The Right Moves (The Game #3)(53)
Author: Emma Hart

“I just don’t necessarily know exactly how to get there.”

She hits the boat. “Blake!”

“What? Don’t blame me.” I glance over my shoulder into her narrowed yet slightly amused eyes. “Blame Google. They’re the ones who haven’t developed maps that work in the mountains.”

“You… I don’t even know what to say.” I catch her shaking her head. “We’re on a boat on a river in the middle of the Poconos, and we could end up anywhere. I feel so reassured right now.”

“As long as we don’t end up at the Atlantic, I figure we’re okay.”

Abbi sighs heavily. “So you say. So you say.”

~

I smile smugly at the look on her face.

“You did this?”

I nod. “I told you it would be okay, didn’t I?”

“Okay? Okay?” Abbi stares at me like I’m insane. “Blake, you’ve organized a goddamn picnic in the middle of the Poconos, shadowed by the mountains and overlooking the most incredible lake I’ve ever seen just for my birthday. And you say it’s “okay”?”

“What would you say it is?”

“I don’t think I know,” she whispers, her eyes filling with softness. “But I do know it’s the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me.”

She wraps her arms around my neck, squeezing me. I slide my arms around her waist, smiling.

“In that case, this whole getaway thing was totally my idea. Maddie had no say in it at all.”

She laughs into my shoulder. “Nice try.”

I shrug, leading her to the blanket and sitting her down. “The getaway was Maddie’s idea. The Poconos was mine. Like I said last night, it reminded me of a giant Prospect Park.”

Abbi looks around, taking in the varying shades of green on the trees and bushes, the wild flowers dotted around the bottom of them, and the crystal clear blue of the lake. “It is exactly like that.” She touches the blanket. “I think I have a new favorite place.”

“I’m not coming here every time you need to hide,” I mutter playfully.

Her lips curve into a gentle smile. “You won’t need to. I think I’ll just hide under my covers from now on. It doesn’t matter where I go, my past will still find me. I can’t fight against it, I just have to go with it. That’s the only way I’ll ever beat this. Acceptance is key to moving on.”

I shake my head slowly, just looking at her, from the curve of her eyebrows to the pink of her cheeks and the tiny curl in her hair to the slight upturn of her nose.

“What?”

“Ever think that the really bad shit always happens to the best people?” I think out loud. “The people that always deserve it the least get hit with the biggest piles of crap.”

“I guess,” she replies slowly. “But I’d like to think the best people get hit with the bad stuff because they can handle it. What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger and all that. I think I’m stronger for all my bad stuff. At least, I should be since it didn’t kill me. No one knows why stuff happens, good or bad, but there’s always a reason.”

I think about that for a moment. “I guess you’re right.”

“Well, if I hadn’t been through what I have, then we wouldn’t have met, would we?”

“I suppose not.” I smile. “Good things have to fall apart sometimes, if only to make way for the even better things to fall together.”

“Exactly. And as corny as it is, I think I’ll choose to believe I had to deal with all Pearce’s crap so I could be here today.” She looks at me and smiles softly, her eyes wide. “I know it hasn’t been easy to be around me sometimes, and that might not change any time soon, but I’m really glad you stuck it out.”

“Yeah, well, you are a bit of a pain in the arse.”

She raises an eyebrow, amused.

“I mean, you’re a total nuisance, and I can never get anything done when you’re around because you just distract me, but-”

She grabs the collar of my top and pulls my face towards hers, covering my mouth with hers. I blink, taken aback for a second, before I sink my fingers into her hair and follow her lead. Her teeth graze across my bottom lip, tugging on it gently, and it’s not the only part of my body it’s tugging.

I move forward and push into her until she lies back. One of my hands supports me as we lower and the other is wrapped around her, holding our bodies together. My body covers hers and my knee slips between hers. She runs her tongue along my lip and f**king hell. This is driving me insane. Her fingers entwine in my hair, holding me to her, and I kiss her with everything I have. I take the kiss deeper until everything else has disappeared. Everything except her soft but strong body lying beneath mine, her tongue stroking mine, and her fingers wrapped in my hair.

“But,” I whisper against her lips, kissing her once more. “I can’t imagine not sticking it out with you. I’d be crazy if I didn’t. In fact, I think I might be a little crazy anyway.”

She giggles, my forehead resting against hers. “Then we can be a little crazy together.”

I smile widely, a small laugh escaping me. “Always.”

Chapter Twenty-Three – Abbi

My eyes follow Blake as he moves around the kitchen with ease. The muscles on his back move as he does, and his biceps flex as he searches through the cupboards. I swing my legs from my perch on the table and laugh as he tugs a bowl from a low cupboard and almost falls backward.

He shoots me a look, smirking, and stands. Ingredients for whatever he’s cooking are all laid out on the table next to me, and I clasp my hands in my lap. He’s wearing a black shirt, and the open bag of flour is just too tempting…

“God. That was traumatic.”

“You got a bowl from the cupboard.”

“And?” He steps up to me. “I should have known it would have been in the place I’d look.”

“Then you should have looked there first, shouldn’t you?”

“You’re hilarious.” He smirks. I grin.

“It’s one of my better qualities. I thought you’d know that by now.” I poke his arm.

He weighs out some flour and sieves it into the bowl. “Oh, I do. I just try to ignore your so-called humor.”

“It’s because you’re British,” I say matter-of-factly. “Everyone knows Brits have an odd sense of humor.”