All of You (13 page)

Lincoln smiled and rubbed my back as if he
knew what I was thinking. He sighed and sat up on the couch, taking
me with him. “Okay. I’ll take you home.”

The house was dark when we pulled up in front
of it. I doubted Rebecca was in bed, though. I was sure she was
waiting up for me, wanting to know what happened. Lincoln hopped
out and met me on the passenger side of the vehicle. He grabbed my
hand and walked me up to the front porch. “Did you say you have
dinner plans tomorrow?” Lincoln asked, turning to face me and
sounding sad.

“Yeah. My mom and brother and sister usually
come over every Sunday for dinner,” I informed him.

“Every Sunday?” Lincoln asked sounding
surprised.

“Just about. Sometimes Rebecca and Elliot
have to work,” I answered. It was a tradition. Unless you were sick
or had to work, you attended family dinner on Sunday nights.

“Will you call me once you are free after
dinner?”

“Absolutely,” I replied and was rewarded with
a giant smile.

“Will you watch the game?”

I nodded. “I hope you win.”

Another big smile. “I hope so too.”

“Stay safe.”

“I will. I’ll miss you.” Lincoln leaned
toward me. I brought my hand up and caressed his cheek, looking
deep into his eyes. I could hardly believe that he would miss me,
but yet I would miss him as well. He leaned down as I stood on my
tiptoes, and we kissed briefly yet deeply.

“I’ll miss you too,” I said once we broke
apart. Lincoln smiled and gave me another quick kiss before walking
back to his vehicle. I unlocked the door and opened it, looking
back to see Lincoln watching me to make sure I got inside okay. I
waved at him and closed the door behind me, leaning against it and
smiling big until a shadow jumped out at me causing me to
scream.

“Tell me everything!” Rebecca shouted at
me.

“Oh my God! Becca! You scared the crap out of
me!” I exclaimed, holding my hand against my pounding heart. “I
hope Lincoln didn’t hear me scream.” I peeked out the window, but
he had already driven away.

“JILLY! TELL ME!” Rebecca shook my
shoulders.

“All right. All right. Just let me set my
stuff down first,” I relented and made my way into the living room
with my sister hot on my heels.

~~~~~~~~

I woke up the next morning with a smile on my
face. I put my glasses on and grabbed my phone from my nightstand
next to my bed and saw a text from Lincoln.

“
Good morning my beautiful princess. Sleep
well?”
Oh God. I could get used to this. I felt joy blossoming
inside me. I bit my lip and tried to think of a good reply.

“
I slept great. I dreamt of you.”
I
echoed what he had said the first morning he texted me.

“
Liar. lol”
he texted back, repeating
my reply to him.

I figured he had already seen me in my
pajamas, fresh out of bed, so I snapped a quick selfie and sent it
to him with,
“Who me? ;)”

“
Love the glasses, baby,”
Lincoln
replied before my phone chimed again.
“Seriously,”
he
added.

“
Liar. :)”

“
No, this time I’m not, baby. Have a great
day. I’ll talk to you later?”
Lincoln sent.

“
*kiss*”
I sent him and got up to see
what Rebecca and Tabitha were up to.

~~~~~~~~

I watched as the game timer counted down to
zero and the announcer proclaimed the Blackhawks had won the game.
My heart soared, and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as
Lincoln and his teammates mobbed each other on the ice in
celebration. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Lincoln
congratulating him.

“Why are you watching hockey?” Elliot asked
me as he walked into the living room.

I quickly turned the TV off. “No reason.”

Elliot turned to the hall. “REBECCA! WHY IS
JILLIAN WATCHING HOCKEY?!” he shouted.

“Elliot!” I hissed quietly. “Mom will hear
you!”

“Well then, tell me.”

“What’s going on?” our sister Emily asked
while walking in to the living room with Rebecca and our
mother.

“Dammit, Elliot,” I said quietly since
Tabitha was lying on the floor in front of the TV, coloring with
crayons.

“Why is Jillian watching hockey?” Elliot
asked Rebecca.

“It’s because of Mr. Lincoln,” Tabitha said
from the floor, and I gasped. Apparently Tabitha was more observant
than I had given her credit for.

“Mr. Lincoln?” Emily asked, confused.

“He likes waffles too,” Tabitha said
simply.

All eyes in the room turned to me.

“Jillian?” Elliot prompted.

I let out a frustrated sigh. This was going
to open a can of worms.

“Lincoln Monaghan.” I finally admitted. Emily
gasped, and her eyebrows flew up. Elliot looked confused and
concerned.

“How does Tabitha know Lincoln Monaghan likes
waffles, Jillian?” Elliott asked pointedly. I looked at Rebecca for
help, but she just stood there with a shit-eating grin on her
face.

“Gotta tell them at some point, Jilly Bean,”
Rebecca finally said.

I let out another frustrated sigh. “We met at
the Razzle Dazzle parade and we’ve seen each other a couple of
times since.”

Emily gasped again, this time with a smile on
her face. “Oh my God, Jillian. He’s so hot!” she said in awe.

“Is this who you had a date with yesterday?”
Elliot asked me, interrupting Emily’s swooning. I nodded in reply.
“I thought you said he was dating that bitch.” He sounded
upset.

“Elliot!” Rebecca scolded him for swearing in
front of Tabitha.

“Sorry,” he said to Rebecca before turning to
Tabitha. “Sorry, kiddo. Don’t listen to me.”

“I don’t,” Tabitha said, and everyone
chuckled.

“Well?” Elliot prompted.

“No, he’s not dating her. It was a
misunderstanding,”

“And you approve of this?” he asked Rebecca.
He was in full protective-brother mode now.

“He seems nice, Elliot. Cut them some slack,”
Rebecca said.

“Some slack?” Elliot repeated. “He’s a
professional athlete, Becca, and a senator’s son. That’s bad
news.”

“He’s not like that!” I said, defending
Lincoln.

“You’ve only known him for four days! Guys
like that date bikini models and beauty pageant queens, Jillian,”
Elliot spewed out, and I heard Rebecca and Emily gasp loudly.
Elliot was implying I wasn’t good enough to date Lincoln because of
my ugly scars. I stood with my arms crossed protectively over my
chest and stared at the ground. I couldn’t think of anything to say
to defend myself. I knew my brother was right.

“Jillian, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” Elliot
began but was interrupted.

“May I please speak with Jillian alone?” our
mother spoke for the first time. After our father died, our mother
had been left alone to deal with a houseful of kids, and she had
laid down the law. She instilled a good sense of morals in all of
us and expected we would grow to be productive members of society,
and nothing less would be accepted.

My siblings and niece left the room. Emily
squeezed my arm as she passed me and gave a supportive smile. When
it was only my mother and me left in the room, she sat on the sofa
and held her arms open. I smiled and crawled into my mother’s lap
and snuggled into her arms. The last time my mother held me like
this was after Mackenzie’s evil plot had sent me fleeing home. I
had cried for days after I discovered everyone on campus had been
given pictures of my ugly naked body. But the only thing my mother
could do then was hold me. There had been no words of comfort other
than “this too shall pass.”

My mother squeezed me tight, and I nuzzled my
head into her shoulder. “So tell me about him, my Jilly Bean,” she
said.

I smiled and admitted to my mother that I
didn’t know a whole lot about him, but what I did know I liked. I
explained about his family and told her what happened at the Winter
Festival and afterward at Lincoln’s house.

“He seems nice, Mom. I know in the past I
haven’t been the best judge of people, but he really does seem
nice. And Rebecca likes him,” I said, ending my defense.

“Jillian. Jillian. I’m not going to judge you
for wanting to be with him,” she said.

“You’re not?”

“No. You’re an adult. That awful girl hurt
you in the past, but tell me, do you think Lincoln would do
that?”

When she put it that way, the answer was
easy. I didn’t think Lincoln was capable of something that
atrocious.

“No. I don’t think he’d do anything to hurt
me. But we’re from different worlds. He’s so far out of my league
it’s not even funny. Even Elliot knows that,” I said sadly.

“Jillian, Elliot is just trying to protect
you. He’s your brother.”

“No. Elliot is just telling the truth. I’m
not good enough for Lincoln.”

“Jillian Paige Thompson,” she said sounding
upset. “Why would you say that?”

I shrugged. “It’s the truth, Mom.”

She sighed. “I’m assuming you haven’t told
him about the fire.”

“He knows that’s how Dad died. But he doesn’t
know about my scars.”

“Is that why you think you don’t deserve him?
Because of your scars?” I nodded. “Jillian, you have to let someone
in at some point. I know you closed yourself off from everyone, but
you can’t live like that. If this guy is as great as you say, he
won’t care.” She squeezed me tight. “Don’t live in your grief.”

I sighed. “That’s what Becca said too.”

She kissed my forehead. “Well, she’s a smart
girl. Just like you.” I smiled and snuggled deeper into her
shoulder.

Chapter Nine

I checked my phone after my brother, sister,
and mother left. Lincoln had texted me back.
“Thanks Princess.
It was a great game. Can’t wait to talk to you later. Have a good
dinner.”

I looked at the time and hit the call button.
It rang once and Lincoln answered. “Hi. how was dinner?”

I smiled. I had tried not to let him consume
my thoughts all day, but I was excited to finally talk to him
again. “It was okay. How was the game?” I replied.

“It was great. Why was dinner just okay?” He
sounded concerned.

“Oh, my family was asking about you. That’s
all.”

“What did you tell them?”

“Just that we had been spending time
together. Elliot said you’re out of my league, and my mom got
worried.”

“Your brother said what?”

“It’s okay. I mean I already knew that.”
There was a long pause. “Lincoln?”

“I’m coming over.” he said.

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now. I’ll be there in a half hour.” And
with that, he hung up the phone.

“Rebecca!” I called out and ran to the
kitchen to tell my sister what was happening.

Lincoln knocked on our front door twenty-five
minutes later. I answered it, and he immediately pulled me into a
deep embrace. He pulled back after a moment and brought his face to
mine and kissed me quickly.

“Hello there,” I said to him as he pulled
away from me to take off his coat. He smiled and returned the
greeting.

“Rebecca and Tabitha asleep?” he asked.

“Yeah. Back to school for Tabitha tomorrow.”
My niece had been off from school for over a week due to the
holidays.

Lincoln took my hand and pulled me to the
sofa that had just been occupied by my mother. “Now, tell me what
your brother said,” he demanded once we were both sitting on the
sofa. He had brought a knee up and angled his body toward me. I sat
cross-legged on the middle cushion, facing him.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Lincoln. He
just doesn’t want me to get hurt,” I explained, defending my
brother. I didn’t want Lincoln to dislike him.

“And he thinks I’ll hurt you?” he asked,
sadly.

“He’s just being a protective brother. I
haven’t dated much… or at all, really. And after what happened with
Mackenzie, he thinks I’m not the best judge of character.”

“That wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do
anything wrong,” he said and squeezed my hand.

“I know. Like I said—he’s just worried.”

“Okay, I can understand him worrying about
his sister. I’ll give him a break there. But Jillian…” Lincoln
paused and cupped my face with his hand, looking deep into my eyes.
“You are the one that is out of my league. You are amazing.”

I blushed and shook my head, my face brushing
against his hand. “You drove all the way over here to tell me
that?” That seemed a little excessive.

“I’d drive anywhere to tell you that if you
need to hear it. I’ll tell you everyday if you want me to,” Lincoln
said sweetly.

“You sure are the sweet-talker, aren’t ya?” I
tried to lighten the mood. He was so serious when he was like this.
I thought it was too soon for him to feel this way.

“Jillian. You are amazing. That’s not sweet
talk. That’s the truth,” Lincoln said, and I hoped he couldn’t see
the disbelief in my eyes. No one had ever said these things to
me.

A little voice of doubt filled my mind,
telling me if he knew what I was hiding he wouldn’t feel the same,
and again I was filled with guilt. But I didn’t want to worry about
those feelings now. I pushed myself up on my knees and leaned
forward to kiss him. This is what I wanted to feel now. Lincoln
grabbed the back of my head and held me to him as our mouths moved
together. I wanted to move one leg over him and straddle his lap so
I could kiss him at a better angle, but I thought that would be too
intimate, so I stayed where I was and enjoyed how he tasted and the
way his lips and tongue felt against mine. I whimpered slightly as
my emotions overcame me, and Lincoln grabbed my shoulders but
surprised me by pushing me back slightly, breaking the kiss.