Page 70 of Praising the Pitcher

It’s beautiful and sentimental, and if it came from anyone else, I’d be thanking them. But it came from the man who has single-handedly ruined me for other men for the time being. A man who I can’t figure out if he likes me or enjoys playing with my feelings.

“Wow, that’s beautiful.” Cameran’s voice finally breaks the silence.

She’s such a sweet woman, so I try my best to give her a polite smile, even though I’m not so sure my face lets me do it.

All I want to do is run out of this room right now. Maybe break the snow globe while I’m at it too. Even though it is absolutely beautiful and, in other circumstances, it would mean so much to me. If only he didn’t pull that crap last night, basically putting distance between us only to bombard me like this.

In front of an entire room of his family and friends, on top of everything else.

As if reading my mind, Haven stands. “Okay, where’s our lucky number four?” she says, thankfully pulling the attention off me. “Let’s keep this going! I’m ready for my turn so hurry it on up.”

I can always count on her to do something like that, and that’s what makes her one of the best friends I’ve ever had. When Haven considers you a friend, there’s nothing she won’t do for you. That’s why she was worried about me and her brother getting close, I’m sure.

She knew it wouldn’t end well. I just wish I would have listened.

I sit here with my snow globe, never looking down at it again. I try my best to be present with this family, but I’m not. My mind bounces between my mom, and how much I miss her, to Noah for doing something so sweet yet cruel before finally … wondering what my dad is doing.

Noah told me I should stand up for myself, and now, I have no car, hardly any money, and no family left. Maybe my dad wasn’t so bad. Perhaps I should have just tried to hear him out.

Thoughts of my old man alone on Christmas hit me, and I clasp my shaky hands together, trying to calm myself.

I look around the room, trying to focus on something, anything, to ease my nerves. My eyes fixate on Anna, who sits on Mason’s knee as she runs her fingers through his hair. They’re both watching Dallas open his gift, which is a giant cut out of Trent back in his NFL days. Only, he’s shirtless and holding up some sort of soap.

Ah yes. He did a collaboration with them once—I remember seeing the commercial.

My heart relaxes a little, but the giant knot in my throat doesn’t leave. These families would do anything for each other, and they have been so welcoming to me. Mason and Anna have treated me like I’m part of the family and seem genuinely excited for me to spend the holidays with them.

Yet, I know one thing. I can’t be here tomorrow with them to celebrate Christmas.

No. After everyone leaves tonight, I’m going to feed Haven an excuse that I don’t feel well and want to take an Uber back to The Nest. There’s a storm rolling through later tonight that’s supposed to last through Christmas day, but as long as I can get home before the roads get too bad, I’ll be fine.

Nerves bubble in my stomach at the thought of being there alone, and I know I won’t get much sleep.

Yet that still sounds better than being here with the guy I think I’ve started to fall for because I ignored the warnings and now … I have to deal with the consequences.

NOAH

I’m surprised to find my mom in Haven’s room when I push the door open. They both lie in bed, though my mom isn’t under the blankets like my sister is. The second they see me, their hushed voices stop and my mom plasters on a sweet smile—no doubt telling me they were talking about me.

“Hey, bud,” my mom says, nodding toward the end of the bed. “Come on in.”

Sighing, because I know I’m about to have a chat about what happened tonight with the damn Yankee Swap, I walk over to the bed, taking a seat on the end with my back to them.

By the time everyone got here tonight, it was too late for me to change what I had already done—orchestrating the whole thing so Gigi would get to choose a certain package with wrapping paper I knew she couldn’t pass up. Wrapping paper with tiny books, glasses, and bookmarks on it. My sister isn’t big on reading. Aunt Memphis likes herself a romance story, but I had my mom give her a heads-up not to choose the one I brought in just for Gigi.

That was before I fucked everything up the night before …

“So, are we going to talk about it? Or are you going to sulk the rest of the night?” my mom finally says, and I feel her shift around slightly behind me.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” I play dumb, but of course I know what she’s talking about. And as the words leave my lips, I wait for my sister to smack the back of my head, but luckily for me, she doesn’t.

Haven plays Division 1 softball. When she hits, it fucking hurts.

“Mhmm,” my mom mutters. “So the Yankee Swap you rigged to make sure a certain blonde got a certain adorable package doesn’t come to mind?”

“You set that whole thing up?” Haven blurts out. “What is⁠—”

When my sister’s sharp words die mid-sentence, I know I have my mom to thank for that. Haven and my mom are practically the same person, but no one is going to give my mom’s baby boy a hard time. Well, besides her.