Jace, it’s Kinsley. We met at The Skyline and spent the night together. It’s been a while, but I need you to call me. Please. It’s important.
In the next message, I left my number, hoping he would see it soon. When the message went through, I closed the app and then rushed into the bathroom, vomiting my meager dinner into the toilet.Fuck.How was I supposed to do this? Easy to say I wanted to stand strong, but actually doing it was another story. When presented with the choice, I’d always been more of a flight than fight kind of girl.
After I rinsed my mouth out, I returned to the living room, scanning through the jobs Shannon had sent my way. She really wanted me to stick around, and Ihadasked the universe for a sign. Would have settled for a billboard or a job offer, but I guess a baby was a pretty big one. Most of the listings were at other bars, which didn’t seem like the best choice. Glancing at my LSAT practice books in the corner, I let out a long sigh. I might not have to put the test off for more than a couple of months. In the meantime, I needed to find something with better health insurance before I gave birth. Just the idea of not having enough to help cover the hospital costs made me nauseous all over again.
I kept staring at my phone, willing Jace to call me, but with each passing hour, it seemed less likely. By the time midnight rolled around, my fear had morphed into anger. I picked up the phone and pulled up his profile, leaving yet another message begging him to call me.
Nothing. No response.
Opening the app back up, I clicked on my inbox, and ice rushed through me when I saw the message was marked read.What the hell?I refreshed the page, wondering if I’d accidentallydeleted his response or sent it to spam. But as I checked each folder, not finding it, I typed his name in the search bar, ready to resend it if that’s what it took. But when I pressed search, his profile was there, but I couldn’t access it. Bile rose in the back of my throat. It had been there only minutes earlier, with years of pictures. Had Jace blocked me?
Oh my God, he blocked me.
In all the worst-case scenarios I’d imagined, the idea of Jace blocking me never even crossed my mind. My hand clenched around the phone, in complete disbelief I’d read him so wrong.
“Fuck him,” I muttered as I stood from my couch, staring out at the city surrounding me. Jace might have been a mistake, but he’d done one thing right.
He’d given me something to live for, a reason to push myself out of my grief. Even if our paths never crossed again, I’d keep a piece of him with me.
Always.
THIRTEEN
TWO YEARS LATER
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—Jace Lyons. Rumor is, the Hawks are bringing him back after their disastrous pre-season. Not only is Ramos still out on the IR list for a few more months, but several of their rookies also went down. So, Matt, what do you think about bringing Lyons back up from the Triple-As?”
“Man, it depends. We’ve been seeing great things from his time up in Portland, but he was a different player when he was on the Hawks’ bench. So I guess the question is, what player are we going to end up with? The prodigal son, or the guy they shipped to back down?—-”
“Oh my God, turn that shit off.” My mind blanked out as the screen turned black, silencing the sports reporters’ comments. Melanie stared at me, holding the remote toward the screen, her narrowed eyes scanning me for any crack in my shell.
Her heels clicked on the concrete floor as she moved through her office, pulling my focus back to her. She placed one hand on her hip as she stopped at the edge of her desk while the other continued tapping away on her phone. As the team’s Director of Communications and Media Relations, she always had herhands full, but I’d made her life even harder with my past mistakes. Hell, during my rookie season, her entire day centered on keeping my name clean. When I kept staring at the blank screen, she sighed, turning it away from me. “Don’t let those assholes get in your head.”
“It’s fine,” I muttered, leaning back on the couch as I donned my signature cocky smirk. “Looking forward to proving them wrong.”
“That’s the spirit,” Melanie answered, her eyes still stuck on her phone. She shifted, moving to the other side of her desk, and I swiveled my chair to follow her. As she plopped down into her white leather chair, she handed me a file folder. “Here are all the press releases we’ve prepared to announce your return to the team. Your agent already has a copy, but I’d like your personal sign-off as well. There are also some interviews and lives we’d like to schedule before the season gets into full swing.”
I nodded, unable to say much more. Despite my calm persona, inside, I was a fucking wreck. Being back in this city had always been the goal, but now, painful memories haunted every inch. There were plenty of offers to join other teams, but I wanted to return here. Fuck, Ineededto come back to Erie City. “Jace, are you listening to me?”
Shit. I forced my focus on Melanie. She tapped her nails on the counter, each beat upping my anxiety. “You know I hate to ask, but your…problems. They’re in the past, right?”
“Yeah, Mel. I’ve been clean for fifteen months. Haven’t touched anything—not even an aspirin—since I got out of rehab.”
“Good,” she sighed. “In case I haven’t said it yet, we’re glad to have you back on the team. Benny struggled with letting you go.”
I cleared my throat and placed my hands on my knees to stop them from shaking. “Promise, Mel. I’m here for the rightreasons. I wouldn’t have come back if my head wasn’t in the game.”
She stared at me with those piercing eyes, but I didn’t flinch. Over the past year, I’d dedicated a lot of time to improving myself, from attending local support groups to my weekly sessions with my therapist. My sponsor back in Portland had already put in a call to someone local to keep the transition as smooth as possible, especially with all the triggers in the majors. In my case, more money led to bigger problems, and I couldn’t go back down that road again, not after all the effort I’d put in to get clean.
“Okay,” Melanie said. “Get outta here, Lyons. The guys need you, so make sure you’re ready to jump right into the game.”
“You got it, boss.”
She grinned. “Don’t let Benny hear you say that. He won’t like it one bit.”
I pushed out the door, walking down the halls of Erie City Stadium. These upper floors were a far cry from the clubhouse downstairs, where sweat and adrenaline lined the hallowed halls. Up here, light wood paneling lined all the surfaces, broken up by professional images of the team over the years. It gleamed as if it were brand new—not a speck of the dirt from the field had made its way up here. Getting called up to these offices meant bad news, but today, I’d come back to excited cheers and smiles. It jarred me, especially after the last time I stood in the same spot. At least this time, I didn’t have a cardboard box to clear out my locker.
“Lyons, wait up!”
