The Wrong Picking Number

CHAPTER 32

MONROE

Dallas was buzzing with excitement as the Knights, led by Lincoln, won the first round of playoffs in a "stunning four games series" as the Fort Worth Star Telegram described it.

And it had been stunning.

I'd never had a thing for sports before meeting Lincoln.

But, oh,, did I have a thing for them now. Or at least for hockey...

The streets around the arena were filled with fans after the games, chanting and cheering as they celebrated the team's victory. They even came to the airport to wait for the team and celebrate after game three in Chicago.

The next round was going to be difficult, but the whole city seemed to know the Stanley Cup was as good as ours.

The fans were absolutely rabid for Lincoln. Everywhere he went, there were screams of adoration and chants of his name. They crowded around him, waving signs and asking for autographs, even when he was trying to get from the locker room to the parking lot. It was like being in the presence of a rock star.

He handled it all with the same ease he seemed to handle everything else, and through it all, he put me first. It became clearer and clearer every day that Lincoln Daniels would do anything for me.

I knew what people thought now that Lincoln was taken, and that I was the one who'd done the taking. They wondered how someone so unextraordinary...so average...managed to snag someone as brilliant and dazzling as him. I was the dim streetlamp, and he was the stadium lights.

And I was perfectly okay with that.

There were even news stories over the last week that had dug into my background, and were now referring to me as "the daughter of a drugged out prostitute".

But they didn't have quite the effect on me that I'd worried they would.

It was like problems seemed to disappear around Lincoln, like they stopped existing at all. Any time I felt anxious, he'd make love to me for hours, until I'd forgotten what I was stressed about in the first place.

With Lincoln by my side, I'd suddenly found myself in the spotlight too. People started recognizing me when we were out and about, and some even asked for my autograph. It was...weird.

And I still hadn't been able to find a job.

I'd been applying for one every single day, sending out countless applications, but not a single response came back my way. I'd even applied to some fast food places, places I knew from talking to others that hired everybody who applied.

But I hadn't gotten a single call.

It was frustrating and unnerving, but I refused to let it bring me down. For the first time in my life, I had some free time, and I was determined to make the most of it.