Page 278 of Playing the Pucking Game

“And you never thought to mention this before?”

“You wouldn’t have believed me. You’ve always been too dead set on hating him to see anything else.”

“Hmm.”

“What does that mean?”

Guilt knots up my insides.

I have only ever kept one secret from Casey. And it’s been eating at me for six years.

“Linc and I slept together on prom night,” I say so fast, the words all blur into one.

Silence follows my confession.

“I’m sorry, that sounded like my best friend just told me that she slept with Linc on our prom night.”

“Yeah, that…happened.”

“What? When? How?”

“After I caught Seth cheating, I…uh…called Linc to come and get me. I didn’t want to go home and deal with questions from Mom, so he took me back to his place. One thing led to another and…well, yeah.”

“You gave Lincoln Storm your V card, and I’m only just finding out about this now?”

“I’m so sorry, Casey. I never meant to keep it a secret, but I knew if I so much as mentioned it, it would feel real and…I walked away. I promised myself that I’d put it, and him, behind me. I’d had a crush on him for so long, and I knew it wouldn’t last. He was Lincoln Storm, you know?”

“Parker,” she whispers. “You don’t need to apologize to me. You’re allowed secrets, especially if they’re to protect your heart.”

I sniffle as I fight to keep my tears at bay.

“We’ll circle back to all of that in a bit, because you can bet your ass I have a million and one questions, but…what’s happened tonight?”

I give Casey a rundown of recent events, and she listens to every word, giving me her undivided attention despite the fact she has her own man who I’m sure would like a little bit of it.

We’re on the phone for almost an hour before I finally let her go, promising that we’ll catch up tomorrow to continue dissecting the situation.

My ass has long gone dead from sitting on the hard, tiled floor when I finally get back to my feet.

After brushing my teeth, I crawl into bed, pull the sheets up to my neck, and stare up at the ceiling.

Now I’m in the bedroom, I can hear the deep rumbling from Linc and Rett’s voices, and despite wanting to be strong, I end up crying myself to sleep.

Because tonight for the first time in a long time, I’m going to have to sleep alone, and I really don’t like it.

69

LINCOLN

“Don’t,” I bark the second Rett looks like he’s going to follow Parker.

Pain rips through my chest as I think about what I just said.

I didn’t mean any of it.

I don’t want her looking for another apartment and moving out. I just said what I had to say in the moment.

The only place Parker belongs is right here with me.