Talkin' Trash
Page 11

And those had been the nicest words he’d uttered that day.
After making sure I was well versed in why I shouldn’t date Conleigh, my father had started in.
Then I’d gotten angry and acted out in frustration instead of the logical part of my brain that usually guided me.
After getting dressed, cut on my back that was sure to piss everyone off all over again, I’d walked straight up to Conleigh where she’d been hiding downstairs waiting for me, told her that I wanted her but couldn’t have her.
Her confusion had been apparent, but the longer I stayed to talk to her, the angrier that everyone got.
So, I left.
I’d left her.
But I’d also left myself.
Because I knew, without a doubt, that Conleigh was the one.
I wasn’t sure how I knew that. Wasn’t sure why. Wasn’t really even sure how it would ever be possible.
All I knew was that one day, the time would be right, and when that time was right, I’d be making my move.
“I know you hate me,” I murmured low. Soft. Barely loud enough that I wasn’t sure she could even hear me.
She pursed her lips. “That’s the problem, Linc. I’ve never been able to hate you. I’ve told myself that I should. But I don’t.”
***
Conleigh
I never could.
I’d tried very hard to accomplish that impossible feat, too.
I’d been mean to him. I’d ignored his calls. I’d avoided any and all interactions with the man…and look where that got me.
“I’ve ruined your life.” I moaned, pressing the heel of my hands into my eyes. “They’re going to go crazy with this.”
I expected quite a few things. A loud chuckle wasn’t one of them.
I peeked at him from between my hands and glared. “What do you find so funny about this situation? Because I don’t find anything remotely funny about it.”
His grin didn’t waver. “Come on. Let’s go call my publicist. But, just warning you, it probably isn’t going to be pretty.”
It wasn’t.
But, I did like the way he didn’t forget about his fan that’d been patiently waiting for him. I also liked that he gave her the selfie she’d asked for, but not once had he let go of my hand.
Linc didn’t look worried in the least.
Honestly, he looked downright happy to be sitting in his living room, making a call to the United Kingdom.
His publicist answered on the second ring, and the curses she greeted him with sounded almost regal in her stern British accent.
“I’ve been emailing you since six o’clock last night, Lincoln James,” she growled.
My eyes widened at that rebuke, and I had to cover my mouth to keep the snicker inside.
Linc rolled his eyes.
“I was busy, Elouise,” Linc drawled. “Then I got hungry and I honestly can’t keep the time differences straight in my head. I can’t remember if it’s night or day there. I needed to talk to Conleigh and figure out what exactly was going on with this development. I called as soon as I had something concrete to tell you.”
“If you’d read even one of your emails…” she growled again, sounding a little less angry now.
“You know I never check them early,” he pointed out. “Not to mention that you know I’m not going to call you unless I think it’s an emergency. And this wasn’t one.”
“So, you say,” she muttered darkly. “But, from what I can tell, this has turned into a big deal in the last couple of hours. You’re the most eligible bachelor in sports and all of a sudden you have a girlfriend that you got pregnant. That’s a big deal, whether you seem to think it is or not. Plus, with that loss still heavy on everyone’s hearts” —I nearly groaned when I saw Linc’s face darken— “you’re popular news right now.”
“Wonderful,” Linc muttered.
I bit my lip, suddenly feeling awful that I’d let Phoebe run her mouth and hadn’t immediately nipped the problem in the bud before it got to that point. Honestly, I hadn’t been thinking much at all. I was just trying really hard to get out of the bind I was in, and Phoebe’s offhanded comment seemed the quickest way to do that at the time.
Shoot.
“Though, out of everything, you’re considerably lucky. People range from excited to worried, but there doesn’t seem to be any negativity being spread.” She paused. “The only person I think might have a problem with this is your newest sponsor,” she murmured. “FaithSports will likely have quite a large problem with it. And since you had to sign that clause stating that you wouldn’t become involved in a scandal, they’ll likely drop you.”
Linc winced. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
Out of all the sponsors that the man had, he was going to get upset over his newest one?
I was confused. “What’s the big deal with that? Just apologize.”
Elouise grunted negatively. “That can’t happen. This is the one sponsor that Linc’s been vying for since he started his career in the NFL. This one is big to him.”
I looked over to Linc with raised eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.
“FaithSports is an organization that helps athletes like me—they gave me a scholarship when I was in college—a chance. They help athletes from single-parent households like the one I grew up in and make sure that they have every available opportunity to strive for greatness. They’ve helped thousands of kids exactly like me get college degrees, making their hopes and dreams come true. They mean a lot to me, and I’ve been trying to team up with them for a long time, but they’re very selective about who they allow to work with them. The last person that they partnered with was Furious George Hoffman from the Longview Lumberjacks. Together they raised over ten million to help kids…and I want to help, too.”
I was now at an all-time low.
Son of a bitch.
Son. Of. A. Bitch!
I had really screwed up, and it was going to take me putting myself out there to fix what I’d broken.
“What if I gave a statement?” I rushed out.
The woman who hadn’t shown a care in the world that a woman kept chiming in on what likely should’ve been a private phone call, started to disagree almost immediately.
“That’s a no-go,” she said. “After the last time, they’re not going to let this one go.”
The “last time” that Elouise was speaking of had been another football player, Merriweather, the same man that had hurt Linc on his first official game played against his old team, badly, had been caught in a scandal very similar to the one that Linc and I now found ourselves in. Only, two weeks after the ‘pregnancy’ had been announced, the woman had been found dead in her home with scant clues as to who had murdered her. And, she had been pregnant.
All fingers had pointed in Merriweather’s direction, yet nobody had been able to pinpoint the crime on him, and he’d been playing ball ever since.
In fact, he was currently on one of four teams left in the playoffs in the running for the national title.
Also, everyone knew he’d done it.
Merriweather was an asshole—apparently a murderous one.
“Balls,” I muttered.
“My best solution right now is to just live your life. Only time will prove that you’re not pregnant,” Elouise explained. “But…I do have a suggestion.”
I was almost scared of what this suggestion would be, and I had a feeling that I was sure the hell not going to like it.
“What’s that?” Linc asked with curiosity tinging his voice.
“I suggest that you appear to be dating,” she said hesitantly.
The automatic shout of “No!” halted on my lips when Linc said, “Oh. That’s a good idea. I think it’d work even better if she was my fiancée.”
My mouth fell open in surprise. “We can’t do that! Your dad and my stepfather are going to kill me when they find out it is all a lie!”
Linc grinned. “I’ll email you, Elouise, and let you know what we nail down. Sound good?”
I groaned when she agreed, and then pursed my lips when I looked at Linc to see him staring at me expectantly.