Make Your Move (Aston Archers Hockey #1)

20. Lincoln

CHAPTER TWENTY

LINCOLN

L ifting my phone from where it’s sitting on my lap, I glance at the time while also checking for any messages from Nova. My chest deflates a bit when I see there’s nothing on my screen. I didn’t see her before Nash and I left earlier this evening. Nash said she went out to get dinner with Riley, and now I’m wondering if I should have texted her.

She doesn’t need to know where I am, but I want her to know.

I look around the poker room, taking note of where everyone is. Ford and I are sitting at the same table, but I lost the rest of my money with the last hand. I watch them play, and Ford wins the next hand. He claps his hands excitedly, and Hayes grabs his shoulder, giving him a little shake.

“I’m going to go get a drink,” I tell him as I begin to stand up while the dealer collects the cards on the table. Ford looks up at me and nods, and Hayes winks at me.

I leave the two of them and pass Nash at another table before I exit the poker room and step out into the main part of the casino. It’s busy for a Wednesday night, and I walk past a bunch of slot machines on my way to the bar. I’m not a huge fan of gambling, but it’s fun with the rest of the guys, so long as I don’t end up losing a bunch of money.

The bar is relatively crowded, but I find a spot on the other side where there are a few seats open. I walk over to the one in the middle and sit down, folding my hands on the bar top as I wait for the bartender to come over. She’s finishing up with a few people on the other side and doesn’t see me at first.

It takes a few minutes, but I get my drink and look up at the TV as a distraction. There’s a hockey game playing on the screen, and I watch the two teams battling over possession of the puck as I take a sip of my drink.

“Is this seat taken?”

I turn my head at the sound of the woman’s voice. She’s standing by the seat next to me with a bright smile on her face. I glance at the chair and shake my head. “No, no one’s sitting there.”

“Oh, thank you,” she says with a gentle laugh before she sits down next to me. She watches the bartender for a moment, and I look back at the TV. I don’t pay much attention to her, but after she gets her drink, she turns to me. “What brings you out here on a Wednesday night?”

I glance at her from the corner of my eye. “I came out with some friends.”

“Where are they at?” she questions me, attempting to continue the conversation, although I have no interest in speaking to her.

There was a point in time where I would have entertained talking to her, but that was when I didn’t have Nova living in the bedroom across the hall from me.

“In the poker room.”

“Did you run out of money?” she asks me as I turn to look at her. She flashes her bright white teeth at me.

“I did,” I tell her, keeping my answers short. I don’t want to be rude, but I also don’t want her to get the wrong idea.

She gives me a shrug. “Can’t win them all, right?”

“Yeah, but don’t we all want to win?”

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes sparkling beneath the casino lights. “We do.” She pauses for a second. “What’s your name?”

I stare at her for a moment, deciding I need to shut this down immediately. She hasn’t come out and said anything, but I can tell by the way she keeps looking at me. She’s trying to put feelers out to see how far this could go. In the past, I would have considered showing her.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not looking for anyone.”

Her eyebrows momentarily pull together before she recovers. “Married?”

“No,” I admit, shaking my head.

“Girlfriend?” she asks as she starts to look confused.

“Something like that,” I mumble, not sure what the hell to even say. I have feelings for my best friend’s sister, but I don’t have the balls to make her more than that.

The woman frowns and then gives me a sad smile. “What a shame. Good for you,” she tells me with a nod as she gets up from her seat. “Good men are hard to find. She’s a lucky lady.”

I finally smile back at her as she turns to walk away. “I’m the one who’s lucky.”

She disappears from the bar, and I return my attention back to my drink, draining the rest of it from my glass. The bartender comes over, and I pay my tab before heading back to the poker room. When I step inside, I see all three of my friends sitting at the table together, playing the same game. I can’t tell who’s winning, but they look like they all have the same amount of chips.

I walk over to Nash. “Are you good to get a ride home with Taylor or Ford?”

Nash looks up at me, his eyebrows pulling together. “Are you going to head out?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I tell him as I glance around the room. “I’ve been out for like an hour now, and I don’t really feel like sitting at the bar drinking alone.”

“We can be done,” Nash offers, glancing at Rowan and Carson. They both nod in agreement, but I shake my head at the three of them.

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell them, shaking my head. Even though I’m out of money, I don’t want to ruin the rest of their night. They’re all the type who will sit around and play poker until the sun rises, if they’re still in the game. “I’ll catch up with you guys tomorrow at practice.”

We all say our goodbyes, and I leave the three of them at the poker table as I exit the room. I head through the casino, past the blinking lights and loud sounds, before disappearing through the door that leads out to the parking lot. It’s already late at night, and I walk beneath the lights ahead to where my car is in the garage.

It’s about a half-hour drive home, and when I pull up out front of Nash’s house, it’s already after eleven. I sit in my car for a moment, letting the engine run as I look up at the house. It feels like it did when we lived together before. Even though it’s his house, it still feels like home.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with the house and everything to do with the woman who lives inside of it.

The house looks relatively dark, but I see the soft glow from the TV in the living room. My heart skips a beat, and my stomach quickens at the possibility of Nova being awake still. She’s quickly becoming something similar to a drug for me. At some point there was a significant shift between us, and I didn’t see it coming. Nova has always been important to me, but she’s become a necessity in my life.

She’s in my veins, and I can’t get her out.

I turn off the car and get out, walking directly up to the house. The front door is locked, and I’m quiet as I let myself in. There’s a quiet hum of voices coming from the TV in the room to my left. I kick off my shoes and walk over to the doorway, seeing Nova curled up in the corner part of the sectional. I watch her for a moment, her smile growing as something makes her laugh on the TV.

As I turn my body to look at the screen, I catch her attention. She lets out a loud gasp, jumping as she covers her mouth. “Oh my goodness, Lincoln! You scared me.”

I let out a chuckle as I step deeper into the room. “I didn’t mean to,” I tell her as I head over to the couch and drop down onto the cushion next to her. “What are you watching?”

“It’s your favorite movie,” she says with a smile as she gestures to the TV. I look over at the screen, seeing it’s an older rom com we watched when we were younger.

“Just because I thought the movie was funny doesn’t make it my favorite,” I argue as I throw my arm over the back of the couch and settle into the cushions.

“Don’t lie, Lincoln,” she says as she adjusts into a seated position with her legs curled beside her. “I know you’re a closet rom-com lover.”

I narrow my eyes on her. “Shh, that’s supposed to be a secret.”

She laughs softly, lifting her finger to her mouth, pretending to lock her lips with a key. “Your secret is safe with me.” She glances back at the TV as something funny happens on the screen, and her face lights up with amusement.

Contentment washes over me, and I move closer to her, sliding my arm around her back as I pull her flush against my side. The safest sigh escapes her as she rests her head against the side of my chest and settles into me.

This is what home feels like.