Hard to Love You

My legs are burning and my lungs are screaming but I keep pushing until I feel like I can’t go any further without falling. I slow the treadmill and start my cool down. Shirt soaked, skin flushed and body burning, I drag my ass upstairs to the room I’m sharing with Cooper for a much needed shower. After my shower and some breakfast, the boys and I went down to the field to face the Charleston Blue Jackets. The temperature’s in the eighties today, with a nice breeze blowing; the perfect weather for a game. By the bottom of the fifth, the game is tied at one run each. The guys are all in pretty foul moods. No one is really getting any decent pitches and we need this win. At the top of the eighth, Duff from the Blue Jackets tries to run home but runs Jacks, our catcher, off the plate by shoving him out of the way. The umpire calls Duff out. Jacks jumps up like it’s no big deal and runs to the dugout, since that is the third out. Mills, our Pitcher, saw the whole thing and started having words with Duff. Duff shoves Mills and then all hell breaks loose and now the field is just one big brawl. After everything settles, the game starts back up and we win four to one.

When the whistle has blown, we go back to the hotel and do our own things. I stay back and try to catch up on sleep since I’m not really getting much at night. This is how the rest of the week goes. We win three out of our four games, but by the end of the fourth I am even more frustrated and miserable. I need the distraction of pitching to keep my mind from wondering what Hailey is doing, but that’s not happening because my dumbass decided to go and punch my door and f**k up my hand.

After I made my plans to move down to Bentley’s, I gave Cole a call in the hope that he might be able to fill me in with a little about Monday night.

“Hey pretty girl.” Coles greets me.

“Hey.” I say, trying to keep all my emotions in check. Cole’s been a good sport through all this and I hate to feel like I’m dragging him into this but I need something, anything, at this point.

“Hailey, what’s the matter?” I should have known Cole would think there is something wrong. I think I only ever really call him when something is wrong, or if I need something. What a horrible friend I am.

I sigh loudly, “Were you at the bar Monday night?”

Cole must be outside because I hear someone in the background blowing their horn. “Yeah. I ran into Mason.”

I cringe. “Did you see him with Lily?”

Cole clears his throat, “I saw Lily, but she wasn’t with Mason. I tried talking to him, Hailey, but he was pretty toasted. I told him that I knew you both loved each other and I told him that you should give him a chance.”

Tears sting my eyes, “Alright, thanks.”

I hear Cole’s door slam and his car start up. “Why, what’s going on?”

I play with the hem of my shirt and don’t respond right away. I watch out the window as a car goes down my street. “Nothing. I just need to get the hell out of here for a while.”

“Talk to me Hailey. Can I do anything?”

I think Cole was put in my life for a reason. I’m not sure why just yet but I’m sure he was.

“No. I’m just going out of town to visit some friends.”

“Hang on.” Cole says.

After a few seconds he comes back on the line. “I’ve got some time on Thursday and I’m free up until Friday night. How about I take you to go see your friends?”

I smile just a little bit. “I think that would be a great idea.”

So for the next half-hour I tell Cole my plans to move to Bentley’s and he agrees to help me.

On Thursday afternoon, Cole shows up at my house and helps me load up his car with everything that will fit. I’m leaving my car here because I don’t think it will make it down to Virginia. I’ll miss having my wheels but I look at the bigger picture. I’m going to start off completely fresh, no baggage from my past.

“Hey pretty girl.” Cole greets me when I open the door. He takes in my appearance and his face turns into pity. Something I do not want.

I push the door open to allow him entrance to the house. “Hey. You ready to get this show on the road?”

Cole stops in front of my bedroom door, “No, not really. I wish you weren’t leaving.” He turns to look at me and holds his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know. You have to do this.”

I pat his arm, walk into my room and hand him a bag. We work for the next two hours, loading his car and throwing away all the stuff that I no longer want; basically erasing my old life away. I only keep a few things that mean a lot to me. When we’ve finished I take one last look at the house, turn and climb into Cole’s car and we pull out of the driveway.

Once we’ve passed the state line into Delaware I feel a sense of calm and peace wash over me. Like I really did leave my past behind and nothing will come back to plague me. I know this isn’t true because I’m a part of the Cahills, no matter what has happened or will happen in the future, they are my family.

Cole pulls into the gas station, cuts the engine and then looks over at me. “Want anything?”

I shake my head no. He goes and fills the gas tank. When he gets back in I try to hand him money for the gas but he refuses. We pull back out on the highway and then I remember what I wanted to ask him.

“How do you know Lily?”

Cole takes his eyes off the road and looks over at me. A few, long minutes go by and the question still hangs in the air, unanswered.

“Ok, how about we play a game.” If he doesn’t want to tell me everything about her that’s fine, but he’s going to have to give me something. This might not answer all my questions but I’ll get the point.

“Alright. What kind of game?” Cole asks.

I reach up and lower the radio. “Twenty questions. You can only skip two.”

“Five questions but no detailed answers.” Cole retorts.

“Deal. I get to ask first.” I’ll take anything I can get at this point.

“Deal.”

I want to choose my questions carefully. I ponder for a few minutes. “How did you meet Lily?”

“At my Dad’s over the summer when we were younger.”

Interesting.

“Is Lily the girl from your past?”

“Yes.”

“Did you love her?”

Please God say no, how could anyone love that whore?

“Yes.”

Gag!

“What happened with you two?”

He doesn’t even hesitate, “Skip.”