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.

"Yes and no," he says, and I'm curious if he still believes I'm sleeping with the coach and can put in a good word for him.

In fact, now that I've had the thought, I can't help but wonder if that's why he asked me out in the first place—combined, of course, with wanting to prove he was right when he accused me of sleeping with Lincoln.

We place our orders, and we chat about training camp and all things football. I keep trying to bring up Jonah just to prove that he's a single man who can have pretty much any woman he wants, so why does he want a single mom older than him, but every time I try to drive home that point, he brings up the camps he runs for kids.

We're getting nowhere. He's perfectly nice, but I keep trying to figure out his angle, and at this point, I'm starting to think this was a ploy to get me to promote his camps on the podcast.

I'm not really sure what he's after, and so I wait until the end of the meal after he's picked up the check to ask. "As a reporter, I've become very direct in my line of questioning and I've also become very suspicious of intentions. So I have to ask…why'd you want to take me to lunch?"

He chuckles. "Well, I didn't. If you recall, I wanted a date, preferably for dinner, but I took what you had open. I told you, Jolene. I like you. I find you incredibly attractive. You're ambitious, and you're smart, and you're funny. You seem to be a great mom to your little boy. And on top of all that, nobody would think twice about you dating a player, so it could be mutually beneficial for us both."

He's not wrong.

"That's very sweet, Austin," I say, and I reach across the table to take his hand in mine. I squeeze his. "I'm just…in a complicated place in my life right now. I don't want to get into anything."

"Is that code for letting me down gently? Or is that code for being open to a friends with benefits sort of situation?"

I laugh. "The first one. I'm sorry."

He stands and lets out a disappointed sigh. "I understand." He reaches out a hand to help me up, and he gives me a friendly hug. And then he shocks the hell out of me by planting a kiss on my lips.

"Whoa," I say, planting my hands on his chest and pushing him away.

"I'm sorry," he says a little sheepishly. "I just thought I could change your mind…"

"By kissing me without an invitation?" My brows dip together. We're in public, so I rein it in. "Thanks for lunch, Austin. I had a nice time. But I need to get back to work."

"Of course. I'm so sorry."

I turn to walk out of the restaurant, and he walks me to my car. He's gentlemanly, and the kiss back there seemed to just be a little out of character for him. It's over and done now, and I'm going to choose to leave it in the past.

Except…I can't.

As soon as I walk into the office, Rivera is at my cubicle waiting for me.

"What the fuck are these?" he asks, and he has prints of photos from my lunch with Austin.

I look through them in confusion…until I get to the last one in the pile.

The one of Austin kissing me.

Confusion turns to anger, and this feels like one big setup.

"Where did you get these?" I ask evenly.

"Someone just emailed them to me," he says, and he really looks like a little weasel perched there leaning against my desk.

"I literally just left lunch with him. Someone sent these to you already? You didn't have them taken?"

He puts on the act like he can't believe I'd suggest such a thing. "First I catch you kissing Nash, and now you're with a player? Really making the rounds there, Bailey. Wait until Marcus gets a load of these."

"Fuck off out of here, Rivera," I mutter.

"Is that how you talk to your boss?"

"No, it's not. But you're not my boss. So kindly get the fuck out before I have you removed."

He laughs. "Okay, yeah." His tone drips with sarcasm. "Have me removed then."

I lift a hand as if I'm going to slap him, and he flinches. I don't do it, but it's proof I've got him where I want him. He might be threatening me with photos, but he's still a little scared of me.

Okay, so maybe I don't have him right where I want him. But I like that he's a little afraid.

"Get. Out," I hiss, and he scampers off, leaving his stupid photos behind on my desk.

I toss them in the trash after ripping them up, but I'm well aware how photos work these days. Digital copies have presumably already been distributed across the interwebs, and surely my boyfriend is going to have a conniption fit that I was caught kissing one of his players.

I text him in order to stave off the potential consequences.

Me: Just got back to the office after lunch. Austin tried to kiss me. I firmly pushed him away, but needed you to know before pics hit the internet.

I feel like a colossal idiot as soon as I send the text. I'm not sure if he's stewing over it or if he's just busy, but I don't get a reply right away, so I stop staring at my phone waiting for one and dive into work.

They're already out there. All over the place. Pics of me with Austin's mouth on mine, and I know Lincoln's reaction isn't going to be pretty.

It's several hours before the reply comes.

Lincoln: I need to see you. My house in an hour.

I glance at the clock. I need to be home in an hour to meet the boys coming off the school bus.

Me: Can't. Boys get home then.

Lincoln: Fine, then. Gridiron break room, ten minutes.

I can't help but wonder why he wants to meet me there and not his office, but I agree.

Me: If you're walking over and don't want anyone to see you slipping into the break room, there's a back door that'll be unlocked.

He sends me a thumbs up, the most passive aggressive emoji in existence, and I make my way over to my dad's bar.

Lucky for me, my parents aren't in today, and deliveries are done for the day. He's sitting at the round table back there where I used to do my homework when I walk in, and he immediately stands and strides over toward me. He fists my biceps and smashes his lips to mine.

"These are my lips," he says, his breath hot against my mouth. "No one else's."

He's filled with something I've never seen from him, and it's pretty dang hot.

"If you thought I was jealous when your assistant left your room that first day at the vineyard, that had nothing on this, Coach."

He flattens his lips as he glares at me. "Why'd he kiss you?"

"I'm not sure." I shrug. "My guess is it was for the photo op. But I did my due diligence. I went out with him, and now I don't have to do it again."

"It feels bigger than that," he says, shaking his head a little as he lets me go. He paces a few steps back and forth.

"He's getting under your skin, and you're letting him," I say softly.

"You're goddamn right he is," he mutters. "I need to get rid of him. He isn't going to play for me anyway, and now this?" He shakes his head. "Forget it."

I blow out a breath. "Why isn't he going to play for you?"

"Asher is." He says it like it's the obvious answer and I should've known that.

"What if something happens to him? Who's your TE-two?"

He exhales both loudly and dramatically.

I walk over and rest my palm on his shoulder. "Look, he tried and it didn't pan out. Let him play the game. He's good, and you know that. You can't let your feelings for me keep you from doing what's best for your team."

He runs both hands through his hair, and he tugs at it a little. When he's done, the result is that his hair is sticking up. I brush it down for him with my fingertips as I press the front of my body to his.

"I'm yours," I say softly. "Never doubt that again."

He draws in a breath as if he's breathing me in. "Okay. I need to get back to the office, and you need to get home. No more dates. Understand?"

I can't help but push back to the way he just worded that. "I make my own decisions, so I'm not going to stand here and say yes, sir. But I will say that there is nobody else I want to be with, and you are mine as much as I am yours."

He clenches his jaw at my words, but eventually he nods. "Fine." He leans down for another quick kiss, and then he walks out the back door of the break room.