Make Your Move (Aston Archers Hockey #1)

12. Lincoln

CHAPTER TWELVE

LINCOLN

N ash sits across from me at the table as he plays with his chips. He holds his hand over a small stack and runs his fingers along the sides of them, each one falling on top of the other, over and over.

“Must you do that?” I ask him as I lift my beer and take a sip of it. The glass clinks against the marble tabletop as I set it back down.

Nash tilts his head to the side. “It helps me to think.”

My nostrils flare in frustration, and I prop my elbow, resting my cheek against my fist. I flipped over the fourth card at least two minutes ago, and Nash is still trying to decide if he wants to fold, call or bet. We’ve been playing Texas Hold ’Em together for enough years I should know how Nash operates.

He has to go over every possible scenario in his brain, even though he has no clue of what two cards I’m holding onto. Nash doesn’t know how to count cards, but he sure acts like he’s doing some grand equation in his head every hand.

“Bro, what’s it going to be?” I question him as I lift my head and let my hand fall onto the table. “We don’t have all night.”

We have to leave early in the morning for a flight out to the West Coast for another week of traveling. I’ve been enjoying our time at home, playing locally and just being here. It shouldn’t bother me like it does, but after Nova admitted her dislike of being alone, I can’t help but feel like we’re both assholes for leaving her.

I need to get her a dog or security camera or something.

“I’m going to call,” he finally says as he lets out an exasperated sigh.

A smirk lifts my lips, and I begin to push my chips in. He’s already losing, and I know I have a royal flush. If he’s smart, he’ll fold before he loses everything he has.

Nash’s face falls. “Get the fuck out of here.” He pushes his two cards toward the center. “I’m out.”

“That’s probably the best decision you’ve made all night,” I tell him as I flip the cards over. I don’t have to show him, but I do it anyway because I don’t want him to think I just screwed him over with bullshit cards. I’m damn proud of the ones I have.

“Shit, look at those cards,” Riley whistles as she pops her head in through the doorway. She glances over her shoulder. “You didn’t tell me they were playing poker.”

I can hear the sound of Nova’s voice, but not the words she says to her friend.

Nash turns around in his chair, looking at Riley. “What are you doing here?”

“Hanging out with your sister,” she says with her eyebrows meeting in the center above her nose. “What else would I be doing here?”

There’s a weird awkward pause from Nash before he clears his throat and shrugs. It’s almost like he’s shaking whatever the hell that was off. I’m not stupid, and there’s a noticeable shift in the air. There’s some kind of tension lingering between them, but no one comments on it.

“Do you guys want to play?” Nash asks her, acting normal again as he recovers. “We can deal you both in the next hand.”

“Are you playing with real money?” Riley questions the two of us as she walks into the room. I see Nova hovering in the doorway, and a smile dances across my lips at the sight of her. It’s involuntary, and unfortunately, I have no control over the action.

“No.” Nash shakes his head at her. He waves both of them toward the table. “Come on, come sit.”

Riley turns back to look at Nova. “Do you want to?”

Nova looks at Nash and then to me, her eyes lingering on mine for a prolonged second. “Sure, why not,” she says with a shrug. “Do you want another margarita?”

“I’ll come with you,” Riley tells her before they disappear from the room into the kitchen. They aren’t gone long, as the margaritas were made earlier, and Nova was keeping them in the fridge. They reappear in the dining room, and Riley takes a seat at the head of the table between Nash and I.

Nova sits down next to her brother so she’s across the table from me now. Nash collects the cards and begins to shuffle as I hand Nova and Riley a few stacks of their own chips. They each take them and set them in front while Nash begins to deal everyone’s cards.

I watch Nova as she looks at her two and sets them back down, the expression on her face never changing. Her eyes meet mine from across the table as Riley and I both set our chips in the center. She lifts her own and sets them down with ours, her face still giving nothing away.

Her poker face is flawless, and I have every intention of cracking it.

“That was absolute bullshit,” Nash argues with Riley as he sets his beer back on the table. The liquid inside of it sloshes around, and he narrows his eyes on hers. “You can’t tell me you didn’t cheat.”

She glares back at him. “Please enlighten me on how the hell I cheated.”

“I don’t know how, but you did,” he retorts, his eyes glazed over as he doesn’t look away from her.

We’ve been playing for a solid two hours, and everyone is a few drinks deep at this point. I have more of a buzz going than I originally planned, but I’m not drunk. I know my limits, especially when I know I’m going to be running on a little amount of sleep the next day.

Nash on the other hand…well, his self-control is lacking.

“Dude, I did not cheat,” Riley tells him as she drains the rest of her margarita. “You’re just a sore loser, and you always have been.”

“So what if I am?”

Nova stifles back a laugh, and her chair is loud against the floor as she pushes it back. “We’re done, right?”

“No,” Nash says.

“Yes,” Riley tells her, speaking at the same time as Nash. They both whip their heads to each other and start bitching again. Nash wants a do-over, claiming Riley didn’t play fairly. I was here for the entire game. She did nothing wrong, but Nash isn’t letting it go.

“Okay, well, I’m going to go ahead and start cleaning up,” Nova tells them through a laugh, even though neither fully listens to her. They’re in a heated discussion, going over almost every hand they can remember.

Pushing my own chair back, I rise to my feet and grab my empty beer bottle. “I’ll help you.”

Nova lifts Nash’s beer, peers through the side of it, and sees there’s still a lot in there before she sets it back down in front of him. I grab Riley’s glass and follow Nova out into the kitchen. She walks over to the sink and begins to rinse out her cup. I walk over next to her and set the glass down before resting my hands along the counter.

“Is he that sore of a loser when you guys lose games?” Nova asks me as she washes out the first glass.

I take it from her and grab a paper towel before I start to dry it. “Not really,” I admit with a shrug. “I mean, it’s obvious that he gets in a shitty mood about it, but he doesn’t act like that.” I give her a sideways glance. “Is there something going on with him and Riley?”

“God no.” She laughs and shakes her head as she finishes washing the second glass. “They both get like that with each other sometimes. They get on each other’s nerves like that from time to time.”

I don’t bother telling her that I saw the way her brother was looking at her best friend. I don’t want to burst her bubble, and there’s a chance there isn’t anything going on between them.

“I can see that,” I tell her with a chuckle rumbling in my chest. I finish drying the other glass, and Nova grabs them to put them where they go. “I’m going to run this out to the recycling,” I inform her as I lift up my empty beer bottle.

Nova closes the cabinet door, turning to face me. “I’ll come out with you. I could use some fresh air.”

She walks with me into the mudroom and pauses as we both slip our feet into slippers before I hold the door open for her. Nova steps out onto the porch as I flick on the light. She walks down the steps and into the grass as she tilts her head up to look at the night sky.

I walk around the corner and toss my beer bottle into the can. As I head over to Nova, my footsteps slow, and I take her in. She’s wearing a pair of sweatpants, an oversized T-shirt, and her hair is pulled back in a low bum. She looks over at me, a smile dancing across her lips as I come up beside her. The crisp fall air envelopes us.

I watch her eyes as they shift to something I can’t quite read. The smile on her lips is laced with sadness, and she stares at me for a moment before she speaks. “Why didn’t I ever hear from you after you left?”

Her question completely catches me off guard. My brain needs a second to catch up because this isn’t what I was expecting. Neither of us have brought it up, but it was only a matter of time. “It was better that way.”

“For you or for me?”

Jesus Christ.

“Both.”

Nova tilts her head to the side as she lifts her hands to hold her bare arms. “I don’t accept that response, Lincoln. Try again.”

She’s relentless. I let out a heavy breath. “We were at two different points in our life. If I would have reached out, I would have tried to convince you to come to Orchid City with me, and that’s not fair to you.”

Her eyes widen, and the softest breath escapes her. “What?”

I nod, closing the distance between us as I move her hands from her arms and replace them with my own. Her skin is cold beneath my palms, and I stroke her flesh, trying to rub warmth back into her. “You were in college working on your degree. I may be selfish, but I’m not a fucking asshole. I would have never asked you to give up your dreams while I chased my own.”

“You would have asked me to come with you?” Her voice is barely audible as her eyes search mine. “I don’t understand.”

A soft chuckle escapes me, and I shake my head at her. “Because you live with your head in the sky, Nova.” Releasing her one arm, I lift my hand to the side of her face. “While you’ve been counting stars and studying the phases of the moon, I’ve been studying you—only you.”

She’s silent as she stares up at me. I feel her hands as she lifts them to my sides. Her hands are warm through the thin material of my T-shirt as she holds onto me.

“I always tried to keep my distance out of respect for your brother, but you’ve always been the only person I see. In a crowded room or in an empty one, it’s always you, Nova. You’re a permanent fixture inside my mind.” I pause, letting out a breath as I trail my fingertips across her skin. “Relationships were never for me, and I knew I could never give you that, so I had to let the thought of you go.”

“That’s absurd, Lincoln,” she attempts to argue, her eyebrows pulling together. “You dated other people. If you felt anything toward me, I would have known.” She pauses, shaking her head. “I would have felt it.”

I tilt my head to the side as I look at her. “So, you didn’t feel it that night that I kissed you?”

She inhales sharply. “I don’t—I don’t know. We were just having a moment that night, it was nothing more.”

“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself all these years?”

Her throat bobs as she swallows. “Yes.”

“Nova, Nova, Nova,” I murmur, shaking my head as I dip my face closer to hers. “Let me remind you of how it felt. Let me show you how I feel—how I’ve always felt.”

Nova’s eyelids flutter shut. “Okay.”

My mouth meets hers, slow and soft. She tastes like lemon-lime with hints of tequila. Her lips are warm against mine as she kisses me back. I wrap my other arm around the small of her back. She lets out a breath as I abruptly pull her body against mine. My tongue slides along the seam of her mouth, and she parts her lips, letting me in. Our surroundings disappear, and I forget where we even are.

There’s a reverent need deep inside of me, but I push the feeling away. My cock twitches in my pants, and I ignore it. This isn’t about that. One day, I’ll have my way with her. Tonight is about something completely different.

This is about erasing the things she’s been telling herself for years. This is about showing her how I feel—that the kiss we shared that night wasn’t just a blip in the matrix. It was the one thing that ripped my rib cage open. It was the start…not the end.

Nova holds onto me, her lips moving against mine as our tongues tangle. I steal the air from her lungs, drinking her in as I hold her against my body. I could stay like this with her forever. I could kiss her until the end of time, and it still would never be enough time.

“Nova, are you out here?” Riley calls out, pulling us back to reality.

Shit.

Nova quickly pulls away, but she doesn’t let go of me. She tilts her head back, looking up at me as she struggles to catch her breath. Her chest rises and falls in rapid succession, and her lips look swollen from being kissed.

“Yeah, I’ll be right in!” she yells to her friend, her voice hoarse as it cracks around the last word. A pink tint creeps across her cheeks, and she flashes a demure smile at me. “I should probably go in before she comes looking for me.”

“Did you feel it, Nova?”

Her throat bobs, and she swallows as she nods. “I think I did.”

“Good,” I tell her as I rub my thumb across the side of her face. “I’ll be happy to remind you anytime you might need me to.”

She pulls her bottom lips between her teeth, biting back her grin. “I’d like that.”

My mouth drops back to hers, and I kiss her softly before taking a step back. “Come on,” I tell her, holding my hand out. “Let’s get you back inside where it’s nice and warm.”

“I wish we didn’t have to,” she admits softly as she slips her hand into mine, and we walk up to the house. She lets go of me just as we reach the bottom step, and she readjusts her clothes before walking up to the door.

I glance up at the sky, looking at the moon.

“Me too.”