Check & Mate

by Ali Hazelwood

That is, until the day we play for the first time. And I wipe the floor with him.

“I am a motherfucking delight, Greenleaf. And for the record, you and I are equally hot.”

I let out a laugh—a real one, my first since the tournament started, maybe even since Easton left. Emil stares with a kind, curious expression. “He has no chance,” he says cryptically.

“Damn child prodigies.” “I’m eighteen,” I point out. “You are a chess child. An infant. I could shove my nipple in your mouth and you wouldn’t be able to latch on to it.” Defne’s eyebrow lifts. “I didn’t know you lactated, Oz.”

Sawyer is already there. Waiting. Sitting on Black, tracking all my movements. His eyes on me are unsettling. There’s something too sharp, too ravenous, almost acquisitive about them. Like the match is an afterthought, and I am what he came here for.

Nolan. Sawyer. Is. On. My. Porch.

“It has its ups and downs. I used to love it, but a little…sameness set in, and I actually thought about quitting. Then Mallory arrived.” His knee suddenly pushes back against mine. “Now I love it again.”

“She has a reputation for pocketing puddings.” Everyone stares at me like I’m that Pharma bro who hiked basic meds’ prices. “And for public near-nudity.” Mom’s eyes widen. “Mallory, this is concerning—” “He’s kidding.”

I kick Nolan’s calf, hard. He doesn’t seem to care, but he does trap my foot between his own. “He’s known for his terrible sense of humor.” My leg is now twined with his. Cool. Cool.

“I’ll go ahead and ask it, since we all want to know: Are you guys having sex?” “Oh my God.” I...

“Oh my God,” I moan. “We aren’t,”

“Mostly that. Only secondarily because he doesn’t seem to be able to look away from my most oblivious daughter.”

“It should have been you, yesterday. It was…I had you there. In front of me, across the board.” His lips press together. “It should have been you.”

DARCYBUTT: You and Nolan got the most points in the whole Olympics. You guys should get married and have a child. She’d be so good at chess.

“I don’t have sex. Or at least, I never have.” It takes a few moments for the words to penetrate. For it to really sink in: Nolan Sawyer, the Kingkiller, blithely admitting that he’s a virgin at the age of twenty. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But.

“Nolan?” “Hmm?” “Why did you come to Vegas?” His fingers tighten around mine. My heart cartwheels. “Mallory. I came because you did.”

“I’ve got you, Mallory. Nothing bad is going to happen. You can let yourself want this, because you already have it. You have me.”

“Want to go first?” Nolan murmurs, lips to the shell of my ear. I shiver. Then I nod, and my hair brushes against his chin. My skin heats, and I’m too flustered to think, so I do the first thing that comes to mind. Knight to f6. I remember how much Nolan hates the Grünfeld only after he groans and sinks his teeth into my earlobe.

Nolan makes a choked noise in the back of his throat and hides his face in the curve of my neck, as though unable to witness the mess I made. I want to hiss that if he weren’t tucking me into himself with a hand on my belly, maybe my brain wouldn’t be a slushie. But his breath tickles my nape, and while everyone thinks hard about the next move and the room is silent, I can feel his heartbeat warm against my back. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to someone without sex. The closest I’ve been to someone with sex.

I don’t believe Nolan’s toying with me. Sometimes his chin rests on my shoulder, boyish, artless, and I know that he’s just doing what feels good. It just happens to distract me.

“Because when I’m with you, Mallory, everything is different. When I’m with you, I want to play more than I want to win.”