She laughed. “Damn straight. Maybe you’ll be next, Brinks.”
“Okay. I’m hanging up. That’s ridiculous.”
“We’ll see about that. Love you.”
“Love you more.”
I ended the call and shook my head.
Marriage wasn’t even in the realm of my imagination. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled for Lila and Georgia. But I had too much to accomplish before I even considered that.
Didn’t I?
Why did the thought excite me as much as it terrified me?
I looked up to see Lincoln walking toward me from the backyard. His gaze locked with mine, and I had my answer.
It terrified me because a lifetime with Lincoln Hendrix made my stomach flutter.
And that was never supposed to happen.
But here we were.
twenty
Lincoln
“Is this what you do every day?” Lionel asked after he heaved into a bush for the third time.
Brinkley stood there, rubbing her hand across his back to comfort him as she spoke. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. His workouts are not normal.”
My gaze locked with hers.
That’s right, sweetheart. My favorite workouts were with her in the bedroom at the start and end of every day.
Her cheeks pinked because she knew what I was thinking, but she rolled her eyes and smirked like I was ridiculous. This was our shtick. Me saying how crazy I was about her, and her acting like I was going to tire of her any day now.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
It was a big part of the reason that I wanted my mom to come out this weekend. I’d told her I’d met someone, and she was excited to meet Brinkley.
They were the two most important women in my life, and I wanted them to meet.
“I can feel I’m getting stronger, though,” Lionel said. He’d worked out with us four days this week, and he’d puked every time. The poor kid would need to double his calories to make up for these workouts and the fact that he couldn’t make it through a workout without chucking his breakfast.
“You are getting stronger. So, what did Coach Hardin say when you spoke to him yesterday?” I asked, and we all three dropped down to sit in the grass, looking out at the water.
“He said they’re interested. He isn’t sure if he has any money left in the budget because it’s so late now and the recruiting season is basically over. But he wants me to come out there, so my mom is pricing some tickets.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got you. I’ll get you there,” I said, and Brinkley’s eyes snapped up to meet mine. “Do you want to play there?”
“Yes. They have a really good business school, which is what I want to major in.”
“Then how about you and I go check it out?”
“What? You’re coming with me?”
“Fuck yeah, I am. I’ll talk to your mom and make sure she’s good with it. You need to have someone there asking the right questions. We’re not going to let you go out there and get pushed around, Lionel. You’ve got decent stats, and you haven’t even really been coached yet. The potential is there. I believe it. So, we’ll make sure that Coach Hardin, and anyone else who reaches out, knows it.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“How about you double up your calories after your workouts so you don’t wither away? Can you do that for me?” The kid’s biggest issue at the moment was the fact that he needed to put some weight and some muscle on his bones.
“I could start making you green juices from my garden if things would ever grow. I’ve been waiting forever,” Brinkley said, shaking her head, which made me laugh.
Every damn day we went and checked on that ridiculous garden. It had a long way to go, and whole vegetables and fruits were not going to just start popping up that quickly. It would take time.
I wanted to do something for her, and I knew that she would never ask for help with anything.
So, Georgia had met a few people from the nursery at the house this morning for me, to oversee some updates to the garden that I wanted to surprise Brinkley with.
“Thanks, Miss Brinkley,” Lionel said as we started walking toward the house where his car was parked. “I’ll try to bulk up some.”
There was an awkward pause there, and I knew something was up.
I knew the look on his face.
He wanted this but didn’t have the means to do it.
His mother lived on a fixed income, from what Brinkley had told me. She couldn’t just double her grocery bill. I should have thought of that before I called him out for it.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ve got some things that helped me a lot when I was trying to put on some weight back in the day. Let me look into it for you.”
He nodded as he stopped in front of his car. “I appreciate it. And I get free dinner at Reynolds’ when I work, and I don’t think Hugh would mind if I increased my portions a bit.”
“Of course, he wouldn’t.” Brinkley smiled.
“I’ll see you both tomorrow if you’re still okay with me joining in?” he asked.
“Absolutely.” I held up my hand and waved.
After he pulled down the driveway, Brinkley turned to me. “Look at you. You’re going with him to see the school?”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said, avoiding her stare.
“You’re a big softy, Captain.”
She ran for the back door, and I chased her. I scooped her up and dropped her onto the couch, hovering over her.
“Do I strike you as a softy?” I teased as I thrust my erection against her.
She laughed and tugged me down before my mouth crashed into hers.
When I pulled back, she glanced at her wrist to check the time. “Shit. I’ve got to grab a fast shower and then pick up Gracie from preschool. My parents weren’t able to pick her up today, so I’m going to go get her.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, scooping her up and carrying her toward the bedroom.
I set her down on the bathroom counter, and her lips turned up in the corners. “Really? We’re going to the Tipsy Tea; you sure you want to come with us?”
“I am.” I smirked before turning on the shower as we both stripped our clothes off and stepped in.
Obviously, we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves, so showering together was my new favorite thing. I pressed her against the wall and thrust into her, as my lips found hers.
We were like a finely tuned ship. We could go at it for hours, or we could find our release in minutes. Our bodies fit together like they were made for one another.
We quickly dried off, and Brinkley slicked her hair back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She dabbed a little gloss on her lips, did something to her eyelashes, and we were out the door.
I’d insisted on driving, so we’d moved the car seat thingy into my car. Brinkley guided me to the school and talked me through the pickup line. I’d never heard of a drive-through where you got a child at the end of the line, but I also had very little experience with children.
“There she is,” Brinkley said as she rolled the window down and waved.
A woman escorted Gracie to the car. She was probably the cutest kid I’d ever seen. She wore a navy plaid jumper, a white blouse beneath, and some navy knee socks. Her hair was pulled up in two buns on top of her head. But she wasn’t donning the big smile she’d worn the last time I’d seen her.