Missing Linc

by Kori Roberts

  his hotel at the Roxy Deli on Broadway, his favorite breakfast spot.

  He grabbed a sandwich and coffee to go before he continued his walk down memory

  lane. Linc passed the CitySpire building on West Fifty-sixth Street, where he once lived with

  Ava and Paul, the Bamboo 52 bar, on Fifty-second Street, where he used to meet his lovers and friends for dinner and drinks, until he finally reached the place where his life changed

  forever.

  Linc stood at the site of Ground Zero, so overwhelmed with memories that he couldn”t

  speak. Somehow, he found the courage to go inside the memorial museum, searching

  through the victims until he located Paul and Ava”s names.

  He lost track of time, unsure of how long he stood there, reliving that day several years

  ago, alternating between outbursts of laughter and uncontrollable tears as he remembered

  both the good and bad times he had had with his lovers before they died. By the time he

  finally left, his heart felt a little lighter, his conscience a little clearer, now that he”d finally

  gotten the chance to say good-bye.

  His last stop was his parents” home in Brooklyn. Linc showed up unannounced,

  knowing that if he”d given them advance warning, his mother would have spent the entire

  day cooking. As it was, her regular meal was far more than enough to feed the three of them,

  and Linc enjoyed his first dinner in their home in more than a decade.

  As they ate, Linc updated them on the rest of the family in Puerto Rico. Although he

  talked to them regularly on the phone, Linc had not seen his parents in over a year. His

  father”s health wasn”t as good as it used to be, forcing them to cancel their yearly trip to

  Puerto Rico. Linc wanted them to move to the island permanently; he”d even told them they

  could live with him. He definitely had more than enough space. So far, he had not been able

  to convince them to do it. As he once used to, his parents loved the big city life and weren”t

  ready to give it up just yet.

  “So, how long are you in town, hijo?” his mother asked.

  “Not long. I”m just here for the day. I flew in to see a couple of friends.”

  His father looked at him thoughtfully. “They must be some very special friends, if they

  got you to fly all the way here just to see them.”

  “Yes, Papá,” he said quietly. “They are.” His father nodded, as if Linc”s answer explained everything.

  An hour later, Linc said good-bye to his parents and prepared to leave. At the door, his

  mother asked, “Are you happy, Lincoln?”

  Linc paused. Her question caught him off guard. “I”m trying to be, Mamá,” he finally

  said. “Hopefully, I will be by the time I leave in the morning.”

  “Good.” She smiled, and kissed his cheek. “You deserve to be happy.”

  It was the second time in as many days he”d heard that. Linc desperately wanted to

  believe it was true.

  He rode the train from Brooklyn and by the time he reached Manhattan, it was already

  after ten o”clock. As he walked to his hotel, Linc refused to think about Mitch and Tomi or

  the fact that he had not heard from them yet. When he reached his room and found no

  messages from them, he ignored the disappointment he felt. And when he woke up Saturday

  morning and realized that they still had not responded, he headed to the airport alone,

  finally admitting to himself just how devastated he truly was.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tomi rolled over and reached for Mitch, finding only empty space next to her instead.

  Her eyes blinked open, and she stretched, smiling when she felt the tenderness in her body,

  knowing it was the result of the lovemaking marathon she”d indulged in during the previous

  day.

  Her smile broadened. God, just thinking about the things he”d done to her yesterday

  made her wet all over again. No one ever loved her body, her mind, her very soul, the way

  this man did. Well, she could think of one man who came surprisingly close, who could

  make her body throb, her heart race in ways she never thought possible with anyone other

  than Mitch.

  Tomi refused to go there. Thoughts of Linc already invaded her mind on a regular

  basis. Voluntarily thinking about him only made things worse.

  Her thoughts turned to Mitch again, always trying to make sure she was okay, always

  willing to do whatever it took to make sure she stayed that way. She knew he worried about

  her, especially since they”d come home from Puerto Rico. The feeling was mutual for her as

  well. This thing with Linc had been hard — harder than either of them would ever have imagined. Some days, it felt as if the pain and longing would never go away. There was

  nothing worse than wanting, needing someone so bad, and not being able to have them.

  Thankfully, they had each other, and no matter how much she would like to have Linc

  in their life, Tomi had no regrets that it was just Mitch and her. Even in her wildest dreams,

  she could not have imagined a better, stronger, more caring man to spend her life with than

  Mitch. He was, by far, the best thing that had ever happened to her.

  She climbed out of bed and went in search of the source of her current state of wedded

  bliss. Finally, she found him in the living room, sitting on the couch, staring at his cell

  phone.

  The look on his face stopped Tomi in her tracks. “What is it?” She finally convinced

  her feet to move and went to Mitch, sitting next to him on the couch. “What”s wrong, baby?”

  He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Finally,

  he held the phone out to her. Tomi looked at him questioningly as she took the phone from

  his hand.

  “Press number one.” Tomi did as he instructed and put the phone to her ear, listening

  to the familiar voice on the other end. For the next several minutes, she sat with her mouth

  open, barely able to believe what she was hearing. When the message ended, she played it

  again, needing to make certain that she wasn”t imagining this, trying to be sure that she

  hadn”t misunderstood when Linc said he was there for them, dying to know that she wasn”t

  just dreaming that Linc said he loved Mitch. Loved her.

  After replaying the message twice more, Tomi finally disconnected the call and looked

  at Mitch. “I…I…”

  “I know.” Mitch took the phone out of her hand and set it on the table. “That was my

  reaction as well.”

  “I just can”t believe he came all the way here to New York to see us.” This city held so

  many memories for Linc, and most of them were bad. Tomi knew that. She”d discussed it several times with Linc. The fact that he would disregard the promise he made to himself

  about never returning here in order to see them again was more shocking, more humbling,

  than she could express.

  Mitch”s hand slid around her shoulders, and she automatically leaned her head against

  his shoulder. “I guess the real question is whether this changes anything between him and

  us.”

  Tomi thought about telling him that it didn”t change anything between them, she had

  everything in her life that made her happy. She thought about saying many other things, but

  they all would have been lies, and they both knew it. She opted for the truth instead.

  “When we first went to Puerto Rico, I thought we”d never need a third person in our<
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  lives again. Then we met Linc, and suddenly I found it hard to imagine our life without him

  in it. Don”t get me wrong, the way he treated us in the end was incredibly shitty, and how I

  felt afterward was even worse, but I stopped being angry with him a long time ago. I won”t

  pretend that I don”t wish every single day that things had turned out differently with him

  and us.”

  Tomi stared into his eyes, praying that she wasn”t hurting him with her admission, but

  refusing to be anything but honest about how she felt.

  “God knows I love you, Mitch, more than I can even begin to articulate, but it doesn”t

  change the fact that since we came home, I feel…incomplete, like something”s —”

  “Missing.” Mitch finished her sentence for her. There was no judgment or anger in his

  voice. He pulled her tighter against him. “I know what you mean. I think we both know that

  something is Linc. Although he acted like a complete dick the last time we saw him, and

  despite the fact that I”m still more than a little pissed off at him, I won”t deny that I love him

  as much today as I did last month.” He cupped her face with both hands. “I suspect you do as

  well.”

  Tomi nodded. “I do.” “Then, there”s only one thing left to do.” He picked up his cell phone and replayed the

  message, writing down the number Linc left.

  Tomi watched anxiously as he called the hotel, silently hoping that Linc was still there.

  From Mitch”s conversation, though, that clearly was not the case.

  “He”s already gone, isn”t he?” she asked when Mitch disconnected the call. When he

  nodded, she said, “What about his cell phone? Maybe he hasn”t left the city yet.” She waited

  while he dialed that number as well.

  Mitch sighed. “His voice mail is full. I can”t leave him a message.” He looked as

  disappointed as she felt.

  “Fuck.” He shook his head. “He came all the way here to see us, and we missed him.”

  He looked at Tomi, his eyes filled with guilt. “I should have recharged my phone like you

  told me to do. Now he probably thinks that we don”t want to be with him because we didn”t

  respond.”

  “Hey.” She touched his face. “It”s not your fault. We had no idea that we would ever

  hear from Linc again, much less have him travel here to talk to us.”

  Tomi laid her head against Mitch”s chest. “Now what?” Mitch remained silent.

  Obviously, he didn”t have an answer for that one, either.

  “It”s not supposed to end this way.” Tomi hadn”t meant to say that out loud, but it

  didn”t make it any less true.

  Mitch kissed the top of her head. “I know,” he whispered.

  Tomi remained quiet as one thought kept flashing through her mind, growing stronger,

  more persistent, until it suddenly seemed like a real possibility instead of a mere fantasy.

  “I can teach anywhere,” she blurted out, putting a voice to her thoughts. “When I

  visited the University of Puerto Rico, they had positions available for instructors with

  credentials like mine.” She looked at Mitch, watching him closely, trying to gauge his reaction to her words.

  After a moment, he slowly nodded.

  “I can move my personal training business anywhere as well. People still need to work

  out no matter where they live. I”m sure I could always work at one of the health clubs or the

  hotels until I get some new clients lined up.”

  She stared at him. “Are we seriously considering this? Are we really willing to

  completely change our lives around and give up everything that we have here?” Tomi could

  not believe they were even having this conversation. Just this morning, she”d thought she”d

  never see Linc again, and now they were sitting here, talking about moving to another part

  of the world in order to be with him. It should have seemed crazy, yet the only thing Tomi

  felt was the excitement and anticipation of being with Linc again.

  Mitch returned her stare. The look on his face was determined, his eyes certain. “For

  the chance to have Linc in our life permanently, yeah, I”m positive.”

  “Good.” She grinned. “So am I.” She leaned up, and Mitch met her halfway; his mouth

  covered hers, his kiss was hot and slow. “I love you, Mr. Elliott.”

  “I love you right back, Mrs. Elliott.” He nipped her bottom lip, her chin. His tongue slid

  along the inside of her ear. “Come on,” he whispered before he stood up, took her hand, and

  pulled her up from the couch.

  “Where are we going?” She followed behind him as he led her to the bedroom.

  Mitch glanced back at her with a smile on his face. “We”re going to see if there are any

  flights leaving this morning to Puerto Rico that we can catch.”

  *

  Linc sat in his office chair with his eyes closed. He”d been home for several hours, and

  he hadn”t managed to get any further than his favorite place of solace, feeling so physically

  and emotionally drained that all he could do was sit there and lick his wounds. The truth of the matter was that he”d completely blown his chance to be with Mitch

  and Tomi. There was no use in pretending otherwise, and it hurt like a son of a bitch to

  admit.

  He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. He had

  no one to blame but himself. After acting like a pussy for the past month, he”d finally grown

  a pair of balls and decided to tell them the truth about how he really felt, and then he was

  hurt when they didn”t feel the same way.

  What did he expect them to do? He”d accused Mitch of being naive, yet he was the one

  being unrealistic. Did he really think they would just welcome him back into their lives after

  he treated them like shit and practically kicked them out of his house just a few weeks ago?

  Linc snorted in disgust. He shouldn”t be surprised that they didn”t want to have anything to

  do with him. If he were Mitch and Tomi, he wouldn”t, either. God, he was so fucking stupid.

  “Christ.”

  “No, it”s just me.” Linc glanced up at the sound of Pedro”s voice. He stood just inside the

  doorway looking at Linc.

  “How did you get in?”

  “Rosa.” Of course. Linc should have known she”d call Pedro to tell him that Linc was

  home. She worried over him as much as his family did.

  “So, I take it things didn”t go too well.” Pedro leaned against his desk.

  “What was your first clue?” Linc asked dryly.

  Pedro laughed. “Well, I see you haven”t lost your sense of humor. That”s a good sign.”

  He sobered. “What happened, Linc?”

  Linc rubbed his hands over his face. “It”s over. They don”t want to be with me.” He

  stood up from his desk and stared out the window, unable to stand seeing the pity he was

  certain would be on his cousin”s face.

  “Did you see them? Is that what they told you?” Linc sighed. “No, I didn”t see them, and no, they didn”t tell me that. Their silence spoke

  loud and clear for them.”

  “Well, I wouldn”t be too sure about that if I were you.”

  Frowning, Linc turned around. “What the hell are you talk —” Anything he”d planned

  to say died in throat.

  “Look who I found outside.” Mitch and Tomi stood mere feet from him.

  “I”ll just leave the three of you alone.” Pedro walked toward
the door. “It”s good seeing

  you both again.” To Tomi, he said, “I”ll let Tracee know that you”re here. I know she”ll want

  to stop by and see you.” He paused and smiled. “I”ll make certain that she visits later, like

  tomorrow, or maybe the day after that. I”m sure you all have a lot of…catching up to do.”

  Pedro left without waiting for their response, not that anyone in the room seemed very

  interested in giving him one. Their focus remained on each other instead. One moment, they

  were standing still and the next, they were moving toward each other as though they were

  thinking the exact same thing. They reached out for him, pulled him into an embrace, and

  Linc held on tight, refusing to let go.

  He leaned down, kissing Tomi with all the love he had inside him, before doing the

  same thing to Mitch, pouring his apology, his regret into the kiss, before their lips separated.

  “Please tell me I”m not dreaming. Tell me my jet lag hasn”t made me so exhausted that

  I”m starting to hallucinate.”

  “It”s no hallucination.” Mitch”s lips found his again. “We”re real, we”re here, and we

  love you.” Those blue eyes held his with such intensity, it made his heart ache.

  Linc”s eyes closed, and he groaned as he pulled them close. “You don”t know how badly

  I”ve wanted to hear you say that.” He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he blinked

  back tears. “God, I love you too, both of you…so much.” He held Tomi around the waist, lifting her just enough so that she could join in their

  kiss. Their tongues stroked inside each other”s mouths, their moans rang out as they

  whispered words of love and forgiveness to each other.

  They made their way to the couch and sat down, with Tomi between them on their

  laps, kissing and touching each other as eagerly and urgently as if they were doing it for the

  first time.

  “There”s so much I want to say to you.”

  “Shh.” Mitch silenced him with another hungry kiss. “Later…need you.”

  “Yeah.” Mitch was right. Whatever he had to say could wait. Right now, he needed

  both of them in the worst way. Impatient hands pulled, snatched, and even tore clothes off,

  throwing them in various places throughout the room. Desire made everyone far too anxious