Make Your Move

by Laura Heffernan

  The moment the timer flipped, Tyler began to speak rapidly. My hands flew in an effort to keep up with him. Hilary spoke at the same time, but Liz turned to look at Tyler and faltered. Whether it was surprise at our new and improved game play or something else, I didn’t know. But she paused, for just a second, and dropped one of the pieces. It ricocheted off the table, landing with a soft thud on the carpet. By the time she recovered, I was placing the last piece.

  “Done!” Tyler called to the judges.

  I held my breath, unable to believe we’d managed to beat them. Head judge Shana came and examined my structure carefully, comparing it to the card she’d taken from Tyler. Finally, she nodded. “Round one goes to Tyler and Shannon!”

  A shriek of joy escaped me, but we didn’t have time to celebrate. Round two started in twenty seconds. Tyler and I switched places at the table, and he rearranged the pieces the way he preferred them.

  I drew the card, then squinted at it for a moment. With each round, the structures depicted grew more complicated. In this version of the game, some of the pieces were similarly shaped enough that it took a moment to figure out which instructions to give. A moment we didn’t have. It didn’t help that the pieces were all the same color.

  Ten seconds after Liz and I received the pictures, the timer flipped and the round began. I fired off words at Tyler so fast I barely registered them in my brain, but it wasn’t enough. Liz simply spoke faster. We still had two pieces to go before completion when her voice rang out.

  “Done!”

  Shana confirmed the structure while I drank water and tried to calm my stampeding heart. Just like that, the competition was tied.

  Tyler clasped my hands across the table and met my eyes. “We’ve got this. Breathe.”

  In and out, I inhaled while he counted to ten, then exhaled for another ten seconds. We didn’t have much time, but the slight break calmed my nerves. When he released me, I wiped my now-clammy hands on my dress.

  Beside us, Liz and Hilary waited as calmly as if they stood in line at the movie theater. I refused to let their confidence faze me. Instead, I focused on stacking the objects in front of me.

  “Ready?” Shana asked. We all nodded, but she wasn’t waiting for confirmation. “On your mark… get set… go!”

  Tyler squinted at the card in front of him while my heart pounded in my ears. We couldn’t afford any mistakes, but if we waited too long to start, this thing would be over before it began. Beside him, Hilary did the same. Neither of them said a word. An eternity stretched by.

  “Come on!” Liz snapped. “Give me anything.”

  “Right.” Hilary jumped upright. “A14.”

  As if the sound of her voice shook him out of a trance, Tyler started speaking. “Elizabeth flat. Darcy right. Lydia left. Jane on Lydia, long way.”

  I followed his instructions as fast as I could. The structure started to take shape. Most of the cards didn’t use more than eight or nine pieces, so I sensed when we must be nearing the end, although Tyler said nothing. My hands shook as I lifted the ninth piece.

  To my dismay, Hilary’s voice rang out. “Done!”

  A wave of disappointment hit me, but I tried not to show it. “Good game, guys.”

  “Thanks!” Liz’s excitement bubbled over as she bounced around and hugged all three of us. Her hair smelled like strawberries, a scent I used to love. I resisted the urge to shove her away.

  “Not so fast,” Tyler said, looking from the card in his hand to their structure. “The judge has to confirm.”

  I shot him a confused look. All day, he’d never once waited for confirmation before assuming that the first team finished had won the round. Was it because we’d reached the final of the tournament, no matter what? Or did I dare hope…?

  “I’m sorry, but this is incorrect,” Shana said as she inspected Liz’s creation. “The timer starts again in three…two…one!”

  Tyler spoke instantly, as if he’d been waiting for the cue. “Put Knightly on top of Darcy, standing upright. And… done!”

  My heart still danced in my chest as I looked between our structures. Immediately, I saw the difference. Liz and Hilary had placed the longest of the three cylindrical pieces on top of their structure, whereas Tyler had directed me to use the medium-sized one. It was a minor difference, but that was all it took.

  Shana hadn’t had time to move away from the table, so she quickly reviewed my structure. “That’s a match! Victory to Tyler and Shannon. Congratulations!”

  A squeal escaped me. From the moment we’d met Hilary and Liz, I hadn’t dared to hope we’d win the tournament. I didn’t even know why it had become so important to me, but seeing how well Tyler and I worked together made me stupidly happy.

  “Hell, yeah!” Tyler cheered. “We did it.”

  I put my arms up in the air, expecting a massive hug, but he slapped my hands instead. I bounced up and down and spun around, pretending to only have wanted a high five. Our big moment had no room for disappointment.

  “First and second place, that’s amazing!” Hilary said to us.

  I offered her a sincere smile. “Congratulations. That system you two worked out was pure genius. We tried to copy it, but there wasn’t enough time.”

  “Thanks,” Liz said, “it was all Hilary’s idea. She’s the brains of the operation.”

  “Hush. We’re a great team.”

  “And so are we,” Tyler said to me. “I can’t believe we won a tournament for a game we discovered a few weeks ago.”

  “Yeah. Good job, everyone.”

  “Let’s go celebrate!” Liz spoke as if her invitation extended to the entire group, but her gaze was fixated on Tyler. “Drinks at the hotel bar?”

  “No, thanks,” I said quickly. “I’m wiped, and we’ve got an early flight tomorrow.” What I didn’t say was that watching her flirt with Tyler all day had made me into a person I didn’t like very much. Time to recharge would do wonders to restore my personality.

  “I’d love to,” Tyler said, with a glance at me. “If you don’t mind?”

  “Of course not. Why would I mind? I could use some introvert time, anyway.”

  “Great,” he said. “Hilary?”

  “Oh, you know I wouldn’t let Liz go without me.”

  I couldn’t tell if Tyler seemed disappointed to have a chaperone or not, and I didn’t want to find out. “Good game, everyone. I’m going to head over to the pool for a bit to unwind.”

  After we said our good-byes, I walked away. In another universe, we could all be friends, but I was too annoyed by Liz and Tyler’s flirtation to allow that to happen in this one. Part of me wanted to call Megan and tell her what was happening, but since we weren’t exactly friends, I didn’t have her phone number. I couldn’t even stalk her on Facebook, since Tyler didn’t have a relationship status posted and hadn’t updated a thing on his account since 2015. He might not have even accepted my friend request when we first met. If I could reach her, she’d probably call me jealous and then hang up on me, but at least I’d have felt like I tried.

  About fifteen feet down the hall, Tyler caught up with me. “Hey. Are you okay? Did you want to celebrate with just the two of us?”

  “I’m fine.” I didn’t even know how to put into words what bothered me without sounding jealous. “Have fun. We’ve done a lot of peopling the last two days, and I’m happy to curl up in bed and watch Twitch for a few hours.”

  “Okay. You’re not mad at me?”

  “Why would I be mad?”

  “I don’t know. Something seems off. You’re less…Shannon than usual. Less vibrant.”

  “I said I’m fine,” I snapped. “Are you planning to come back to the room tonight?”

  “Why do you care?” he asked. Finally, I’d pushed him too far. “You’ve been barely polite to Liz and Hilary all day. That’s not like you.
Now you’re mad at me because I want to go have a drink with them?”

  “I’m not mad,” I said. “It’s none of my business what you do.”

  “That’s right.” He sighed. “Look, you can’t get all weird and jealous whenever I talk to another woman.”

  “I’m not jealous!” I snapped. Good one. Getting angry was a great way to convince Tyler I wasn’t lying. Silently, I counted to ten before continuing. “I just wanted to know if I should leave the dead bolt open when I go to sleep. The room is more secure with it engaged.”

  He deflated a bit, running one hand over his hair. “I’m sorry. Of course. I didn’t think of that. Yes, please leave the lock open. I’m only going for one drink. But if it makes you feel safer, engage it, and I’ll text you when I get back.”

  “Thank you.”

  Because of course, I cared what he did. As much as I didn’t want to, I cared. Part of me hated finding out that the guy I’d been developing feelings for wasn’t trustworthy after all. A small, darker part was upset that he might cheat on his girlfriend, but not with me. A stupid emotion, really, because he didn’t have any reason to think I liked him. Also, I didn’t want him that way. But you can’t control your feelings, even when you dislike them, so there we were. Me, pissed at Tyler, annoyed with myself because of it, and him not having any inkling what was going on inside me.

  When I got back to the room, housekeeping had moved the dozen or so tiny pillows back to the head of the bed. Thinking about how I woke in Tyler’s arms, I rolled up a spare blanket from the closet and put it in the middle before re-creating the pillow wall. An extra barrier might help. Then I changed into my pajamas, turned on the TV, and crawled into bed, trying to ignore my loneliness.

  Maybe I should’ve headed to the bar for a drink, too. Found some other conference-goers to join, or even pretended to have a good time with Tyler, Liz, and Hilary. A good, stiff drink might have helped me sleep, but it was too late now. My eyes darted to the fridge located under the TV, but I didn’t need to pay fifteen dollars for a shot of mediocre whiskey, or worse, twenty dollars for a mediocre whiskey mixed with soda.

  Briefly, I considered calling room service for some dessert. Cake might also help me sleep. But I wasn’t hungry. This was stupid. None of it mattered. We had to get up for the airport at the crack of dawn. With a frown, I clicked the TV off and slapped the remote down on my nightstand. I double-checked that my phone was plugged into the charger, then chucked my glasses beside it on the table.

  Sleep would ease my frustrations. Sleep, and a little distance. Tyler and I had been spending a lot of time together recently. Between his help at work and seeing him at home every day, it was too much. We needed some time apart. I’d hang out more with Ryan, ask Holly and Gwen for some girl time… everything would be fine. Tyler and I were friends. My feelings would go away. I didn’t care if he was out having sex with Liz at that very moment.

  But as I tossed and turned, listening futilely with one ear for his key card in the door, the same words kept running through my head. I shouldn’t care… but I do.

  Chapter 15

  “Some people get more than one great love in a lifetime. Some don’t. You never know, so when you find someone who makes you happy, grab them and hold on with both hands.” —Michael

  The morning after we got back from the conference, Tyler and I had both scheduled vacation days. Despite not needing to go to work, I got up at my normal time, showered, put on my favorite vintage sundress, and bounded down the stairs to Nana’s apartment as usual.

  “Good morning!” I yelled through the open doorway. “Someone’s getting married today!”

  Nana appeared in the door to her bedroom, face flushed. “Hush. You’ll wake the whole neighborhood.”

  “And why shouldn’t I? This is exciting!”

  “We appreciate your support. At my age, if I let myself get as worked up as you are, I’d have to worry about a heart attack.”

  “Not funny,” I told her. “Especially given your history.”

  “You worry too much,” she said.

  “I worry exactly the right amount for someone who adores you. Where’s Michael?”

  “Oh, he’s a bit of a traditionalist. Thought it would be bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. He spent the night at his place, and we’ll meet him at the courthouse.”

  Just when I thought I couldn’t love my future stepgrandfather any more, the gesture warmed my heart. “That’s sweet of him.”

  “I found a good one,” Nana said. “Speaking of, where’s Tyler?”

  “He’ll be at the wedding, but I thought you’d want one last girls’ morning before the wedding. From now on, it’ll never be just the two of us. You won’t have time for me.” I pretended to pout, pushing out my lower lip.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Now come make your favorite grandmother breakfast.”

  The familiarity of cooking in Nana’s kitchen, just the two of us, enveloped me like a warm hug. As much as I liked Michael, and even enjoyed the mornings Tyler had eaten with the three of us, I missed our girls’ time. Nana talked about her honeymoon plans while I mixed batter and heated the waffle iron.

  By the time the scent of sizzling bacon filled the air, she stopped abruptly. “Listen to me rattling on about my beau like a schoolgirl. How was the conference?”

  “Amazing!” I regaled her with lists of the games we played, an explanation of the tournament, and the story of how we’d finally won, despite nearly being defeated.

  “That’s wonderful, dear. And how was spending the weekend with Tyler?”

  A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Thankfully, cooking gave me an excuse to avoid her eyes. I gave Nana an abbreviated version of the weekend’s events, making it sound like we’d made some great new friends rather than me getting pissed at Tyler’s probably-completely-innocent flirting. With luck, she wouldn’t pick up on my changed feelings for him.

  “Well, I’m glad you two had a good time, dear,” she said when I finished. “I’m still rooting for the two of you.”

  A hollow laugh escaped me. “He’s got a girlfriend, Nana. There’s no point in hoping for us to get together.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “What, hmmm? It’s pretty simple.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “The past few months, I’ve seen the two of you together several times. You and I have talked about Tyler more than once. And before this morning, you constantly reminded me that you’re not attracted to him. Every single time he came up in conversation. Until now.”

  That was the problem with spending time with your relatives. They got to know you better than everyone else and figured out stuff you’d rather not tell them. My mouth opened and shut, but I couldn’t think of anything to say.

  Keeping my face carefully turned to avoid her keen eyes, I focused on serving. Nana watched silently while I slid a steaming waffle onto her plate and dropped three slices of bacon next to it before handing her the syrup. Finally, I said, “Eat up. You have a big day ahead.”

  “This conversation isn’t over.” She poured the sweet maple liquid over her breakfast, then took a bite. “But I’m willing to put it on hold temporarily.”

  “Thanks.” To distract her from me and Tyler, I asked Nana about Michael’s family, who I still hadn’t met. I knew he had three adult children a few years younger than Mom, but not much else.

  The hot coffee, bacon, and waffles fortified me. By the time we finished breakfast, I’d pushed my unrequited crush on Tyler aside, ready to focus on enjoying the day. I couldn’t change how I felt about him or the fact that he was unavailable. Tomorrow, I would figure out a way to bury my feelings permanently. Today was about family.

  As I was leaving Nana’s, I heard the upstairs door click shut softly. A moment later, I turned the corner of the landing and came face-to-face with Megan. It took
me a minute to register her standing there. Why would Tyler choose now, of all times, to violate the Pact? We’d been pretty clear: the apartment, and our friendship, was a Megan-free zone.

  “Hi,” I said, trying not to show my surprise. I’d stayed up until after midnight working on Speak Easy, and I hadn’t realized Tyler invited her over. She must have shown up pretty late. “How are you?”

  Her face turned bright red. “Hello. Aren’t you gone for your grandmother’s wedding today?”

  “I’m off work,” I said. “Nana lives downstairs. The wedding is in Boston.”

  “Okay.” She shifted from one foot to the other, then looked past me out the front door. “I gotta go to work. Busy day today.”

  I moved toward the wall to give her room to pass in the narrow staircase. She walked down the center, sending me squeezing up against the wall, despite having plenty of room to walk by me on the other side. My opinion of this woman fell every moment we spent together, and it hadn’t started out that high.

  Shaking my head, I resisted the urge to go straight to Tyler and ask what on earth he saw in her. He’d broken the Pact by allowing her to come over, so he couldn’t get mad if I confronted him about it. Then I heard the shower running and the answer became clear: Like Gwen said a few weeks ago, Megan slept with him. It killed me that some people didn’t need any more than that in a partner, but whatever. We needed to talk about her, and we would, but not today. Today was about love. Tomorrow we could talk about friendship and keeping your word.

  By the time I double-checked my hair and reapplied my lipstick, the bathroom door clicked open. From the sounds in Tyler’s room, he was looking for something to wear. I went down the hall to grab my purse, then headed down the hall toward his room. The door was cracked, but I was very careful not to peek.

  “Hey, Tyler?” I rapped lightly on the door frame so the door wouldn’t swing farther into the room. The last thing I needed was the torture of having to see his partially clothed body and think about what he and Megan had been doing.