The Player's Club: Lincoln Read Online Free Page B

doesn’t mean a lot to me?”
    Lincoln didn’t respond immediately. He and Finn were like brothers—Finn was closer to him than anybody on earth.
    That said, he still hadn’t told Finn everything about himself, or his past. And even with the added stress lately, he didn’t think he could do that now.
    “Let me ask you a few questions,” Lincoln said, and Finn rolled his eyes impatiently. “First—did you think about inviting her before she called, or after?”
    Finn kicked at the grass beneath his feet as a dreadlocked skateboarder zipped by without a second glance. “After. But hell, if I’d have thought of her earlier, I would’ve called her.”
    Lincoln felt the suspicion start to hum through him like a tuning fork. “Why did she get in touch with you, anyway?”
    “She was bored, came across my number scrolling through her phone, thought she’d give me a call.” Finn shot him a lightning grin. “We weren’t really close, but she knows everybody I know. It totally sounds like something she’d do. Okay, you might not understand that, but trust me, Juliana Mayfield is not a woman who does well with being bored.”
    No, he imagined not. There was something about her that was mischievous and fascinating, mercurial as a flash flood. Yet another reason he was cautious about her. “You’ve always been as careful as I’ve been to keep the club secret.” For Finn, the secrecy was yet another “fun” aspect of what they did. Finn didn’t realize just how ingrained secrecy was to Lincoln. “Why’d you tell her…a tabloid fixture of all people?”
    “It just sort of happened,” Finn said, defensive. “It’s not like I was bragging or talking to a reporter.”
    They both knew that was how they managed to kick George out: he’d blabbed to a reporter, trying to get their pledge Scott kicked out. It had backfired, and had caused the Player’s Club to cut out a lot of the deadweight: party boys, overaged frat wannabes. Guys who liked being in a secret club so they could drink, do stupid stunts and lord it over anybody who wasn’t in the club. That wasn’t what Lincoln or Finn had wanted at all, and it was definitely not what Lincoln wanted the club to return to.
    “So you thought, despite the fact that you hadn’t really spoken with her in years, that she’d make a good pledge.”
    “Considering what you and I talked about at the sweat lodge, about needing someone who had already had a bunch of adventures and could bring some life to the club,” Finn returned stubbornly, “I thought she’d be a perfect candidate, especially since we’ve been looking for more female members.”
    Lincoln closed his eyes, swearing under his breath. “You don’t see that she probably set this up, do you?”
    “Like I said—you’re being paranoid.” Finn walked in a tight circle, frustration etched in every movement. “What is it going to take for you to trust her? Because if you keep up like this, there aren’t going to be any new pledges. We’re just going to be the same thirty guys and, what, two girls, and we’re not going to have any new ideas or imagination or fresh blood. You might think that’s protective, but that’s not what we started the club for, either, and you know it.”
    Lincoln sighed. “You’re right. I know you’re right. But I have a bad feeling about this. In my gut, I think she’s just going into this to use us.”
    “Use us for what?”
    “I don’t know,” Lincoln admitted.
    “Good. That’s good. That makes you sound a lot less crazy,” Finn said, shaking his head. “I’m going to call her and tell her she’s a pledge, okay? Besides, if you’re that worried, maybe she won’t make it through the challenges. She’s done almost everything on the planet. Whatever she chooses for her last three adventures will probably be mind-blowing.”
    Despite himself, Lincoln was momentarily intrigued. What would a woman like that pick as her three challenges?
    But he knew better