AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nods as he raises his brows. “Between you and me, without Dalton, Olson, and Nolan, I was curious what was in store this season.”
I chuckle. “You and me both.”
We’re interrupted by a loud voice over the public address system. “We’ll be starting introductions in five minutes. Please find your seats.”
“Listen, man,” Troy says. “I’d love to meet up again and talk Vegas sports, maybe over dinner with my wife and your…” he trails off.
“Samantha,” I fill in. “The woman I’m seeing.”
“Right. Nice to meet you.” He smiles at my date then turns his attention back to me. “I think you and I could make a helluva team together. Interested?”
“Absolutely.” I try to rein in the enthusiasm I actually feel, but Troy Bodine just asked me to dinner. I hand him a business card with my details as well as my secretary’s. “Let me know when you’ve got the time since I know how busy the season can get for you.”
“I always make time when it’s important.” He grins, and then he offers his hand for me to shake again.
And just like that, I feel like I’ve made a friend. And Troy will be a good friend to have. He’ll be the kind of guy I can talk to about things few other people on my friends list might understand.
“I look forward to it,” I say, and then he heads off to find his seat while I direct Sam toward ours.
CHAPTER 26: JOLENE
I head home from the studio a little early since I don’t know what time Sam will be getting home from the afternoon product launch event and I want to make sure one of us is home when the boys arrive. They have their after-school Lego building club today, but the late bus will drop them at home around four-thirty.
It’s nearly three-thirty when I get home, and I sit on the couch with my laptop to get some more work done. It’s constant, and with a roster of fifty-three players plus the coaching staff numbering somewhere around twenty and a front office staff with over a hundred employees…I have plenty of content to keep me busy for the rest of the year.
But I can’t focus.
Instead, I’m thinking about Lincoln and Sam and what the fuck have I done?
Why would I possibly have thought this was a good idea?
What if he kisses her? What if she falls for him? We’ve just introduced a complication to our already complicated relationship. And for what?
I don’t have any of those answers, but I do know that I don’t like how I feel right now.
I never should’ve brought it up to Lincoln. I had no idea he’d think it was a good idea, too—a way to get the focus off his personal life and onto the game. I had no idea that he wanted one woman to attend events with so nobody would bother him.
It seems like a win-win, and it is…for the two of them.
I, however, feel like a big old loser as I sit by myself on the couch trying to work.
Instead of working, I search his name to see if I can find any photos of him and Sam. Nothing’s out yet, but the event isn’t over yet.
I blow out a breath.
This is dumb.
And no sooner do I think that than I hear the front door unlocking and the door opening. I slam the lid of my laptop shut and leap up from the couch.
Sam is laughing as they walk in together, further pushing the knife into my spine.
Okay, so that’s dramatic. She’s just putting on the act.
But he’s laughing, too, and he doesn’t need to act as the door shuts behind them.
They look like a perfect pair together. Sam is gorgeous in a red dress and heels, and Lincoln wears a suit that I want to peel off of him one layer at a time.
“How’d it go?” I ask, feeling left out as I interrupt their laughter.
