Make Your Move (Aston Archers Hockey #1)

16. Nova

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

NOVA

S tanding in my bedroom, I look at myself in the full-length mirror that is propped in the corner of my room, giving myself a once over. The black-heeled boots reach my knees, covering the lower half of my legs. My cream-colored sweater dress flares out around the bottom of my thighs, exposing a small sliver of skin between my shoes and my dress.

There’s a moment of second guessing that happens. A moment where I feel like I need to change my outfit completely. When Lincoln asked if I wanted to get dinner, specifically labeling it as not a date, I didn’t hesitate to say yes, but now I’m wondering if perhaps I should have.

He gave me an hour to get ready. He didn’t specify where we are going, and he didn’t mention anything about the dress code. What if what I’m wearing is too much? Or what if it isn’t dressy enough?

“Time’s up, Nova,” Lincoln calls from the other side of my door as he knocks on it. “You have sixty seconds, and then I’m coming in there.”

“Just hold on,” I tell him, blowing out a breath of frustration as I fix my hair around my face. A few unruly curls broke free from the French braid. I look over my makeup once more. Although it’s soft and subtle, I don’t want to walk out with any marks from the mascara on my face.

“Twenty seconds, Nova.”

I roll my eyes at him, although he can’t see me, and I reach for the doorknob. The metal is cool beneath my hand, and I slowly turn it and pull the door open. Lincoln’s eyes meet mine first, and I watch his expression transform immediately.

The smile on his face vanishes as his jaw falls open. A shallow breath escapes him, his eyes raking down the length of my body. His nostrils flare, and his jaw tightens as his gaze begins its ascent before reaching my face again.

“I changed my mind. We’re not going anywhere.”

My eyebrows pull together, and I lift my upper lip in distaste. “What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want to share you with anyone else’s eyes.” He pauses, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

My heart crawls into my throat as I take in his appearance. He’s wearing a pair of black pants and a tan-colored sweater. His hair is a neat mess of waves hanging just above his dark eyebrows.

“Come on,” he says softly as he holds his hand out to me. I look down at his palm before looking back up at him. “As much as I want to keep you locked away in here tonight, I have other plans for us.”

I slide my hand into his and let him lead me down the hallway, down the stairs and out the front door. He’s quiet as he walks me through the front yard and pauses to open the gate for me. I step through, releasing his hand, and we walk side by side to his car parked along the street.

Lincoln lengthens his stride so he reaches the car before me and pulls open the door. It’s not out of character for him, as Lincoln Matthews has always been the gentleman, but it still has the butterflies fluttering in my stomach either way.

“Thank you,” I say softly, smiling up at him just as he winks and closes the door. I watch him as he walks around to his side, and he’s quiet as he climbs in. He turns on the engine, buckles his seat belt as I do the same, and then we’re moving down the road.

The soft sound of music plays in the background, and I can’t quite make out the words. It’s connected to Lincoln’s phone, so I look at the screen to see what song it is.

“Are you going to tell me where you’re taking me yet?” I ask him as I glance over and look at him.

We reach a stoplight, and he glances at me with mischief dancing in his bourbon-colored eyes. “Do you want me to tell you?”

“Well, yeah. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to know.”

Lincoln smiles, and the light turns green, and he begins to drive again. “There’s this new Italian spot that I thought we could check out.”

“I should have known,” I say with a soft laugh following my words as I shake my head. “Would you like some carbs to go with your carbs?”

His laugh matches mine, and his shoulders shake with the sound. “Pasta is a great source of energy.”

“Oh, I know,” I agree, smiling as I stare at the side of his face. “I swear from the months of September to April, that’s all Nash eats, so that means that’s all I eat too.”

“If I remember correctly, pasta used to be your favorite kind of food. It didn’t matter what kind either. If it was some type of pasta, you were more than content to eat it.”

“You remember that?”

Lincoln glances at me from the corner of his eye. “I remember everything, Nova.”

A smile dances across my lips at the same time a blush creeps up my neck, spreading across my cheeks. He looks back at the road, and I duck my head, looking down at my purse in my lap. There were so many things about Lincoln that continued to surprise me since he walked back into my life.

There were so many things he was paying attention to and noticing when we were younger that I didn’t even realize. I want to know all his secrets. I want to know everything he’s kept inside from the rest of the world.

“Can I ask you something?”

Lincoln turns his head to look, nodding before glancing back through the windshield. “You can always ask me anything.”

“What is something you’ve never told anyone else?”

“Ah,” he says quietly, his eyes meeting mine once more. “You want to know a secret.”

I want to know everything.

“Unless you don’t have any?”

Lincoln pulls the car into a parking lot outside of a small brick building in the center of town. “We all have our secrets,” he responds, his voice soft and tender as he finds an empty parking spot and parks the car within the lines. He kills the engine and turns to look at me as he undoes his seat belt. “Would you be open to a trade?”

I tilt my head to the side, raising an eyebrow as he reaches forward and unbuckles my seat belt. He grabs the straps, handing them to me so the buckle doesn’t hit my skin. “A secret for a secret?”

“Exactly.”

I mull over the idea, chewing on his suggestion before I nod. The smell of his cologne lingers in the air, and I savor his scent, while secretly craving more of it. “Okay. You first.”

“When you went to prom with Danny Jenkins, I told him if he kissed you, I would cut his lips off and feed them to him.”

My eyes widen as I stare back at him. “Wait, so you’re the reason he wouldn’t kiss me when he dropped me off?” I cannot believe this. “I tried to kiss him, and he refused, and I thought my breath smelled or something. Oh my god, Lincoln.”

He can’t hold back his laughter, and he tilts his head back as the sound escapes his perfect mouth. He straightens his head and smiles brighter than the sun. “I am so sorry, Nova. I was selfish, and he was an asshole. He didn’t deserve to kiss you.”

“God, you really are insufferable.” I pause, narrowing my eyes at him. “Is he the only one you threatened?”

Lincoln simply shrugs but doesn’t bother answering me. “You got your secret. Give me mine.”

“Fine,” I huff out a breath. “When you and Nash were living here after high school, Riley and I snuck in and removed all the labels from the cans in your pantry.”

He stares at me, not looking amused. “That’s not a secret, Nova.”

“What do you mean that’s not a secret?”

“I saw both of you in the hallway, but I didn’t want to spoil your fun,” he admits with a sheepish grin.

Now I’m the one who isn’t amused. “You do know we’ve gone this long thinking we got away with it.”

Lincoln chuckles. “Nash thinks I did it to fuck with him, so your secret is still safe from him.” He opens his car door before looking at me again. “I’ll let it go for now, but you owe me a secret by the end of the night.”

He gets out without another word and walks over to my side. I open the door before he gets the chance to, and he raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment on it as he holds his arm out to me. I thread mine through his, linking both of our elbows together as we walk to the new restaurant.

“Welcome to Carcillo’s,” he tells me with a soft laugh as we walk up to the front of the building. “The home of carbs.”

I laugh with him. “My favorite.”

His expression is unreadable, but the flames in his irises come to life as he stares back at me.

“Mine too.”

“Oh shit,” I mumble, laughing as I drop my keys onto the porch. Lincoln leans against the front of the house beside the door as I lean down to pick them up. “Why the hell didn’t we leave a light on before we left?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he says, chuckling as he turns his phone’s flashlight on. “Here, this should help.”

Using the light from his phone, I’m able to see the keyhole in the door and slide the key right into it. I let out a sigh of relief, a smile still on my lips as I feel the alcohol swirling in my system. We had a few drinks while we were at dinner, so I’m nowhere close to being drunk, but I can feel the warmth and fuzziness from it.

“Got it,” I tell him as I unlock the door and push it open. I turn back to look at Lincoln. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He stares at me for a moment, the smile falling from his face as he takes a step closer to me. “I don’t want you to have to remember what it was like without me here.” He stops as his feet reach mine. His hand is warm as he slides it along the back of my neck, tilting my head back to look up at him. “I’m sorry I left, Nova. I’m sorry I never called.”

My heart crawls into my throat, but I shake my head at him. “You don’t have to apologize for chasing your dreams, Lincoln. I would have never expected you to do anything but that.”

“I could have called. I could have come to see you.”

“You had no obligation to me. There were no ties between us,” I remind him, my voice barely audible. “I don’t hold it against you.”

“I wish you would,” he admits, his breath fanning across my face. “It would make this a lot easier.”

“It would make what easier?”

His eyes travel to my lips before reaching my gaze again. “Not kissing you.”

My breath catches in my throat, the butterflies swirling in my stomach. My heart hammers harder in my chest, giving me the final push I need.

“Kiss me, Lincoln.”

His name barely leaves my lips before his mouth is crashing into mine. His lips are soft, and he kisses me with a tenderness that has me feeling like I might melt. With one hand around the nape of my neck, he wraps the other around the small of my back, pulling me flush against his body. I feel his legs pushing mine as he backs me into the house and kicks the door shut behind us.

His tongue slides along the seam of my lips, and I part them as he deepens the kiss. He tastes like cherries and chocolate from dessert. Our surroundings fade away, and I cling to his shoulders, holding on as he kisses me until all I can see or think about is the way his mouth feels melting with mine. He breathes me in, stealing the air from my lungs until it feels as if there’s nothing left. My body’s starved for oxygen and starved for him.

Abruptly, he pulls away, leaving my body in a state of shock as it registers in my brain that I desperately need oxygen. I’m left breathless, struggling to catch my breath. “Why did you stop?”

Lincoln sucks in a shallow breath, his eyes closing as he presses his lips against my forehead. He lifts his eyelids, pressing his forehead to mine. “Because I’m barely holding on to my self-control here.”

I stare at him, my eyes bouncing back and forth between his. I feel like I’ve spent an entire lifetime dreaming of this moment. Lincoln may not want the same things as I do, but we both want each other. Can’t that just be enough for now?

“Fuck your self-control,” I tell him, lifting both of my arms to link them around his neck. “I want you, Lincoln.”

He pulls back, just enough to get a clearer look at my face. “Nova…” He pauses, tilting his head to the side as he brings one hand up to stroke the side of my face. “My beautiful supernova…I need you to know, if we cross this line, there’s no going back, baby.”

“I don’t want to go back.”

His throat bobs as he swallows hard, but he doesn’t move. It’s almost as if he’s contemplating whether he wants to cross the line. As if he’s trying to tell himself there won’t be any going back. We won’t be able to return to the way things were before this moment.

The torment in his expression is washed away by the fire that burns brightly in his eyes.

“Fuck it,” he murmurs as his mouth crashes into mine again.