Page 23 of Line Change

“Maybe your grandmother left you something,” Hadley suggests. “To at least make all the shit you’ve gone through with your family worth it.”

“Highly unlikely, but one can dream.”

“Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us,” Becca says.

“I’m sorry to dump all of my trauma on you both.” I slump against the seat.

“You can always talk to us,” Hadley says.

“And the guys too,” Becca says quietly. “You know they’ll have your back.”

I do know that, but I also never want to be a burden, hence why I’ve never shared my crazy past with anyone. It does feel good to have told someone. To have talked about what’s going on with me. Even if I only skimmed the surface of my family trauma, it’s nice to have said those things out loud.

We sit in silence for a while, and for the first time in a very long time, it feels as though the weight on my shoulders is a tiny bit lighter.

“Should we finish packing?” Becca eventually asks.

“Let’s do it,” Hadley says, getting to her feet.

“Thank you for giving up your Saturday afternoon to help me.”

“Of course. That’s what friends are for,” Becca says.

We spend the rest of the afternoon packing my apartment. I could not be more grateful to my friends for being there for me when I need them.

Chapter nine

Sebastian

The rest of the team chatters and celebrates today’s win, and normally I’d be joining in, but I’m tired. I haven’t slept well on this road trip, and I’m trying to convince myself it’s a coincidence and not because of the woman who’s my new roommate. I refuse to believe it’s because I’m worried about her.

We’ve texted a few times, but I haven’t heard from her since yesterday morning, and I hate it. Which is crazy, because it’s barely been thirty-six hours. But since our game was in the early afternoon, we had to be at the arena by mid-morning. I didn’t want to risk texting her and waking her up. So I didn’t.

Grunting, I take a seat on the bench to finish getting dressed, grateful that from here, we’re heading to the airport and home. I grab my phone out of my locker and turn it on.

“Shit,” I mutter when I see I have two missed calls and a voicemail from my sister.

“You alright?” Wes asks, leaning closer to me.

I furrow my brows. “My sister called during the game, and she never calls without texting first.”

“Shit, man, hope everything is okay.”

“Me too.” I stand, putting on my suit jacket. “I’m gonna go call her back. Hopefully catch her before she goes to bed.”

I hurry out the locker room and find a quiet corner to phone my sister, not even bothering to listen to her voicemail.

“’Ello,” Harriet says, her voice laced with sleep, when she picks on the fourth ring.

“Shit, sorry, Harr. Didn’t think you’d be sleeping already. I just saw you called.”

“S’okay.” She clears her throat.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Congrats.” I’m so happy for my middle sister and her husband. They’ve been trying to get pregnant for a while, so I can imagine how excited they are.