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Two weeks.
I’d never make it that long. Not with how myfriendshipwith Lincoln was going.
I wanted him.
Badly.
But every time my body reacted to his, which was pretty muchallthe time, it was like there were two of me. My body was doing all the right things physically when it came to my need for Lincoln, but my brain wasn’t in agreement at all. The jolts of physical pain weren’t as bad as they’d been the night Lincoln had kissed me, but they were still there. It took every ounce of power I had to ignore those jolts when I touched Lincoln in any kind of way, even the nonsexual ones. It was a constant battle going on within my own body but so far, I must have managed to behave normally on the outside or surely Lincoln would have said something.
Could I do two more weeks of this, though?
I shook my head.
No.
No, there was just no fucking way.
“Theo?” I heard Lincoln say in confusion.
“I’m fine,” I automatically said even though my stomach was cramping and an icy-cold chill was slowly weaving its way through me.
“You sure?” he asked, eyeing me in that way of his that meant he wasn’t necessarily believing that the words I was saying matched what I was feeling.
“We should probably split up,” I said as I forced myself to tug my hand free of Lincoln’s. I stepped in front of him and while I could hear the crunch of his footsteps right behind me on the path, I was eager to get to the relative safety of the house and the crazy family breakfast where Lincoln would be forced to keep his distance from me.
My hopes of escaping the man were dashed when I realized that most of the vehicles that usually took up the space in the driveway were gone. The only ones left were Lincoln’s sedan and the old pickup truck that belonged to Cam. He was saving the thing for Riley to drive when he got his license since he mostly drove his police-issued SUV anyway. Ford’s car was gone too.
I saw Riley sitting on the grass just off to the side of the house. The teenager was playing with the pudgy Puddles.
“Morning, Riley,” I called.
The kid looked up with a big smile. “Morning.”
“Did we miss breakfast?” Lincoln asked.
The teenager didn’t seem to notice how close Lincoln was standing to me.
“Kind of. Cam got called to some kind of emergency and Ford took Walter and Lenny to go pick up some fancy dog food for Puddles. That organic stuff, I guess. Ford made some breakfast sandwiches, so everyone kind of grabbed some and left. There’s some in the microwave for you guys.”
Riley climbed to his feet and picked Puddles up. “Sawyer said he thinks there’s seven puppies, but he can’t be a hundred percent sure. Are either of you guys gonna take one when they’re born?”
As soon as he asked the question, I saw an opportunity and grabbed it before I had the chance to reconsider it. “Um, I’m only going to be here for a couple more days, Riley,” I said. “But I’m sure you guys will find great homes for all of them.”
I could practically feel Lincoln’s anger washing over me. I’d told him two weeks, but I’d just taken the coward’s way out with my answer to Riley’s question, and I’d done it solely so Lincoln couldn’t confront me about the sudden change. I knew he’d be on me about it the second we were alone but no way in hell was I prepared for that yet. I needed to shore up my defenses.
“Um, Riley, would you mind showing me where Ford keeps the tea bags?” I asked as I motioned to the house.
“Oh yeah, sure. But you’re really leaving in two days? I thought Ford said…”
The rest of his words were drowned out because of the loud ringing in my ears. I’d followed Riley for a few steps to put some space between Lincoln and myself so he couldn’t easily grab me, but when I turned to look at him, the expression on his face said it all.
Pissed didn’t even come close to the gamut of emotions I could see in his eyes and the way he held himself. And he hadn’t taken even one step toward me. His arms were wrapped around his upper chest, and he looked at me like… like he didn’t even know me. I’d expected some kind of confrontation, especially since Riley had disappeared into the house. But Lincoln just stared at me for a long beat and then turned and began walking toward his car. His sudden departure scared me even though it should have been exactly what I wanted.
“Where are you going?” I had the audacity to call out to him, my voice laced with desperation.
He didn’t answer me. He didn’t even look at me. He just got in his car and left. I felt like I was being ripped in two because I had a sinking feeling that even though he hadn’t said it, this was goodbye for us. Whether I stayed two days or two weeks, Lincoln had already accomplished what other people never did when they met me.
He’d looked past the mask. He’d done it then and he was doing it now.
