Page 18 of Make Your Move

Oh no, this can’t be good.

I walk into the living room, finding Nova staring down at her daughter whose blonde hair now looks blue. She looks over at me with a challenging look on her face before she looks back at her mother and stomps her foot. Posey has blue slime covering chunks of her hair. Nova glances over her shoulder, inhaling sharply when she sees me.

“Lincoln,” she breathes, almost like she’s relieved to see someone.

“Hey, guys,” I say to both of them, trying not to laugh at the situation I just walked in on. “What’s going on?”

“Well, someone decided it would be a good idea to put slime in her hair.” Nova’s nostrils flare, and she shakes her head. “Of course, it was already after she got a bath this evening.”

I walk over to Posey and crouch down in front of her as I lift a matted lock of hair. “Poe, your hair is blue.”

She giggles loudly shifting her weight on her feet. “Yes.”

“Do you think my hair would look good if it were blue too?”

“Yes!” Posey reaches for her head and pulls a string of slime from her hair. She lifts it up to my head, and I duck for her so she can put it in my hair.

“How does it look?”

Posey laughs and jumps up and down. “You hair blue too!”

I slowly stand up, turning to look at Nova. “Do you like it?”

She snorts. “I love it.” She laughs softly as she rolls her eyes. She looks back at Posey. “We’re going to go get that out of your hair, and then it’s bedtime, little miss.”

Posey sticks out her bottom lip as she pouts. “Night, Winky,” she tells me in a sad little voice before she heads out of the living room.

Nova sighs and shakes her head. “If you’re going to be around, I’d love to hear how your trip was after I get her handled.”

Her words warm my heart, and a smile lifts my lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Nova’s lips part like she’s about to say something, but she quickly closes them and exits the room without another word. I listen to the two of them head upstairs before I slip into the kitchen. I find the leftover food from what Nova made for dinner in the fridge, and I heat up a plate as I wait.

The microwave dings and I pull the plate out and sit down at the island in the center of the kitchen. I don’t know how much time passes, but I’m finished with my food when Nova reappears in the room. Her blonde hair is pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head, and she’s wearing a pair of cotton pajama shorts, along with a matching long sleeve shirt.

Her sleeves are pushed up to her elbows, and she brushes a stray curl from her face as she sits down on the stool next to me. She takes a moment to breathe before turning to look at me with a tired smile. “Remind me to never buy slime again.”

A soft chuckle rumbles in my chest, and I smile back at her. “Never buy slime again.”

“Thanks,” she says, laughing softly. “How was your trip? How did you guys do?”

Suddenly, I have no desire to talk about myself or hockey. I want to know what she did while we were gone. I want to know everything I missed while I wasn’t here.

“It went well. I personally am not a fan of being on the road, but it went as expected.” I pause and grab the bottle of water in front of me. “I think the season is going to go well.”

“That’s great.” Nova smiles. “I know Nash is really excited to play with you again.”

I nod but don’t comment on that. “How was your time with the house to yourself?”

“Well, it wasn’t really to myself,” she tells me as she lets out the quietest laugh. I don’t know if she means because Posey washere too or if there’s someone else. For all I know, Nova could be seeing someone, and I never realized it.

“This is going to sound stupid, but I don’t like being in this house alone, even if Posey is here,” she admits with her smile transforming into a sheepish one. “Nash will deny it until the day he dies, but I think there are some spirits hanging out here.”

I tilt my head to the side and prop my elbow on the counter before resting my chin on my hand. “Are they nice ones?”

Nova shrugs before she lifts her arms and rests them on the quartz island. “I think so. There hasn’t been anything bad that has happened. Just weird noises and things out of place occasionally.”

“Well, I think if you don’t feel anything bad or nothing bad as happened, they’re probably good.”

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