Page 43 of Make Your Move

“Where’s my coffee?”

I stare at him, my brain taking a second to register what he actually said. “What?”

“You didn’t get me one?”

“Um—no,” I say, feeling a little thrown off because I cannot read my brother’s expression at all right now. My eyebrows tug together as I tilt my head to the side.

His face cracks, and he lets out a laugh, simultaneously shaking his head. “I’m just kidding,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. “I shouldn’t drink caffeine this late anyway.”

My face relaxes, and I laugh with him. “Yeah, that’s probably smart. You don’t want to be up all night.”

“That would not be good,” he agrees, and he switches the conversation to ask me how my evening was. As I tell him the chain of events and what Lincoln did, I don’t miss the way his expression changes to something that mirrors conflict. Almost as if he isn’t sure how to feel. He doesn’t ask anything else, and I don’t offer any additional information.

I don’t want to come between my brother and Lincoln.

And I’m not sure how he would take it if he knew I slept with his best friend.

CHAPTER TWENTY

LINCOLN

Lifting 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?”