Page 35 of Make Your Move

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.

---