Page 12 of No Second Chances

“I just want to talk to you.” Royal changes tactics, his voice immediately softening from the acidic spew that he’d just been spitting in my direction. “Why don’t you go sit down, Mallory? I’ll be right there.” Dismissing her is a surefire way to piss her off even more, and to paint a target on my back.

My eyes are still on the ground, but I would bet a hundred dollars that Mallory is glaring at me like she wants me dead.

“Why don’t you both leave?” My throat hurts from saying anything. “I don’t want to talk to you, Royal.”

“Too bad,” he insists, and while I try to back up to get away from him, the back of my knees hit the bench and I wobble.

He grabs my arm, no doubt to keep me from falling, but that only makes things worse. I yank it out of his grip with a whimper and crouch in on myself, needing to get as far away from him as possible.

“Royal,” Mallory cuts into my panic, her voice making me feel like I should stab a knife into my ear to stop the sound. “I think we should go. There’s something wrong with her.”

“There’s nothing wrong with her,” he snaps at her. “She’s throwing a fuckin’ fit. Just like she always does when she doesn’t get what she wants.” I feel the booth flex as he slides into it, effectively cornering me. “News flash, Kennedy. The world doesn’t revolve around you. When a man wants to talk to you, you give him the time. It’s called being polite.”

“No. It’s called being a jackass. Now leave. Before I make you.”

My eyes flash open, and even through the tears I know it’s him.

“Mind your own business, Lincoln,” Royal says, exaggerating his name. “You’re interrupting a private conversation.”

“Do you want to die today, Royal?” Linc doesn’t budge, and his eyes never meet mine, even though I’m silently begging him to. “Because I’ve got nothing going on. I’m sure I could make that happen if you don’t get the fuck out of here right now.”

Royal stiffens, but Mallory moves between the two men like the idiot she is. “Come on, Royal; don’t waste your time on him.”

Royal, apparently, grows a few brain cells in that moment, because he slides out of the booth without saying anything else to Linc. That doesn’t stop him from staring at me with the same hard, lifeless eyes that he turned on me during our entire relationship.

“We’re going to talk about this, Kennedy. Whether you want to or not.”

“We have nothing to talk about, Royal,” I whisper. “Congratulations on your engagement to Mallory. Please leave me alone.”

Royal can’t say anything else. Not because he doesn’t want to, but because Linc steps between us and says something under his breath. Something only Royal can hear that turns his face bright red, and his mouth quivers with either rage or fear.

“Leave.” The low timbre of Linc’s voice never wavers in pitch, but danger rolls off him in waves.

If it were anyone, anyone else other than Royal, I’d feel bad for them. But not him. Not after everything he did in the last year to make my life a living hell. No. He definitely deserves to feel every ounce of Linc’s aggression aimed at him.

When he grabs Mallory by the arm and yanks her away, I flinch. Memories flood my mind of the last time he did it to me. Instinctively, I rub my arms and grimace, fighting off the same helpless feeling I’ve learned to live with.

Linc stands there, with his back turned toward me, watching Royal and Mallory walk in the opposite direction.

I take the rare opportunity to stare at him. The way he holds himself hasn’t changed, at least not enough that anyone else would know. I see the rigid tension in his shoulders that never existed before. The muscles in his neck twitch as he keeps his eyes locked on Royal’s retreating back.

His arms are crossed over his chest, and I watch the way the muscles in his biceps flex under the edge of his shirt. He shifts, and I get just a glimpse of a black tattoo on the backside of his right biceps before he turns and his eyes lock on mine.

I see Linc every single day. Every day since he came back from the Marine Corps. And every single time I see him, the fire that lives in my heart for him flares to life, consuming everything in its path.

A fraction of a second passes while we stare at each other, and every year that passed melts away. The pain, the loss, the years spent without him by my side fades until we are back in that moment. The one when everything feels perfect. When I think we have forever. When Linc is the first and last man I ever want to be with. In that moment, I see the hunger in his eyes. I see the passion for life that he used to have. I see Linc.

He blinks, and the mask of indifference he carries slips into place. Linc is gone again, and in his place a stranger stares back at me. One who knows everything about me and holds my heart in his hands.

Tears pool in my eyes. It isn’t the first time and definitely won’t be the last time that I’ll cry over Lincoln Hayes.

Before he sees me embarrass myself any further, I scoot out of the booth and run away. At least at home, I can hide under the blankets and pretend that my life isn’t a complete wreck.

Maybe once I get there, I won’t feel like dying all over again.

6

LINC

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