I crossed my arms in front of me and offered him my best glare.
He looked at me worriedly.
But, what he did not look like, was unaffected like I’d seen him look so many times over the last couple of weeks when I’d watched his games.
Honestly, he looked like he’d like nothing better than to run up and hold his hands up for me to fall into his arms.
Something that, despite being mad at him, I wanted to do very badly.
God, I was so fucking furious with him.
Honestly, I could happily sock him straight in the face, and not feel the least bit bad about it at this point.
But what I also wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and tell him how sorry that I was for being such a selfish cow when he had no control of his situation. When he’d been so thoroughly violated.
I drew in a shaky breath and felt the first tear slip down my cheek.
He saw that tear fall, and he closed his eyes, looking like I’d just dropped a ten-ton boulder on his shoulder.
I hastily wiped away the tear and hoped that my being there wouldn’t affect his playing.
Then I decided that I didn’t care if he wanted me there or not, or whether he played like shit.
We had some things to talk about, and me being there, alone in a crowd as large as the particular one I was in, wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.
He wouldn’t leave me alone because there was no way in hell that I could be at his game, sitting in my current seat, and not garner the attention of plenty of reporters.
No, he wouldn’t leave me alone.
That I knew with certainty.
I crossed my leg over my opposite knee and felt my shorts ride up even higher.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Linc, either.
In fact, I think he became more alert.
His eyes swung to someone behind me, who I’d been paying zero attention to the entire time I’d been sitting there, and his eyes narrowed.
And suddenly he was stalking toward me with a towel in his hand and tossing it at me once he was close enough.
“Cover your thighs,” he ordered.
My brows rose. “How about you make me?”
His jaw clenched, and I noticed that the sweat that was plastering his hair to his skull was making him look like he had a Mohawk going on.
“Put it over your lap before your entire crotch is plastered on national television,” he growled.
I leaned forward then, getting down on my knees so that I could get my face as close to his as possible.
Unfortunately, seeing as I was in the stands and raised a few feet over him, the only thing I could really see was the top of his head with how close he was standing.
I leaned through the bars that were supposed to stop the fans from jumping out onto the field and reached forward until my hand was hooked into the V his jersey made with his shoulder pads. I yanked him to me.
“Unless you want the entire goddamn world to know that I’m really pissed off at you, I suggest you stop telling me what to do and go play your little game. Then, when you’re done, you come get me so I can chew your ass out in private.” I paused. “And I can’t believe you would keep your hospital stay so quiet. How could you do that to me?”
Linc’s eyes narrowed. “Who told you?”
I laughed and sat back, or I would have had he not caught me much the same way I’d been holding onto him.
And before I could so much as blast him with a protest, he slammed his mouth down onto mine.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get hurt,” he said. “We needed to figure shit out, and honestly, it was easier to have you think I was a piece of shit than to have you in the line of fire.”
Before I could condemn him for his overprotectiveness, he let me go and jogged backward, straight onto the field where he was up to play next.
I gracefully got back into my chair, but I did cover my lap with the towel he’d given me.
It still had his sweat on it, and I swear, I only brought it to my face once and smelled it.Chapter 20Telling her to calm down is child’s play. If you really want to see her eyes spit fire, tell her she’s acting like her mother.
-Linc’s secret thoughts
Linc
Elation poured through my veins as the game clock ticked down, and the final buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game.
While everyone celebrated, I walked over to where Conleigh was still waiting, looking just as pissed as when she arrived over two hours ago.
Nodding at the security guard who was standing beside the barrier, ready to stop anyone trying to throw themselves onto the field, I held my hands up for Conleigh to come to me.