BAILEE SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO (Seventeen Years Old) A light tapping sound against my window made me pull my pencil from my paper, and a smile spread over my face when I saw Alex standing outside with his hood pulled up over his head. The rain was pouring down, and I jumped from my seat as a
ALEXANDER There were too many memories around me, and by the time I made it to my room, I felt drained. Even so, I couldn’t fall back on my bed and pass out like I wanted to because I hadn’t let go of my phone yet. I couldn't miss it when they would call to tell me that my foster parents were d
BAILEEBrinley was still passed out in my bed when I got out of the shower. With how overstimulating and exciting the day was, I hadn’t expected her to wake up while I was in there, but I still took the quickest shower of my life, terrified she would roll out of bed or wake up and realize she was in
ALEXANDER “So, Andrea was like screaming, trying to get this disgusting squirrel off her head, but she just made it angrier, and it, like, went down the back of her shirt!” “No!” Ben exclaimed, staring at her in disbelief, his sarcasm thick in his voice. I threw my head back, laughing, but I ha
BAILEE I couldn’t look at my parents at breakfast the next day, and I was relieved to find that I could move my flight up. Instead of staying for a few days, Brinley and I could leave that afternoon. Brinley would be cranky with the flight overlapping with her usual naptime, but we would get thro
ALEXANDER I felt like I had been sucker punched, and I knew I was staring, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Bailee. Was Brinley not her first kid? It was like I was seeing her clearly for the first time. Her resistance to letting me in wasn’t just her being mad over the prom. It was so much more th
ALEXANDER“You had your career and school to worry about, dear. We took care of it.” Mrs. Evans said, but Bailee dropped her head into both hands. “Really, Mom? You handled it? Was that before or after the town boycotted the resort? How about when they trashed multiple rooms and shattered seven wi
BAILEE SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO (Seventeen Years Old)“You look beautiful!” My mother said as she looked over my shoulder to my reflection. I couldn’t remember the last time that we had ever spent so much time together. Yet, with each strand of my hair that she curled and pinned up, I felt my
EPILOGUE “Go, go, go!” Sebastian screamed from next to me, standing and leaning over the person in front of him as if Ben could hear him over the crowd and the glass. Then again, with how loud the man was, he just might. I had only known Bash in passing from when I worked for Ben as his assista
HAVEN ONE MONTH LATER My eyes kept moving from the woman before me to the clock on the wall behind her. I wanted to be here, but I had more important places to be. She had run over with her last client, which made us run over and caused me to be late for an important game. Ben had been stressin
BEN Haven was empty for the next few weeks as she flew back and forth, cleaning out the house her ex-husband had left her. It had been Cynthia’s home, too, and Haven had been taking extra care and devotion to ensuring things were handled and gone through properly. I had gone with her a few times,
HAVEN Her hand was cold, and I adjusted her blanket to cover her arm. The lawyers had come in and refused to admit any fault of the hospital, even though Cynthia had her ID on her and even knew one of the paramedics who brought her in for them to have given the hospital her name. They should ha
HAVEN Sitting in the airport in the middle of the night with a toddler who got angry each time the loudspeaker called for another flight and disturbed her sleep was not what I had been prepared for. My mind was a foggy mess. All I could picture was Cynthia falling down the stairs. How long had sh
BEN Being excited about an ex getting involved in my life might not have been the best thing when things were already tense, but fuck did it feel good to know I did indeed have friends in high places and they were watching my back. Was I still expecting them to hold it over me and try to get me t
BEN It was odd pulling up to the house and finding there wasn’t a single paparazzi in sight. After today’s news, I expected them to be ready to break down my gate for a story, but no one was there. Instead, a blacked-out SUV sat across the street, and my stomach twisted when I realized it was pro
HAVEN I needed to get out of the house. Staying inside was driving me crazy, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My last job interview was a week ago, and while I keep applying, no one wants to hire the woman all over the tabloids with a sex tape. Our PR team managed to get it taken down, but it stil
BEN “Rangers player Benjamin Evans is today’s hot topic. Now fans were petitioning for him to be traded for his performance last season. Even I wanted him gone, and I’ve followed his career since he was being scouted.” The reporters around him laughed, and I gritted my jaw. “I know. I remember hi