “This is Ally Prince, Axel, Rome Prince’s cousin.”

Axel’s hand tightened in mine at Lexi’s announcement, and I could see the disdain for my cousin written all over his face.

I pulled back my hand and my gaze involuntary ran down Axel’s large body. A body I now knew intimately.

The announcer took to the mic across the field, working the strong crowd into a crazed frenzy. The Seahawks team was coming out.

But I couldn’t move.

“Ally! Quickly, or you’ll miss Rome and Austin coming out of the tunnel,” Molly said, and Lexi rushed to sit beside her, leaving Axel and me locked in a tense gaze.

“Ally!” Molly called again. Finally able to move my feet, I staggered toward where my best friend sat, glancing back to see Axel moving to the farthest seat on the other side of the long paneled glass… the seat that offered him the perfect view of me. And he kept staring. I felt his eyes on me as clearly as I could feel the subtle heat from the vent beside my feet blowing in hot air.

I couldn’t believe it.

My heart cried as I looked out of the window… I was completely infatuated with Axel Carillo.

Feeling his gaze burning through my eyelids, I reluctantly looked up, just as Molly and Lexi jumped to their feet. Levi had moved beside Lexi, leaving Axel sitting on the opposite side of the suite on his own.

That alone made my heart squeeze. He appeared every inch the outcast, his own brother blatantly rejecting him… the black sheep of the Carillos, lost and scorned, forced to be on his own.

A hand suddenly lay on my shoulder. Molly was looking at me. “Ally, they’re just about to announce Austin and Rome. Reece is already on the field for the Redskins.”

I focused on the field and pride raced through my veins seeing the banners and jerseys reading “Prince 7.” My cousin had come through so much and deserved all of this. I also saw Reece, strutting on the side of the field, ever the egomaniac. I hadn’t seen him once since college.

I smiled in forced excitement as fireworks and pyrotechnics burst through CenturyLink, music blaring through the speakers. Reaching down, I took Molly’s hand, gripping it tightly. I needed her support. Not through excitement for Rome’s first game of the season, but for keeping me composed at the revelation I’d just experienced.

Elpidio was Axel.

My heart was shattered.

Molly and Lexi both had tears in their eyes, waiting for their husbands to take the field, and when I looked to Lexi’s side, Levi was gripping her hand too. There was nothing but adoration on his handsome face for his brother, Austin, as he awaited the announcement of the newest Seahawk. But a pit swallowed my stomach when I saw his clear disregard for Axel.

I thought of the little boy sculpture, and I fought not to break down and sob at all the realizations rushing through my mind.

It’s Axel and Levi…

The announcer revved up the crowd, as he began his introduction of Austin. I heard Lexi hold her breath as they ran through her husband’s football accolades. Levi lifted Lexi’s hand and pressed it to his chest, a huge smile pulled on his normally shy face as the crowd roared their approval and welcome for their new wide receiver.

Seconds later, to a line of flaming pyrotechnics, Austin Carillo ran onto the field. Lexi silently cried in happiness beside me, but that’s not what nearly brought me to tears too… No, that honor belonged to a tall, lonely figure standing on his own at the farthest side of the room. A lonely figure with his muscled arms folded across his broad chest, the most heartbreaking expression of pride on his face, as he watched his brother hold his helmet up to the crowd. An awed flicker of a smirk pulled on his lips as I watched whispers of tears tumble down his cheeks.

Axel Carillo cared… Axel Carillo cared more than anyone thought about his brother… his family… more than I could ever have thought possible from the hellish reputation that travelled with him.

Pain racked my body. I was crushed that Elpidio was really Axel Carillo. How the hell could this be? It felt like the universe was playing a mean trick on me.

As if feeling my hard stare, Axel’s eyes darted to mine, his proud flicker of a smile dropping in embarrassment at being caught, and he quickly wiped at his eyes, looking away from me.

Molly’s hand squeezed mine, and as I met her eyes, she was looking between Axel and me with a strange expression on her face.

Leaning close to my ear, I stiffened as Molly went to say something, when the stadium positively lifted in volume, the announcer barely audible over the fans’ screams. Molly pulled away, her eyes immediately fixed on the players’ tunnel as Rome was announced. To the line of scantily clad cheerleaders waving pompoms and fireworks lighting up the stadium, Rome Prince took the field.

Molly exhaled, and I watched her eyes fix on her husband as he stopped dead in the middle of the frenzy, pure love in her stare as her hand ran over her round stomach. Rome faced our suite, and holding his helmet in his hand, pressed his fingers to his lips in Molly’s direction. Molly sniffed back her sobs and returned the gesture. Rome smiled and tapped his chest over his heart. He ran toward Austin, throwing his hand around Austin's shoulders.