Page 19 of Hello Billionaire

I pulled up next to him and cut my engine, getting out of the car at the same time Rhett exited his truck. Instead of his usual jeans and boots combo, he wore gray sweatpants and a thick black hoodie. In one hand, he held his own travel mug of coffee, his other tucked into his sweatshirt pocket.

“Hey, man,” he said, giving me a half hug and patting my back as he grinned. “Glad you had this idea. I haven’t played ball in forever.”

“It’s been too long,” I agreed. But that was the cost of running the business I did. I might be the boss, but the company was the one making demands on my time. There wasn’t room for much else.

The sound of an engine approached, and we looked over to see Henrietta’s red SUV driving our way, Tyler in the driver’s seat. She smiled at us and waved through the windshield, her grin contagious.

Just a minute later, Liv pulled up in her truck, dust billowing behind her. She was always running late, especially when she had an early morning wake up. I remembered working cattle with her when we were younger and our parents having to take the blankets off her bed so she’d get up.

After greeting everyone, I got the bag of baseballs, extra mitts, bats out of my trunk, and we were on the field. Liv insisted we warm up, so she, Rhett, and I formed a triangle to throw the ball around while Tyler and Hen passed back and forth with each other.

Rhett called to me, “Are you sure you’re ready for this whoopin’, old man?”

Liv passed the ball to him. “He just looks old because you’ve been hanging out with twenty-year-olds.”

Rhett threw me the ball. “Do you see the issue, Gage?”

Ignoring him, I rolled the leather sphere in my hands, running my fingers over the seams. “I didn’t realize how old I was until my employee brought her kids to the office. Eight and five. I felt like a grandpa crouching down to talk to them and hanging their drawings on the wall.”

Liv said, “Grandpa or daddy? Because you’re about that age to be thinking about kids.”

Rhett folded his arms, putting his glove to his chin like he was deep in thought. “I’ve been called daddy before.”

Liv took off her glove and threw it at him. “Why are you like this?”

Tyler jogged our way, grinning. “I think that’s our cue to get started.”

As we made a loose formation around the field, I tried not to think too much about what Liv said, mostly because she was right. I was closer to forty than thirty, and although my life wasn’t over by any means, I didn’t know how I’d ever have time for a relationship. For children. Or if I’d even be any good at it. My business had forced me to make sacrifices, and most of the time, I was content with my decisions. I had to find a way to be satisfied with this one too.

The five of us split the field. Liv at left field, Tyler at right field, Rhett pitching, Henrietta batting, and me at center field.

I knew Hen grew up with brothers, but when Rhett sent her a pitch and the bat cracked on the ball, sending it flying over my head, a grin split my face. Where the hell had that come from?

“That’s my wife!” Tyler yelled.

“Baddie!” Liv called.

“I’m backing up next time,” I called as I jogged after the ball that had rolled to a stop right before the fence.

Rhett sent her a few more pitches, most of which she hit to the outfield. It felt good to follow the ball with my eyes, snag it with my glove, and throw it in, getting away from thoughts of a potential partnership with Jason Romero and Farrah’s wildflower smell. But mostly it was nice to know I had a family still, even if I couldn’t go home.

For the next couple hours, we rotated around the field, taking turns in each position. I laughed harder than I had in months when Rhett hit a home run and insisted on sprinting around the bases, only for Tyler to tackle him before he could reach home plate.

We dusted ourselves off, then got in our cars and drove to the main diner in town, Woody’s. Just stepping into this place took me back to high school, coming in with my girlfriend, Nicole, on my arm after a big win. Feeling like a god with my friends around, drinking milkshakes and shoveling down fries like our metabolisms would never slow down.

I barely talked to any of those people I used to call best friends. Money made things weird, and time made things awkward. But time seemed to encapsulate in this town.

Barely a few feet into the diner, an older man turned to look at us. “If it isn’t those Griffen kids!” I instantly recognized him—Grayson Madigan, the man who owned the ranch nearest ours. We’d practically grown up with his kids, from having mud fights after a rainstorm to getting in trouble after prom. In fact, I still saw his oldest son, Fletcher, regularly as my doctor.

Grayson got up and hugged Liv and Henrietta, clapped each of us boys on the back. “Haven’t seen you in a minute, Gage,” he said.

I nodded. “Busy with the business. But it’s great to see you again.” I meant it. He was one of the few people in this world I’d trust with everything I had. My falling-out with my parents hadn’t just stripped me of that relationship. It made coming back to see old friends that much harder. So I mostly skipped it altogether. “How are things on the ranch?”

“Great,” he said. “We hired a couple kids from the local FFA as summer interns, and they’ve kept me on my toes.”

“I bet they keep you young too,” I teased. Griffen Industries had college interns in most of our departments, from finance to marketing, and I made it a point that they were all paid fairly, even if it took extra time to train and teach them. They brought a liveliness and energy we didn’t usually see from people who’d been in the workforce for a while.

“You know it,” Grayson said with a smile. “I’ll let you all get to your meal. Good to see you kids.”

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