Make Your Move

by Laura Heffernan

  I started firing instructions at Tyler. This object contained multiple pieces, some of which balanced a bit precariously, but our routine let us work together as quickly and seamlessly as when we practiced.

  Beside me, one of the women spoke in a Texas accent. “A5. G7. 2.”

  What? Part of me wanted to turn to see what they were doing, but I couldn’t take my eyes off my task. Our gazes met over the top of the card when I paused, and he glanced at our opponents. Only a slight widening of his eyes told me that what he saw worried him. But it didn’t matter. We needed to keep going. I opened my mouth.

  “Check!” The word rang out from Hilary, who stood beside me.

  My mouth dropped. We’d been doing well, but he’d placed less than two-thirds of the total pieces needed, even using our previously thought foolproof strategy. How could the other team have finished so fast?

  Even before the tournament judge made it to our table to check, it became clear we’d been solidly trounced. Our strategy of naming the pieces worked well, but these women had also come up with a shorthand for the orientation and placement.

  The second round went every bit as quickly. We made a valiant effort to keep up, but our strategy simply couldn’t beat theirs.

  “Nice job!” I said when their victory was confirmed. Despite my disappointment, I couldn’t ignore how impressive they were. They deserved to win.

  “Seriously,” Tyler said. “You totally spanked us.”

  The shorter of the two, who I thought was Liz, winked at him, blue eyes dancing. “It’s been a long time since I spanked anyone. Hope you enjoyed it.”

  He laughed, flashing those perfect white teeth, and it hit me that she was flirting with him. How dare she? She didn’t know we weren’t a couple! She didn’t know Tyler was seeing someone else. She didn’t know…

  “Are you guys free for lunch later?” Liz asked. “We’d love to meet up.”

  I opened my mouth to tell them we had plans, but Tyler beat me to it. “Sounds great. We’ll meet you at the double doors at noon.”

  I fumed silently, but arguing would only make me look petty and insecure. Neither of which was true. I was fine, just frustrated to lose so badly, so fast. Instead, I forced a smile. “Sounds like fun.”

  The organizers returned to set up for the next round, so we left our former competitors to play again and went to the seats along the edge of the room to watch until someone called us for our next game.

  Snippets of conversation from the games still taking place drifted to my ears. “Take the long, hard piece…that’s it, baby, and thrust it into the hole.”

  In my head, I heard Holly’s voice. That’s what she said. I suppressed a giggle that turned into a frustrated moan when I realized that, if we’d been paired against that team, Tyler and I would have won our first game by now.

  “Are you okay?” Tyler asked me. “I know you wanted to win, but we have another shot. They just have to set up the second bracket.”

  I forced myself to take a deep breath. He didn’t know what upset me, couldn’t know. Liz hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe everyone in Sacramento talked to people like that. Neither had Tyler. Normally, I’d enjoy a friendly lunch getting to know fellow board gamers. If nothing else, talking to people about games they enjoyed gave me important market research. Tyler knew that; it was probably why he agreed in the first place. Instead of being inexplicably annoyed, I resolved to enjoy this opportunity.

  * * * *

  Five minutes into lunch, my resolve to focus on the positive dwindled. Liz was practically drooling in Tyler’s lap while we ate, and he wasn’t doing anything to dissuade her. Like, I don’t know, mentioning his girlfriend. It didn’t matter, I kept telling myself. I wasn’t the relationship police. Tyler wasn’t available to me, and if he wanted to flirt with someone else while he dated Megan, it was none of my business. I certainly wasn’t going to inject her name into the conversation, especially not when we had a Pact never to mention her.

  Plastering a smile on my face, I turned to Hilary. “Is this your first board game conference?”

  “Oh, no! We come every year. It’s the only time we get to see each other, since we live so far apart.”

  “That’s got to be rough. Where did you meet, college?”

  “No, we met through mutual friends.” She paused. “We’re both members of an organization for people who do well on standardized tests.”

  “What, like Mensa?”

  “Yeah.” A wariness entered her eyes, and I wondered what type of reaction she expected from me. “Exactly like that.”

  “Cool,” I said. “Tyler’s best friend and my best friend met at the American Board Game Conference a couple of years ago. They’re married now.”

  “And how long have the two of you been together?” Hilary asked.

  Tyler’s face turned red. “Oh, no. We’re not a couple. No, sorry. We’re just friends.”

  Something about his protestations hurt a bit. Was the idea of the two of us so horrible? After all, he was the one who’d kissed me, all those months ago. Maybe he forgot. Maybe he kissed so many girls while drinking, it didn’t make any impression on him. Maybe he hated the kiss, so he repressed it.

  Maybe I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and remember that I have some self-respect. The voice in my head sounded an awful lot like Nana, and she was right.

  “So you’re not together?” Liz asked. The small, satisfied smile on her face made me want to snarl at her, but I forced myself to be the bigger person. She didn’t know the history.

  Forcing myself to keep a neutral face and voice, I said, “We’ve been friends for about a year and a half. Maybe a little longer. Roommates for a few months now.”

  “I had a male roommate once.” Liz shuddered. “He’s still programmed into my phone as Jerk Wad.”

  “Uh-oh.” Tyler turned to me. “Please tell me you haven’t named me Jerk Wad in your phone.”

  “Of course not! You’re still My Hero.” The smile that lit up his face brightened my mood considerably. To Liz, I said, “What was so bad about him?”

  Until our food arrived, she regaled us with stories of used condoms left lying around, food blown up in the microwave, people parading in and out of the apartment at all hours. By the time I started eating, she had me laughing so hard, I’d forgotten why I didn’t want to come to this lunch. Maybe Tyler was right, and I needed a break. Getting out, away from work, spending time with people outside our tiny circle for a change.

  After we finished eating, we returned to the conference room for the remainder of the tournament. The games would run constantly until they declared one team the winner. I wished Liz and Hilary luck, despite secretly thinking they didn’t need it, before pulling Tyler over to the table where we’d meet our next match.

  “Okay, do we have time to revise our strategy?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, does it? We’re here to have a good time, and that’s what we’re doing.”

  “You’re certainly having a good time,” I muttered before I could stop myself.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “I’m sorry. Let’s focus on the game.”

  “You really want to devise a new strategy when our next round starts in four minutes?”

  I glanced at the whiteboard in the front of the room where someone had drawn two brackets. My name and Tyler’s now appeared on the lower bracket, the one for teams that had lost one game. We would play until we lost another game or until we won the next four rounds. If we defeated all the other teams in our bracket, we would move back to the top and face whoever won their five games. Quite honestly, after playing against Liz and Hilary, I didn’t want to meet any team that defeated them. My mind still reeled when I replayed our initial game, trying to think how we could have done better.

  “Ca
n we do what they did?” I asked. Tyler knew instantly who I meant. “I mean, sure, we can shorten the names of the pieces from Mr. Bingley to Bingley or even B. That’s easy. Assuming we remember, that would save some time. But to create shorthand for every possible orientation of the pieces in the next few minutes seems impossible.”

  “Then let’s not try,” he said. “One thing at a time. For the next game, I’ll leave out unnecessary words. So, instead of: ‘Lay Mr. Bingley flat,’ I’ll say ‘Bingley flat.’ Things like that. Okay?”

  I nodded. “And if we win, we can refine for the next game?”

  “Exactly. Seriously, how many other people have come up with any sort of strategy, much less an unbeatable one? Chances are, half the people in the lower bracket never played the game at all before this morning.”

  His words gave me a huge boost. With a smile, I leaned over and squeezed his hand. Our eyes met, and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “Thanks. We’ve got this.”

  If he felt the same rush of sensation I did at the contact, he didn’t show it. Which was fine, as I reminded myself for the fifteenth time that we were just friends. I didn’t need or want to be more, and neither did he.

  A bell rang at the front of the room, and the chatter around us stopped. “Two-minute warning! Everyone take your places and get set up.”

  A couple joined us, both older than Nathan, so probably in their fifties. The man looked at me with an intensity that made me pull my cardigan tighter around my breasts to cover them. Tyler cocked his head at me, and I gave an exaggerated shiver. “It’s cold in here.”

  He raised one eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Creepy Guy let out a bit of a huff, which his partner pretended not to notice. Something told me we wouldn’t be meeting this team for drinks after our game ended. In fact, I couldn’t beat them and move on to the next table fast enough.

  I pushed a stack of pieces in front of Tyler and grabbed our cards. “You’re up first.”

  “You sure?”

  I didn’t want to stand next to Creepy Guy, and he stood arranging his own pieces on the table in front of him, so I nodded. “I’ve got this.”

  By the time the bell rang, I’d regained my confidence. “Jane flat. Lydia upright left. Bingley bridge.”

  As I spoke, Tyler’s hands flew across the table. Beside him, Creepy Guy stood with his mouth open, looking back and forth between us. A furious look on her face, his partner kicked the table to get his attention. Unfortunately, when she did, Tyler’s carefully constructed stack toppled.

  I groaned. We’d almost finished re-creating the picture, and now we had to start from scratch. But I refused to let them faze me. Taking a deep breath, I met Tyler’s eyes. “We’ve still got this.”

  “Pause!” A voice near my ear interrupted, causing me to jump. Turning, I saw a guy holding a clipboard and wearing a badge that identified him as Adam, one of the tournament judges.

  Dazed, I turned to look at Creepy Guy, but he couldn’t have finished. Not in the few seconds it took Tyler to rebuild. I asked Adam, “Is everything okay?”

  “Touching the table is a rule violation,” he said. “Your opponent caused your structure to topple. They’re disqualified. You don’t have to rebuild—you’ll automatically move to the next round.”

  A wave of relief hit me. Here we’d been on the verge of elimination, but instead we took out the guy who made my flesh crawl when he looked at me. A double win!

  With a squeal, I jumped around the table and gave Tyler a full-body hug. He returned it enthusiastically. Our eyes met, and my pulse quickened. He swallowed hard as his arms tightened around me. My breath caught.

  He wanted to kiss me. I didn’t just know it, I felt it with every fiber of my being. No matter what he felt for Megan, some feelings for me lingered beneath the surface. All I had to do was lean toward him, press my lips against his, and I’d find out how deep those feelings ran.

  The air crackled, and everything else faded away. Nothing else mattered. Not the game, our current opponents, or Liz and Hilary. In that moment, Tyler and I were the only two people in the world, and we felt exactly the same shot of desire.

  Shana cleared her throat behind us. The two of us jerked apart, the moment ruined.

  Tyler released me, and something flashed across his face. It looked an awful lot like the same flicker of disappointment I felt. But that was impossible. He had a girlfriend, and we had a tournament to play. We couldn’t let the excitement of an unexpected and quick victory to sweep away our common sense. I didn’t kiss guys who had girlfriends, anyway, because I didn’t have any interest in dating a cheater. It might be good to remind myself of that fact more often.

  When Tyler turned to clean up the pieces, his hands moved steadily. He didn’t seem to feel any of the emotional chaos coursing through my veins. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I turned toward the woman beside me and held out one hand. “Sorry about that.”

  “No problem,” she said as we shook. “Sorry for knocking the table.”

  “We would’ve reset,” Tyler said.

  “Rules are rules,” she replied. “Good game.”

  Chapter 14

  “Always keep your opponents off guard.” —Cody

  Our third game paired us against the duo I’d overheard earlier, lacing every instruction with sexual innuendo. We beat them handily. Even without our new and improved system, they didn’t pose much of a threat. Still, the easy victory gave us a boost of confidence for the next round.

  The next two games flew by in a blur of piece placement and instruction giving. Before we knew it, Tyler and I found ourselves filling in the last position on the lower bracket. Our performance after lunch confirmed my suspicion that we’d have remained in the top bracket if not for the bad luck of facing off against Liz and Hilary in the first game. Not that it mattered at this point. In about half an hour, we’d face the champions in one final nail-biting game.

  Seeing the way Tyler’s face lit up upon realizing that we’d be playing the final game made me extra happy for our victory. With a start, I realized the impetus for my newfound competitiveness: I wanted to win because doing well at this game made Tyler happy.

  The tournament coordinators still worked to fill in the names on the top bracket, but a sweep of the room told me what I suspected: We’d be facing off against Liz and Hilary for the second time in the final round. We’d had only a few minutes here and there to bootleg their strategy, and I didn’t know if it would work. They’d clearly spent a lot of time practicing. I didn’t begrudge them that. Win or lose, I’d had a fun day and an awesome tournament with a good friend. Winning would only be the icing on the cake.

  During the break, we celebrated our afternoon successes with mochas from the coffee bar in the hotel lobby. Tyler insisted on paying. “You’re paying for everything else.”

  “Well, technically, my company paid for everything else,” I said. “And I wouldn’t be here without you. I’d be home, texting Ryan about this week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

  “I wouldn’t be here without you, either, so don’t argue,” he said. “By the way, how’s Nana? I barely saw her last week.”

  “Oh, she’s great!” Quickly, I filled him in on the wedding plans. The small ceremony would take place on Monday morning at the courthouse, followed by lunch at a local restaurant. Me, Tyler, and Michael’s children would be the only guests. With the addition of Michael’s family, I no longer needed to bring a friend to serve as witness, but Nana adored Tyler.

  “I’m so happy for her,” he said when I finished. “Your nana is a neat lady.”

  “Michael’s a great guy, too. It’s so tough to find that right person, especially later in life.”

  “It’s not exactly easy to find the right person at our age, either.”

  I shot him a sideways glance. Maybe things with Megan weren’t going as well as I thought.
“Yeah? I thought things were going well for you.”

  He shrugged. “I guess time will tell. Sometimes a person seems right, but things don’t work out for reasons beyond your control. There’s no way to know how someone feels unless they tell you. All I can do is keep doing what I’m doing and hope it works out.”

  His words surprised me, because until now, his relationship with Megan appeared to be smooth sailing. Sure, I never saw her, but he stayed out a couple of nights a week. I never heard them arguing over the phone, and our other friends never hinted at relationship troubles. For her part, she swanned around the office gloating about her perfect boyfriend whenever the opportunity presented itself.

  Their unspecified problems explained why he flirted with Liz at lunch, although it still rubbed me the wrong way. Then again, I didn’t have any right to judge, especially without knowing what obstacles they faced. It wasn’t like he hit on Liz in front of Megan or took it beyond conversation. Maybe he just needed to blow off some steam.

  The last thing I wanted after realizing my attraction the night before was to listen to Tyler talk about another woman, especially after waking up in his arms. The memory still brought a wistful smile to my face. But friends helped each other, even when it made one of them uncomfortable. “Well, if you want to talk about it, I’m a good listener.”

  An odd look crossed his face, but he quickly hid it. “Thanks, but I’m okay. We should get back to the tournament.”

  As suspected, when we returned to the conference room, Hilary and Liz stood at the table set up in the center of the room to host the final round. I forced myself to meet their eyes steadily and smile broadly. They couldn’t see how nervous they made me. Tyler walked around the table to stand by the stack of cards while I went to sort the playing pieces. My hands shook the tiniest bit, but one glance at Liz’s face told me she noticed. I took a deep breath, counted to ten, and forced my hands to still.

  Like before, we’d play three rounds. Best of two took the crown. This time, I knew what to expect from my co-competitors, so they wouldn’t have the advantage of surprise. They didn’t know we’d been refining our strategy.