Page 14 of Blindsided

You might want to give Lincoln a call, try to figure this shit out before it blows up tomorrow.

I read and reread the note on the bottom of the calendar invite, then huffed. I really, really hated that he was right.

My finger hovered over the number before pressing firmly and waiting for the call option to pop up on the screen. When it did, I hesitated a few seconds as I debated between calling and texting. In the end, I decided on a call and pressed the icon.

“Hello?” I knew the voice belonged to Lincoln as soon as I heard it.

Pain and confusion I’d thought I’d left in my past bubbled to the surface and I had to fight to keep my voice neutral. “It’s Easton.”

Lincoln only gave a startled inhale, a sound frighteningly reminiscent of the noise he used to make when a flogger hit his skin at the beginning of a scene. When he didn’t say anything else, I knew the direction of the conversation was on me.

“We should talk.”

He made a noise not unlike a deflating balloon before speaking. “You talked with Tom too, huh?”

I gave a dry laugh. “You could say that. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. We need to be able to be in the same room without one of us freaking out.”

“By one of us, you mean me, right?”

I would let him believe that. The truth was his appearance the day before had done a number on me as well. I’d just held it together better than he had. At least until I’d gotten to Brax’s place, where it had been safe to unload everything I’d felt. I still couldn’t swear that I wouldn’t freeze up or demand to know what the hell happened, but I was reasonably confident I wouldn’t run away.

“If I accept the coaching position with the Parliament, we have to be able to see one another on a somewhat regular basis.”

“Gah!” I was pretty sure I heard him cursing silently into the phone, but the words were so quiet it was only a guess. Eventually, his voice came out stronger. “We can have dinner tonight at the hotel. You’re right we have things to discuss.”

“What time?”

“An hour from now at the Barrington?”

I scoffed at the absurdity of having dinner with the man who was in some way related to the owner of the famous luxury hotel. “Yeah. That works.” We hung up without saying more.

I walked back into the living room and collapsed onto the uncomfortable couch Trevor and Brax continued to bitch needed to be replaced, arm flung over my eyes, and groaned as my head landed on the back. “You good?” Brax’s deep voice drew me from my thoughts and I cracked open my eyes and rolled my head over to where he and Trevor were huddled on the couch across the room, looking at a tablet.

“I’m going to dinner with Lincoln.”

Brax set the tablet down on the coffee table to give me his full attention. “Are you okay with this?”

All I could manage was a shrug. “Yes? No? Your dad asked me point-blank if I wanted to re-sign with the Blizzard.”

Trevor leaned forward. “And?”

“And no. The answer is no. Before your dad called me about this job, I wanted nothing more than to get my contract renewed. Now? Dammit, it’s a good offer. And let’s be honest, how many of us can go out with time still left on our joints?”

Trevor stuck his middle finger up at me, an uncharacteristically adult gesture from him. “I’m older than you.”

Brax tried to shoot his boyfriend a stern look but was laughing too hard for it to be believable. “He’s got you there.”

I tossed one of the throw pillows in their direction. “Fuck you both. It’s the truth, though. I was actually glad when we got eliminated this year. Sure, I could keep going. I probably have another five to seven years in me, but how many times does the opportunity to become an assistant coach literally fall into your lap? And I’m young! Seriously, I’m young enough that I have more than enough time to move both laterally and up through leagues.”

Both men nodded as I spoke. “I get it,” Brax said to me. “Truthfully, if the offer had been given to me—from someone who wasn’t my dad—I’d take it.”

“Even if the owner of the team was your ex who ghosted you almost a decade ago?” Trevor asked, his eyebrow raised in challenge.

Brax smirked. “Thankfully, I don’t have any of those. I leave the relationship drama to Easton. He’s got enough of it for all three of us.”

I hated when my best friend was right more than when his dad was. Relationship drama had a way of finding me. Lincoln’s disappearing act might have been the first, but it definitely hadn’t been the last drama in my life. From a nightclub hookup turned stalker to a prince from the Middle East whose heart was padlocked inside a closet and everything in between, my love life was a made-for-TV movie, except it just had drama and no happy ending in sight.

“You suck. But your dad is right, unfortunately. At the end of the day, if I take this job, I’m going to work for Lincoln, or Francis, or whatever the fuck his name is now. We can’t keep avoiding one another, and your dad set up a meeting for tomorrow to talk through the contract, and Franklin will be there.”

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