Make Your Move (Aston Archers Hockey #1)

6. Lincoln

CHAPTER SIX

LINCOLN

“ W hat are you guys doing this evening?” Rowan asks Nash and I as we head out to the parking lot after practice. Today was our last practice before we have to go on the road for a few preseason games. We have to be on the road for two, back home for two and then on the road for one other before it’s officially the home opening game for the actual season.

Preseason games don’t count toward our record for the season, but I still enjoy them. It’s almost like a warm-up to help get us ready for when things really get serious.

Nash lifts a shoulder. “I don’t have any plans.” He looks over at me. “What about you, Linc?”

I shake my head, agreeing with him. Outside of Nash and the guys on the team, I don’t have much of a family or a group of friends. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything.”

“Shit,” Nash mumbles as he remembers something. “I told my sister I’d go with her to visit our dad for dinner. Do you want to do something after?”

Good nods. “Let’s meet up at The Salty Dog. We can get some drinks to celebrate since our flight doesn’t leave until the afternoon tomorrow.”

Nash and I part ways with Taylor, agreeing to meet up with him. We get into my car, and I turn on the engine after we get settled in our seats. Nash reaches for his seat belt and slides it across his body before looking at me. “Do you want to come to my father’s with us tonight?”

He catches me off guard with his question. “That’s okay,” I tell him with a small smile. I’ve known Mr. Simmons since Nash and I started playing juniors together. Their relationship shifted after Nash and Nova’s mother died, but it was clear the man was hurting and didn’t know how the hell to raise two teenagers on his own.

Even though things were rough for a few years, there was a part of me that was still jealous of what they had. I didn’t have a close family. I didn’t have what they had. My aunt was the closest thing I had to a parent. She never wanted kids, but when I had nowhere to go, she was the one who took me in. She was always meant to be an aunt, not a mother, and it showed in our relationship.

My parents split up when I was five years old. My father remarried a few months later and started a new family. I spent the next ten years bouncing back and forth between my parents, but it never felt like I belonged in either house. My mother ended up remarrying, and her new husband was a fucking prick. I didn’t get along with him and ended up moving in with my father and his new family.

He put so much pressure on me, it was borderline crippling. One night we had a heated argument, and I left. He didn’t come looking for me, and my aunt, by some weird chance, saw me walking down the street. She took me back to her house, called my parents, and after some space and time, everyone decided it was better if I stayed with her.

After that, my relationships were so tense with both of my parents, it was better for me if I kept my distance from them. Neither really seemed to care. My mother and her husband ended up moving across the country, and my father was too wrapped up with his other kids.

There was a point in my life where it bothered me, but I’ve moved on since then. Life continues on, and you just have to pick yourself up and keep moving. Just because someone is your blood doesn’t mean they’re good for you. It doesn’t mean they have to be in your life when all they do is cause pain.

“He would love to see you,” Nash tells me as I back my car out of the spot and start to drive forward. We head out onto the street, turning in the direction of his house. “It’s been a while.”

When Nash and I were playing juniors together, we grew close, and I spent a lot of time at their house. Their father didn’t complain about me practically living at their house. Instead, he just treated me like I was another member of their dysfunctional family.

“I know, but I don’t want to impose,” I explain to him as we continue to drive. Even though they always made me feel welcomed, it feels like I shouldn’t be going to have dinner with them.

Nash waves his hand at me as he pulls his phone out and begins to tap on the screen. “Shut up, Matthews. You know you’re practically family.” He snorts and shakes his head. “Nova thinks you should come so it helps you feel more like you’re at home.”

My heart skips a beat when he mentions his sister. It takes me by surprise, and my chest suddenly feels lighter. She wants me to come with them.

“I’ll come,” I tell him with a shrug of indifference, attempting to appear like I don’t care whether I go or not. The last thing I need is for Nash to realize the only reason I’m coming along is because his sister suggested I come.

“Good because I already told him and Nova that you were coming.”

As we walk up to Mr. Simmons’s front door, I feel a twinge of sadness as I look at his well-manicured lawn and well-kept flowerbeds. He never moved from their family house even after Nova and Nash moved out. He used to work as a cardiac surgeon and bought his family a massive house that is far too large for a single person now.

He greets us at the door, pulling open the black slab of wood with a smile on his face. Posey gets his attention first, and he doesn’t hesitate to scoop her up. Nash and Nova favor his eye color, but their hair is light like their mother’s hair was. Mr. Simmons has much darker hair that is now being overrun by the grays that have mixed in.

“Hi, sweetie,” he says, pulling Nova in for a hug before looking at Nash. The two of them hug, and then he looks at me. “Lincoln. How are you doing?” He holds his hand out to shake mine.

I slide my hand into his, matching the intensity of his grip as I give him a swift shake and release. “I’ve been doing really well. How are you? Your yard looks immaculate.”

Mr. Simmons smiles at me and nods, motioning for us all to step inside. “I spend a lot of time out there tending to the flowers.”

“He’s literally out there every single day,” Nova tells me in a hushed voice before rolling her eyes. “I keep telling him to just hire someone and go enjoy his retirement by traveling or something.”

Nash and his father are talking as we walk into the living room. I follow Nova into the dining room, and we set down the bags of takeout we brought for dinner. Nova walks into the kitchen and grabs a few plates while I take the containers of food out and set them on the table.

“Why won’t he travel?” I question her as we start to get everything ready for everyone to eat while Nash and his father talk in the other room.

Nova looks up at me as she sets the forks with the plates. There’s a twinge of sadness in her eyes. “He’s afraid he’ll miss something.” She pauses and lets out a breath. “The night our mother went into the hospital, he was away for a conference for work. He never let that go, and he hasn’t traveled since then.”

Their mother had a brain aneurysm that no one knew about. One night, after having days of headaches, she had a seizure, and they took her to the hospital. That was when they found out what was wrong with her. Unfortunately, when they took her for surgery, it was too late. The aneurysm had burst, causing her brain to hemorrhage.

There was nothing they could do for her.

“Does it bother him if you or Nash travel?”

Nova rolls her lips between her teeth and clamps down for a moment. “He’s never said anything about it. I think it’s more with himself. He doesn’t want to live with that guilt of not being close by in case there is an emergency.” She lets out a sigh, her shoulders dropping as she lets out the breath. “I’m hopeful one day he will. Earlier this summer he went to Emerald Beach to spend some time with my aunt and uncle. It’s a four-hour drive from here, so that’s something at least.”

I smile at her as I hear the optimism in her voice. She’s always been the one who tries to look at the positive side of things. “Where do you think he would go if he could go anywhere?”

“They always talked about going to Ireland.” The sad smile is back on Nova’s lips, yet her eyes are filled with hope. “I think my mother would have liked him to go, even if it was without her.”

Emotion wells in my throat as the sad realization settles in my bones. I can’t imagine sharing a life with someone, having so many plans for the future, only to end up losing them. To go from thinking you have your whole life planned out and to have it ripped away from you completely. To go from having someone with you every day of your life to never seeing them again.

“I can’t even imagine how he must feel, even after all these years have passed.”

Nova stares at me, her expression becoming unreadable as her eyes search mine. “I know he misses her, but I think he’s glad he had the years he did with her.” She pauses as we finish setting everything up. “If he never would have married her, they wouldn’t have had that time together.”

“Doesn’t it seem kind of pointless though?” Pursing my lips, I shake my head. “You build an entire life with someone only to live it alone.”

Her forehead creases as her eyebrows scrunch together. “I don’t think he planned on ever living it alone.”

“That’s what I’m saying, though. You never know what is going to happen.” I let out a deep breath, feeling like I’m struggling to make her understand what I’m saying. “Look at my parents. They got married and had a kid, and for what? So they could get divorced and marry other people?”

“I’m sure they didn’t plan on getting a divorce when they got married either,” she counters, tilting her head to the side. “No one invests themselves in someone else with the notion of ending up alone.”

“But there’s always that chance.”

Nova stares at me for a moment, her expression softening. “There is.”

She tucks her hands into the front pockets of her jean shorts as she stands upright and turns toward the door that leads into the living room. “Come on, everyone!” she calls out to the three of them. “Come eat before the food gets cold!”

Her body moves slowly as she turns back to me. Her eyes instantly meet mine. The softest most ethereal smile dances across her face, and electricity hums in the air between us.

“Some people are worth the risk, Lincoln. You just have to decide who you want to take that chance with.”