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“Great. I’m free tonight. Are you?”
“I haven’t seen my son in two weeks, so I’m planning to spend the weekend with him.”
“How about lunch on Monday?” he presses.
I haven’t been in the office in two weeks, but I’ll consider this a working lunch, I guess. “Sure.”
We figure out a place and time before he heads toward the back of the bus, and there’s a text from Lincoln waiting for me when I glance at my phone.
Lincoln: What was that all about?
I glance over at him, and he looks irritated as his eyes find mine.
He taps something out on his phone, and I glance down when mine dings with a text notification.
Lincoln: I meant what I said. You are mine. I am yours.
Me: I know. He said there are rumors going around that you and me are a thing. He saw you in my room this morning. I made up a story about how you didn’t have hot water and then he asked me on a date to prove I’m not seeing you.
Lincoln: What the fuck? What did you say?
Me: I didn’t have a choice if I wanted him to believe my story. I accepted.
His eyes are livid when they meet mine. He doesn’t write back, and it’s a long six hours back to Vegas.
And admittedly, I spend the remainder of the trip wondering whether he’s got another one of those terribly erotic punishments in store for me.
CHAPTER 30: JOLENE
I spend the weekend with Jonah, and it feels so good to be back home again. I continue to wish that we could find a way to mesh these two parts of my life—that I could wake in Lincoln’s arms then spend the day with my son, but right now, it’s just not possible.
Lincoln worked all weekend, and we’ve barely spoken at all since the bus ride when he was clearly upset that I’m going on a date with a player on his team. He hasn’t brought it up, but I still can’t help wondering whether he’s taking it out on Austin. I’ve asked him about a hundred times who will be the starting quarterback as I try to find some angle to persuade him to tell me, but I’m almost positive he hasn’t decided yet. He wants to see both Brandon and Miles in action at the preseason games, and then he’ll decide.
When I walk into the restaurant we agreed on, Austin is already there. He waves me over, and I feel a little nervous going out in public with a player, but it’s too late to turn back now.
“Hey,” he says, and he stands to greet me with a kiss on the cheek.
“How’s your Monday going?” I ask as I sit in the chair across from him.
“Better now.” He offers a smile, and he’s very cute. He’s a little young for me, but the dark hair that swoops down over his forehead and those blue eyes are just enough to make me forget about our ages.
But there’s one little detail I heard about him that I’m not as comfortable with, and that’s the fact that he’s a member of a sex club.
Or he was, at least.
The story broke in the gossip rags last year at training camp, but the excitement around it has long since tapered. It’s no longer a secret club, though it’s certainly private, and it wasn’t a sex club, exactly—while sex happened on the top floor, it was more of an exclusive club for celebrities. I’ve since learned that there were once four owners, but the other owners sold their stakes to Victor Bancroft since he was the only one comfortable with the secret getting out. The other owners’ identities were always shrouded in secrecy, and as much as I wanted to know more, I’ve since let it go. It’s old news now, anyway, but it did give the regular, average joe a look into the private lives of celebrities when it hit newsstands.
I wonder if Austin is still a member.
I want to ask, but I don’t want him to think I’m interested in going.
Maybe with Lincoln, if we could. But not with Austin.
“So this is your…fourth season with the Aces?” I ask.
He nods. “Once Olson retired, I was ready to move into the starting position. But then Coach brought over his brother, and after camp, it looks like I’m going to be in the same place I’ve been all four years.”
“You’re still a key member of the team,” I point out, and he shrugs.
