Free All of You by Jenni Wilder Page B

2-1!”
    I groaned internally and flopped back on the
couch. That sucked. Lincoln and his teammates had played well, as
far as I could tell, but they just couldn’t edge out over Denver. I
wondered if Lincoln was thinking about me watching the game and
seeing them lose. I wondered what his mood would be like and if he
would still text me later like he said he would. I tried to imagine
how I would feel if that had been me that had just lost the game.
Maybe Lincoln was used to the highs and lows of his profession, but
I assumed he would be majorly pissed off at the loss. To lose
something he had worked so hard at had to be tough, even if it was
just one game out of many. I wanted to text him and tell him
something that would make him feel better, but I didn’t know what.
I thought about it for a minute and laughed to myself. I pulled out
my phone and took a selfie while making a sad duck face with pouty
lips and crossed eyes. I attached the picture to a text message and
sent it to him with the words “Sorry for the loss.” I hoped
he would find it funny and it would cheer him up.
    Rebecca had put Tabitha to bed halfway
through the game and then retired herself shortly afterward. I
debated if I should stay up or go to bed as well. Lincoln said he
would text me after the game, but maybe he was in no mood for
conversation with me. He was probably exhausted from the game, but
the longer it took for him to reply, the more I began to panic.
Maybe he took the loss über seriously, and my picture message had
pissed him off. I looked at my text, and doubt filled my mind. I
hung my forehead in my hand and mentally berated myself. I was so
stupid! Why would he think that was funny? He was going to hate me
for making fun of his team losing the game.
    Gah! Okay, I was being ridiculous. He wasn’t
going to hate me, and even if he did and never spoke to me again,
it was no loss. Except I really did like talking to him. I looked
at my phone again, willing it to chime with a text from Lincoln. I
waited a half hour before finally going to bed, falling asleep with
my phone in my hand.
     
    ~~~~~~~~
     
    “Jillian? Hello? Did I wake you?” a voice
said in the darkness.
    My head was foggy with sleep, and I didn’t
know who was talking. I was sitting up in bed and had my phone up
to my ear, having apparently answered it in my sleep. “No! I’m
awake. I’m awake,” I replied, trying to hide my scratchy sleep
voice. I rolled my eyes at myself. Why do people try to hide it
when someone wakes them up? “What... what time is it?” I asked into
the phone, still confused.
    “It’s after midnight. I told you I would call
you Saturday morning.”
    I shook the rest of the sleep from my brain
and realized I was talking to Lincoln. I flopped back into bed and
sighed into the phone. “Yeah, but I thought you meant like when it
was light out.”
    Lincoln chuckled. “Sorry. We just landed and
I wanted to apologize for not texting you sooner.”
    “So you decided to apologize by waking me up
in the middle of the night?” I teased.
    He chuckled again. “You’re adorable when
you’re sleep deprived,” he said. I could only grunt into the phone
in reply. I felt stupid for being half asleep and trying to talk to
him. My brain just wasn’t awake yet. “Almost as adorable as you
were with that goofy face in the picture you sent.” Lincoln
continued.
    My face broke out into a grin, my brain fully
awake now. “I wanted to cheer you up after the game,” I said,
rolling on to my side and snuggling down into my bed. I loved my
bed. I had a fascination with beds and bedding. I only bought the
nicest, most comfortable bedding I could find in my price range.
The fluffier the better in my opinion.
    “Well, it worked,” Lincoln replied.
    “Good,” I said with a smile. “I am sorry you
lost, though. It looked like a good game.”
    “Thanks. You kind of get used to it. As much
as it sucks, you know you can’t win them all,” Lincoln said.
    I