My anxiety-filled mind was playing tricks on me. This was my Link, and I couldn’t risk losing him.
@theanswerisno:
How bad are you feeling?
@pancakesareelite:
I’m fine for now. Thanks for your concern.
@theanswerisno:
I’m only concerned because playing anything against me will definitely make you feel worse about yourself.
Ha. Mean. And I told him so.
@theanswerisno:
Let’s play. But if I stop replying, it means I’ve fallen asleep and have not abandoned you.
Beggars can’t be choosers. Right now, all I wanted was to forget about Alistair and Douglas and even the heartache attached to my mom. So, I let myself be immersed in the one hour and forty-two minutes I spent hunting with Link before he stopped replying. There was no part of me that doubted he’d fallen asleep because if there was one person in the entire universe I was sure would never abandon me, it was Link.
16
LINCOLN
[79 weeks ago]
@theanswerisno:
I’m not going to tell you that.
@pancakesareelite:
You have trust issues
@theanswerisno:
I do. Does that bother you?
@pancakesareelite:
No, I have them too
I’d fallen asleep playing games with Lily. It wasn’t the first time, and I hoped it wouldn’t be the last. She was different last night. Something was wrong, and part of me wanted to throw our aliases away and talk. I wanted to be there for her, but we’d been doing this dangerous evasive dance for so long that I worried a single misstep would ruin everything.
By the time I arrived in LA, I wished I’d slept more and wornless. It was hotter than I’d anticipated, and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a tie. On top of that, my nerves were climbing. I rubbed my palms across my black chinos and finally hopped out of my truck.
It wasn’t the presentation I was worried about. These conferences often came with a lot of new faces and forced interaction, which I mentally had to prepare for.
I grabbed my backpack and swung it across my shoulders before making my way to the hotel where the conference was being held.
As soon as I stepped inside, the air-conditioning chilled me to my core. My options were sweating outside or goose bumps inside. I made my way to the welcome desk, where a woman with auburn hair in a tight bun sat.
“Welcome to the International Conference on Traffic and Transportation Engineering. Do you have a ticket?”
I spoke, but nothing came out of my dry throat. Swallowing, I tried again, summoning the persona I’d mastered after years of being in the industry. My now-steely gaze met hers. “Dr. Lincoln Carden, here to present at four p.m. this afternoon.”
Her smile widened. “Dr. Carden.” She leafed through the box of lanyards. She grabbed the one with my name and face on it and, with her other hand, grabbed a tote bag. “Here you go. The details for your presentation are on the program inside with some other goodies, as well as your room card.”
