Page 89 of His Temptation
“Hi, Lincoln,” Ben says confidently.
I guess he has decided to call him by his first name. I see him approach out of the corner of my eye, but I can’t look over at him.
“Nice job, buddy. You’re a natural.” He holds up his hand, and Ben high-fives him.
“You think so?” Ben asks.
“Absolutely. You have a presence on the court that can’t be taught.”
Ben looks back at me. “You hear that?”
“Sounds about right to me. You looked great out there. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks! Um, Brett’s mom is taking him to get some ice cream. He invited me to go with him. Is that okay?”
“Sure. You have your phone, right?”
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, I have my phone. Yes, I’ll text you with updates.”
“You’d better.”
“I promise,” he grumbles.
“Okay. Fine, you can go.”
“Yes!” he says. “Thanks for coming, Lincoln. I’ll see you on Thursday?”
“Of course. See you then,” Lincoln replies coolly.
Ben runs over to his friend, leaving me and Lincoln alone together. Tension swirls around us as we both stand in silence.
That’s it. I’ve had it with this.
I shift my body to face him. “Can we talk?”
He looks down at his watch. “Now? I have … something to get to.”
“Lincoln,” I say as I hold his eyes pleadingly, “can we talk?”
His expression is tight. “Fine. We can talk. Where do you want to go?”
“We can just walk around the park across the street.”
The entire time we make our way to the park, we remain silent with our hands in our jacket pockets. The October weather is starting to make it hard to be outside for long periods of time.
As soon as we find the walking path, we start a slow-paced stroll, side by side. I try to think of what I want to say. I should have thought about how to start this. Now I’m scrambling.
“How are you doing?” I lead with, hoping that’s a good starting point.
A bitter laugh escapes him. “That’s what you want to talk about?”
I give him a hostile glare, seething with anger. “Do you have to be such a dick?” I ask with contempt.
“Me? How am I the dick in all of this? You’re the one who accused me of cheating, then continued to tell me all the reasons why I was a piece-of-shit human being. Don’t try to turn the tables.”
I stop in my place as I try to lift my jaw off of the floor. “You know what? Fine! Yes, I made a mistake. Okay?”
He turns to face me with a clenched jaw, but I’m not done. I need to get this out.
