The Player's Club: Lincoln by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online

Terrence’s answer, if less heartfelt and charmingly awkward. Still, there was a pause, then some golf-clapping…soft, polite and hesitant.
    She wasn’t exactly winning the crowd over, here.
    “What’s the one thing in your life that you’re proudest of?” Finn asked.
    What was this, Inside the Actor’s Studio? Were they producing a book or something? She squirmed on the hard plastic chair.
    What am I proudest of?
    Her mind went a complete and ugly blank.
    “We’ll try Terrence first,” Finn said kindly.
    Terrence took a deep breath. “Um…” He fiddled with something—she saw it was a twenty-sided die he’d pulled from his pocket. He was rubbing it like a worry stone; he’d managed to rub the numbers off it. “I was swimming in the community pool one summer, and there was a little kid who’d gone under and no one noticed except me. I got him out, started to give him CPR. They say I saved his life.”
    More enthusiastic cheers. She was impressed, too, and she could tell by his pink cheeks and shy smile that he hadn’t told the story to many people—and he certainly didn’t get the kind of response he was currently getting here. To say he was the fan favorite was an understatement.
    “Juliana?” Finn said.
    Crap. She’d never saved anyone’s life. At this moment, she couldn’t think of pretty much anything worthwhile she’d done. She considered making something up—she hadn’t made it as an actress, but she kicked ass as a liar if she had to. She was opening her mouth when she felt Lincoln’s hand on her shoulder.
    Whether he meant it to be a warning, or a comfort, she found her lying drying up on her tongue like sand. “I don’t have anything,” she muttered. Not a single frickin’ moment in her life when she’d done anything to be proud of. The burn of that realization coated her throat like lighter fluid.
    Finn blinked. “Sorry?”
    She shook her head. She didn’t have the time—no, she couldn’t afford to blow this on dumb self-pity or ugly self-recrimination. She’d kick herself later.
    “I was proud of myself when I finished a marathon a few years ago,” she said, and was gratified by a couple of hoots.
    Actually, when she’d finished the marathon, she’d been cursing her own stupidity and stubbornness for getting involved in such a grueling activity on a dare. Still, when the pain and exhaustion subsided, she’d been pretty proud. It hadn’t produced a reality show, either, but it had given her some bragging rights for a while. That is, until she realized her friends hadn’t given a damn; they wouldn’t understand the discipline, training and sacrifice needed, and the mere thought of it had been surprisingly distasteful to most of them.
    Lincoln squeezed her shoulder. She glanced up at him, over her shoulder, but his expression gave her nothing.
    “Okay, final question, then we get to the fun stuff,” Finn said. Finally, she thought. He leaned forward like a game show host. “If you only had a month to live, what three things would you want to do before you died?”
    She couldn’t help it. She rolled her eyes. She thought she was joining a group of pranksters and adventurers. So far, it seemed as if she’d joined a Facebook group, and was enduring some silly quizzes at two o’bloody-clock in the morning.
    Terrence took the question seriously, though, his young face frowning in thought. “Do I have, like, unlimited money?”
    Finn shrugged. “No, but assume you’ve got some generous friends.”
    Not in her experience, she thought with a cynical smirk. Rich, yes. Generous, not so much.
    Terrence nodded. “If I were going to die in a month, and money wasn’t an object, I’d go see the Taj Mahal. I’ve always wanted to see that. And I’d, uh…well, I’d probably tell this girl from high school, Heidi, how much I, er, you know. Cared about her. Back then, I mean.”
    He blushed. Juliana sighed. She couldn’t help it; it was dopey, and romantic, and the kid was