Page 26 of Losing Ansley

Lincoln: Got you to finally text me, though, didn't it?

I grind my teeth. Son of a bitch! I don't respond, choosing to ignore that comment. I'm sure he's grinning at his phone, expecting me to come back with something. That's not happening.

When Sunday comes, I'm sad to leave Liv and Caroline. Bass and Caroline come over to Liv's to tell me bye. They brought over some burgers and fries for us to eat before I left. As we all sit around Liv's table, Bass constantly has to touch Caroline, whether tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, rubbing his finger down her arm, or leaning in and kissing her; he finds some way to touch her throughout the meal. I feel like a lead balloon drops in my stomach.

I'm so happy for her. She deserves to be happy. She deserves someone devoted to her, but it makes me wonder if I'll ever have that. Will someone finally choose me over everyone else? I swallow and glance away as I pop a fry in my mouth. That is why I'm ignoring Lincoln because that's what I deserve. I will not be someone's second choice, mistake, or dirty secret.

Bass grabs my bags and puts them in my car when I'm leaving. I let him so I could tell Liv and Caroline bye.

"We'll see you in a few weeks when we visit you for your birthday," Liv tells me, and I nod at them both. We huddle into a group hug.

"We're going to miss you, Ans." Caroline sniffs, and I pull back to look at her. She wipes at her eyes. "Ignore me. Pregnancy hormones." She cries. I chuckle and pull them back into a hug.

"I'll miss you, girls, too." They walk me to my car.

"Do you think you'll try to call or text Lincoln again?" Caroline asks and Bass' head pops up at that.

"Lincoln? Isn't he the asshole?" Bass asks. Caroline's head pops up, and she glares at Bass. I start laughing.

"Yes. He's the asshole." I reply, and Bass pulls Caroline into his side as she swats at his abs and turns to me.

"I used to complain about him always keeping me late. I didn't tell him about you two." Caroline explains. Bass' eyes widen.

"You and Lincoln?" He gasps like he's one of the girls, and I roll my eyes. "Wasn't he your boss?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"And didn't you sleep with your client?" I motion to Caroline, and she breaks out into a big smile as she tilts her head back and beams up at him.

"Touche." Bass mumbles. He owns a gym and is a trainer. Caroline was his client, and he trained her in more ways than how to gain muscle. He kisses Caroline on the head and says bye to me, walking to his truck to give us a few minutes.

"So, are you going to go see Lincoln?" Caroline asks, and I shake my head as I look between her and Liv.

"I can't. I have to move on. I have a few matches on the app. I think I might try to go out on a couple of dates. Maybe I'll actually have a date for my birthday." I force myself to sound optimistic, but my heart breaks.

Technically it's already broken. I'm just trying to put band-aids on it to cover it up. They both nod in understanding and hug me before I climb into my car and drive off. I look down at my phone as it buzzes at the end of Liv's neighborhood.

Lincoln: Please talk to me. Come see me before you leave.

I stare at my phone for several long seconds before making a decision. I take a deep breath and let my foot off the brake.

CHAPTER TEN

LINCOLN

AFTER THREEglasses of bourbon and me staring at the text I see Ansley read over two hours ago, I come to terms with the fact she's not coming. She's probably halfway to Atlanta by now. My phone starts ringing, and I grab it so quickly it almost slips out of my hand. I scowl at Dylan's name, but I haven't talked to him since Friday, so I answer it.

"Hey, man!" I greet him and stand from the chair I was lounging in to take the bottle of bourbon back to the bar and rinse my tumbler.

"Hey! Three weeks from today, you're coming to Atlanta." I pause what I'm doing while my half-drunk brain tries to process what he just said.

"Okay. Why?" I ask as I put my tumbler back precisely where it's supposed to go.

"For Ansley's birthday!" He exclaims like I should know this already. And I do, but again my brain isn't firing on all cylinders as I wallow in the fact she refused to come to see me. I sigh. "You know you have to come. It's been a tradition since she turned sixteen." Yeah. A tradition I inadvertently started.

"Right! What are we doing?" I ask him, walking to the kitchen to find something to eat for dinner.

"We're going to go to a Braves game because, according to Ansley, it's something we have to do since we live here. It'll probably be hot so dress accordingly. We did get good seats, though." I scowl.

"You already got tickets?" I ask, and he hums.

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