The Game (That Girl, #2)(21)

Instantly, I grab behind me to stop Jazzy from pouncing on Rebecca.

“This isn’t my home. It’s Lincoln’s now. His wife, him, and their good friend lives here. You can stop with your attitude right now.”

I grab my cellphone, dialing Coach as fast as possible, because this has to be some horrible mistake or a f*cking practical joke. Maybe I’m on MTV right now being Punk’d. Either way, she’s not staying, and I absolutely refuse to work with her one single minute. Lynlee rounds the corner as I wait for Coach Johnson to answer.

“Oh, is this your physical therapist?” Lynlee asks. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lynlee Wilks. Lincoln’s wife.”

Lynlee holds her hand out, waiting for Rebecca to take it. The look on Rebecca’s face is one of confusion and curiosity. She’s used to me lying and making up excuses for everything, so when Lynlee corroborated my story about this being Lincoln’s home now, I guarantee it baffled her.

Rebecca doesn’t offer her hand. “I’m Rebecca, and I’m here to do a job.”

“This is a joke, right?” I roar into the phone when Coach answers. I see Jazzy retreat, and Lynlee follows.

***

Jazzy



“Call Lincoln now,” I say, slamming the door to the guesthouse.

“Why?”

“I need to talk to him. Call him now.”

Lynlee doesn’t ask any further questions. She pulls her phone out and sends him a quick text.

“He’ll call when he has time. Care to share any details?”

“I want to know who this Rebecca is.”

“Jazzy, there’s no way Lincoln will be able to help you out on that. Clearly, she’s just a physical therapist and was the wrong hair color and boob size for Levi.” Lynlee plops down on the couch. “Levi is so shallow sometimes.”

“I need to talk to him.”

“Again, care to fill me in?”

“When we were fishing, Levi said he’ll never be able to love again because of Rebecca, and now he’s at the front door of your house throwing a shit fit because his PT is a Rebecca. I want to know the story.”

“Oh shit.” Lynlee covers her mouth wincing at the name.

“What?”

I fly to the couch, practically jumping into her lap. “Lynlee, you have to tell me now.”

“I don’t know much, trust me on that, Jazzy. The days I was in the hospital recovering from the hit and run, either Lincoln, his dad, or Levi were by my side, so I heard a lot of stories. Lincoln always talks about the girl who broke Levi, and so did his dad. But one day Levi actually talked about her and told me he knew what it felt like to lose a baby, too. And that I should feel lucky I never saw the baby’s face and then lost it, because he had, and that’s why he’ll never love again.”

“What the f*ck?” I whisper.

Lynlee has streams of tears rolling down her cheeks, and I grab her and hug her. We’ve only talked about her recovery and the accident a handful of times, and none of the times were easy. Lynlee still suffers daily from her childhood and her experiences of almost being killed, and then the long, grueling trial Lincoln insisted on. She does well hiding it until forced to speak about it.

“I don’t think this Rebecca is good news,” I offer, trying to get Lynlee’s mind as far away from the nasty thoughts as possible.

“Lincoln said she was the only woman Levi ever loved, and she broke him.”

“I want to know more about this baby, though.”

“Isn’t it hard to talk about stuff like that?” Lynlee pauses. “I mean, since you’ve been there.”

“I was a shitty mom and deserve no redemption. It was all my fault, and nothing can make me feel worse than that day itself.”

“Well, two things. One, you need to stop that freaking attitude, face the facts, and heal. Two, Lincoln is probably not going to tell you much.”

“I want to know. I need to know.”

My thoughts drift back to Levi and Rebecca in the living room. Are they fighting, or possibly reconnecting? All I know is that bitch better be doing her job. The one thing that was perfectly clear while fishing today is Levi doesn’t know how to live or act with football taken away.

“Are you falling for him?”

I hear Lynlee clear as day, but refuse to answer, or even acknowledge I heard her. Because the truth is too f*cking scary to face right now. I want to enjoy my time with Levi. The Levi who likes to fish, eat, and act pervy, before he has to go back to Dallas. I have a feeling all will be lost when he goes back, returning to the field and his reign as king. My brain keeps telling my heart it’s just for fun.

Lynlee’s ring tone finally blares, causing both of us to jump.

“Answer it,” I squeal.

“Hey, honey.” Lynlee holds the phone to her ear. “Yeah, everything is okay.”

I can hear Lincoln on the other end chattering away. He’s over the moon thrilled to be starting in his first professional game in just a couple of days. And I know this from listening to hours upon hours of explanation from Lynlee about plays, schemes, and other teams’ offenses. She usually puts me to sleep while I listen.

“We, and by we, I mean Jazzy and I, called to ask you a question. Well, actually Jazzy wanted me to ask you about…”