CHAPTER 7 LINCOLN

"Hello?" she answers, and usually she answers with my name.

Somehow not hearing my name fall from her lips leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

"Hey. I guess we need to…figure this out. How we want to face this. I'm already getting questions," I say.

"I am, too. And my mother just called to inform me that they will be stepping out of my life if I continue to see you."

"Jesus." I run a hand down my jaw. What the fuck are we going to do? We want to be together, but at what cost? I'm being torn to shreds in the media as a cheater, Jolene is being torn to shreds as the other woman, and it's all at the hands of this Rivera assface. All I can focus on today is how to get revenge—how to find some shit on him and use it against him, but the rational part of me knows that isn't the answer.

"Have you talked to Ellie?" she asks.

"She called me but I was in a meeting. My father called. My mother called. All three of my brothers called. It's a nightmare, Jo." I blow out a heavy breath.

"On this end, too. I'm on my way home now because I can't continue working in an office where I'm just being bombarded with questions. I did talk to Marcus, though, and he said he'd take care of Rivera. So at least there's that. But he also told me you and I needed to figure out how we want to tackle this."

"Yeah. Where are you at on all that?" I ask simply because I don't have the answers here.

She lets out a strangled little sound but doesn't have the answers, either.

And that's the whole problem. We were living in this dream state, pawning off this moment thinking it was far down the road in the future. But it's not. It's here upon us, and we can't keep figuring it out because now we need to come to a decision.

"Let's start by calling Ellie back to see how she wants to handle it," she suggests. "I just pulled into the driveway at home if you're able to swing by."

"I'm not. It's so crazy here that I slept in my office last night," I admit. "But I'll talk to Ellie and have her get in touch."

"Okay."

I'm about to tell her I love her because those feel like the right words to end this conversation, but I can't bring myself to do it.

Saying it now will only make it that much harder on my heart when the inevitable end confronts us, and that end feels like it's creeping slowly toward us, ready to swallow us whole and spit us out in completely different directions.

My chest feels heavy with pressure at the mere thought of losing her. I just got her back in my life even if it was in secret.

But that's the problem with secrets, isn't it? They always come out—a cliché for a good reason. And that's what's going to happen with Asher's secret, too.

I end up muttering a bye before cutting the call, and then I dial Ellie.

"I've been trying you all damn morning!" she answers.

"I've been busy." My tone is slightly more belligerent than I mean for it to be, but she's not my boss and I will not take orders from her. Still, she's here to help me, so I soften my tone. "Sorry, it's just been a day."

"I get it. How do you want to face all this?"

"I guess I need to break up with Sam," I say. Something I should've done weeks ago but didn't, and now I'm paying the price.

"That's a start, yes. Do we want to admit this to the public and get past it or do we want to keep it a secret?"

"I feel like you have an opinion, so let's hear it."

"My opinion if you want to get around the cheating accusations is to be honest. It will hurt up front but will pay off in the long run," she says.

"And by honest, you mean…"

"Fess up to the fake relationship with Sam to protect what you have with Jolene."

"Have? Had. I'm not sure anymore," I mutter.

She's quiet a beat, and then she says, "You think this is the end?"

"It feels like it's inevitable." What she told me her mother said weighs heavily on my shoulders.

It's not just Jolene and me. There's a kid involved, and it's impossible to think we'll all walk away from this madness unscathed.

"What if it isn't?"

"Huh?" I ask.

"What if the end isn't inevitable? What if you find a way to, I don't know…get your family to make amends?"

"You saw our fathers going at it at the charity ball, Ellie. That's never going to happen."

She sighs, conceding. "Okay. So do you want to fight for her or throw in the towel?"

"When you ask me it that way, I want to fight."

"Then fight, Linc. Listen, my job is to protect your public image, but I'm nothing if not a romantic. My company is named Prince Charming Public Relations, remember? I'm here for the fairy tale, okay? So go get your happily ever after. We'll figure out the rest."

I blow out a breath. "Okay. Thanks, Ellie. I'll let Jolene know what we talked about and I will talk to my players before practice and issue a statement by the end of the day."

"When you say issue a statement…"

"Draft it, please."

"On it. Oh! And this will make for some juicy podtent."

"Podtent?" I repeat.

"Podcast content," she says as if I should've known what the fuck she meant.

"Does everyone abbreviate words these days?"

"Only the cool kids. Talk to you soon!" She cuts the call, and I hit Jolene back.

"That was quick," she answers.

"I want to fight for you," I say. "I love you, and I will not let this be the end of our road."

"I love you, too," she says, and I hear the relief in her tone.

"I'm going to talk to my team today to get the focus back on the field, Ellie is drafting a statement, and I'd love to chat with you on the podcast about…all of it. Maybe it'll give our families a little more insight into why we felt we had to hide it."

She clears her throat. "I'm down for all of it. Let me know what you need from me."

"You. I just need you."

"Right back at you, Coach," she says.

"I need to figure out what I'm going to tell my boys and get down to the locker room. I'll call you later."

We end the call, and for as shitty as this morning has been, a bead of hope forms in my chest.

We can make it through this. We will.

The alternative is just not an option.