When Lily Langston goes to a game with her best friend. The last thing she ever thought to happen was being hit in the face with a ball.
But what left her even more shocked was when the guest pitcher himself, the known ruthless billionaire Hayes Gr...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Grief was never something I did well with. So as I stand with a pie in hand outside of Hayes's mother's home. I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide.
I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my family, but they all made separate plans. I understand though, that sitting together in grief as a family once at the funeral was overbearing. But sharing a holiday and acting like nothing's wrong sounds incredibly painful.
My heart thumps as the car door shuts as Hayes finishes up his call "Arthur get the bags'" he steps forward standing beside me and knocks on the bungalow door.
I slept through the quick flight to Long Island. I hadn't been able to sleep much, I just think about Dad. The funeral and the look on Mom's face. How out of touch she seemed, how lost we all were in the moment. She was spending Thanksgiving with her friends.
"Is this where you grew up?" I looked over to James, she was cozy in a navy hoodie half awake. She'd been staying with us during Thanksgiving break because Mom wasn't home.
It was her way of coping, seeking out other people. It's hard because as a parent, your children are the ones who need you the most when your spouse has died. But she didn't need us, she needed other people.
Warren was still on deployment, it was heartbreaking. Because he truly had to grieve alone, at least I had James and Priyanka. He didn't have anyone out there to comfort him.
I'd been almost mute until James stayed after the funeral, it's been two weeks. She took time off from school, and mom, well she's just guarded off. Me, I understand, I was 'married' and had a 'life' but for her to shut out James. That hurt even me and I wasn't even James.
She'd mostly stayed in the guest bed on the other wing of the penthouse. She would stay in there or go into the kitchen and stress-bake. I'm surprised Hayes hadn't said anything about her being here. But I choose to believe it's because she makes me happy. Because sometimes I join her baking or the occasional movie on the couch.
We'd both become sloths in a way. But I'd made my way back to school and into my schedule. But what meant the most was that the cruel man beside me would hold me as I cried. Every night he'd hold me through my pain. As if it didn't bother him at all.
"I grew up in many places but as a teenager during middle school, before I went to boarding school" he looked at the place "This is what I'd call home" I leaned my hand forward and knocked it against the white painted door again.
"There's a doorbell you know?" James points to the gold button and I stare at it.
"Well we both already knocked, which makes it seem more official anyway" She nods at my looniness and the door opens to Lana, a smile curated on her lips.
"Oh, Lily!" She steals the pie from my arms and sets it inside on a table. Then she instantly turns back pulling me in for a big hug.
"I'm so sorry for your loss" I accept her warm hug. It grows tighter as my arms wrap around hers, it's what I wanted from my mother. She pulls back sheds a soft smile at me and looks at James "Oh you come here too!" She walks over to James and I look to Hayes.
