AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nolan.” I shake my head, confused. “You have a million seconds, you can’t want me to— ”
“I have five. And I wantyou.”
My temples throb. “Why?”
“The World Championship is in February. I need to train to defeat Koch. I needyou.”
“No.” Koch is not Nolan’s rival, he’s his enemy. I let down both of us by losing. “You don’t need me. You probably don’t even need to prep against Koch. I justlostto him, so I’m the last person you should— ”
“I didn’t see it, either.”
My breath catches.
“The queen. I watched the game, and I was as defenseless as you, Mallory. I . . .” He swallows. “I didn’t see it coming, and then I didn’t see a way out of it. I would have resigned, too.”
I exhale. “How is it possible? You beat him a few months ago.”
“I don’t know. It’s not unheard-of for players to improve years into their training and make big jumps. But this . . . this was a chess- engine- level move. Perfectly designed to disrupt every single action, every single initiative you had going on— and you were playing some fucking great chess. It was something a computer would come up with.” Nolan is distressed. I always thought of him as a hothead, but it’s the first time since we met that he seems genuinely upset about something. Genuinely insecure. “Mallory, if that’s the level he plays at, he’s going to win the World Championship.”
His fingers are still solid, still warm against mine.
“But I didn’t make it, either.”
“I know. But let’s figure it out together.” He leans forward, eyes burning into mine. “Be my second. Help me take that piece of shit down.”
“I . . . if I become your second, won’t I be training with youall the time? I’ll know everything. I’ll be so familiar with your style, you’ll have a hard time taking me by surprise again. If I become your second, I’llknowyou.”
There is a beautiful, indecipherable half smile on his lips. “You think I don’t want you to know me?”
“Nolan . . .”
I overturn our hands and look down at his palm. It’s so much larger than mine. The lines and grooves, so deep. So easy to trace with my fingertips, to follow to the source.
I . . . I just don’t know. If it’s a bad idea. If I’m good enough. What this is, this luminous, tethering thing that always seems to pull me closer to Nolan. I don’t know if I can stand to be near him, and I don’t know if I can standnotto be.
I don’t know anything, but there’s something I need to ask.
“Nolan?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you come to Vegas?”
His fingers tighten around mine. My heart cartwheels.
“Mallory. I came because you did.”
“— if you go rook g5— ”
“— then the bishop— ”
“— but that pawn— ”
“— in g7— ”
“— no, if you want to keep your king safe— ”
“— there’s this thing calledcastlingthat— ”
