“Okay, now keep an eye on it. Stay calm.”
I watched as the ball bounced around the upper portion, scoring points. It suddenly blasted back down toward the flippers.
“Get ready!” he whispered.
Together, we flicked our wrists, catching the ball and hitting it back into the play area.
“Too hard,” he said. “You need to control the motion. The ball is yours. Don’t let it dictate what happens.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Watch.”
The ball zoomed back down, sliding along the side of the case, coming toward the flipper. Just before it slipped in front of the paddle, he pushed the button and made a wall with the paddle. The ball hit the paddle, bounced, and stopped there.
“See? Control. Keep it loose and control the flow.”
I laughed. “Seems like two opposites. Stay loose and control.”
“They’re not. Not when you know what you’re doing.”
He released the paddle, letting the ball roll a bit, and then flicked his wrist, sending the ball flying into one of the high-scoring portions. We watched as it moved through the machine, numbers rolling along on the screen.
“Loose and controlled. When the flow comes, you flow with it, and you make it go where you want it to go.”
“How’d you learn all this?” I asked.
I felt him shrug against me. It sent tingles rushing down my spine.
“It’s like BASE jumping. You need to be calm, loose, with the flow. If you yank too hard, try too hard to control the wind or whatever, you’ll crash.”
“That’s very Zen of you.”
I could practically feel his grin. “Yeah, a little bit.”
With a sigh, I turned around and faced him. His lips were inches away from mine, and I leaned back slightly over the machine. I heard the ball fall between the paddles, ending the turn. He kept his arms to either side of me, pinning me there.
“Why are you here, Lincoln?”
He smiled. “Can’t I just spend some time with you?”
“I thought we decided that’s dangerous.”
“Yeah. But I like this danger. This danger makes me feel good.”
I looked away. I knew exactly what he was talking about. Being with him felt right, felt good. And the fact that it was a little forbidden made it all that much more exciting.
Except I didn’t want forbidden. I just wanted him.
“Maybe I can’t handle that.”
“You can handle it, Brie baby. We both know that.”
I looked back at his perfect, grinning face. I wanted to slap him and kiss him.
“Let me go.”
He shrugged and took a step back. I walked away, my heart hammering. I could barely control myself, and I needed to put some distance between the two of us. Otherwise, I was going to throw myself at him.
I leaned up against the pool table.
“Is that really why you’re here?”
He sighed. “You really want me to cut to the chase, huh?”
I didn’t. I wanted to spend all day flirting with him. I wanted him to tease me within an inch of losing myself. I wanted him to nudge me over the edge and then I wanted him to bring me slowly back.
“Yeah,” I said instead. “I guess so.”
“Okay. It’s like this.” He paused. “Your dad is cheating on my mom.”
I blinked, taken by surprise. “What?”
“I know of at least one person he’s been with recently.”
“How? Why?” I could barely think. “My dad wouldn’t do that.”
“After all this and you still think your dad is a good person?”
“He’s my dad,” I snapped.
Lincoln frowned. “Sorry. I know, Brie.”
“How do you know he cheated?”
“Jess told me.”
“She’s probably lying. Just trying to stir up shit again.”
“I’m so sorry, Brie. It’s real this time.”
I felt like I was spiraling. “How do you know?”
“She gave me proof. A short video. Cost me a ton of money.”
“Videos can be faked. We know that.”
“Not this one.”
“Wait, you paid for proof of my dad cheating?”
He shook his head. “Not exactly.”
“What exactly then, Lincoln? Why are you doing this?”
I felt tears welling up in my eyes and anger flowing around my body. I didn’t want to cry, and I felt like a child, but I couldn’t help it. I felt like my world was really coming down around me.
“I know this is really hard, but listen. Cliff has been controlling everything ever since my accident. He’s your dad and he always will be, but right now he’s the only thing standing in the way of . . .” He trailed off and looked away.