[Neither of them promised forever, yet it hurt all the same.]
River Hamilton cannot afford to fall for just anyone. To continue the legacy of her family the only way she can, she must eventually marry someone she may not want to spend the rest of he...
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H.STYLES
The clock hit ten to one, and River Hamilton waltzed across the field like she owned the place.
In a sense, Harry supposed, she did.
It gained attention, the way she walked. A cup of iced coffee already in hand which alone made enough noise—or maybe Harry focused his attention only on the woman, and how she approached him and his family.
Almost like Nick worked it out himself, Harry felt his elder brother look at him from the side in a way that suggested he was deep in his judgement. Harry couldn't help it when he inhaled slowly and deeply, or when his muscles tightened. He didn't know why he felt defensive over River Hamilton but he found he didn't want to dissect the matter.
Instead, he kept his eyes ahead of him and took in the way the wind blew on River's white skirt to reveal a pair of shorts beneath it. The material barely covered her toned legs as it stopped midthigh. Unaware, he licked his lips and glanced to the side for a second before his eyes swam back to her.
River wore long white socks that bunched above her ankles, and a pair of pristine white shoes. Harry swallowed harder than he had done before as his eyes raked over her legs once more, and without shame, and he continued to take in her appearance as she neared. The light green long-sleeved shirt with white stripes, the white shirt and its collar that folded out onto the neck of the sweater.
Somehow, yet unsurprisingly, she looked perfect.
"Isn't that the boss? The one you mentioned to me?" Nick muttered as he turned his back towards River and faced Harry. When he glanced at his brother, Harry noted Nick's attention wasn't on him, rather on something else, far in the distance.
Harry sighed. "In some ways, yes—she is the boss."
"And she is coming this way—because?"
"Someone has to teach you how to hit a ball."
Nick scoffed. "You're fucking her, aren't you?"
The comment left Harry feeling embarrassed. What Nick said couldn't have been farther from the truth, and yet he felt his face roast like a chicken on a grill.
"I beg your pardon?" he found his voice at last, now toe to toe with his brother.
"Come on, Harry," Nick chuckled, and cocked one of his eyebrows as if to challenge the younger Styles. "How else would you have managed to get the boss to agree to this?"
"Sometimes, I wonder how you're the older, mature sibling out of the two of us," Harry sighed and moved away from his brother at least two huge steps. Even still, he could hear Nick's laugh.
Ellis, his wife, said something to him that Harry chose to block out because he didn't care to eavesdrop. River was also five seconds away, and her perfume swam on the wind that drifted towards Harry. Strong and familiar, the usual scent that she wore.
