Exposed King (Boys of Brisley 2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Checkmate

She made me work forit. And God love her, I needed to. The chase felt good, like penance. It was a distraction from my usual self-destructive tendencies and an extremely welcome reminder that for once in my life, I had something worth fighting for that couldn’t be replaced or bought with money.

So, I fought. I bombarded her with “I miss you” text messages and showed up at the diner every day. She wouldn’t let me come home with her and she wouldn’t come home with me, which made me crave her in a way that had me feeling like I’d developed a new addiction. She was talking to me, at least, which was good ... but I could tell every wall she’d built had shot back up.

I’d already put in the work once, and I wasn’t afraid to do it again. I just had to get a little more creative this time since I wouldn’t be in Domingo much longer.

When it came to the tools at my disposal, I only had a few. My money, my decent looks, and my ability to make the ridiculous look adorable. I chose to call upon the last one of those when I made my daily visit to Sunday’s for sad huevos, which I’d either been given unwillingly or flat out asked for every day since I’d gotten out of jail.

I chose my usual booth in the corner and slipped Rio a coloring book and a pack of crayons to buy myself a little alone time, then set up my chess set and cracked my knuckles as I looked around for Mia. She brought me sad huevos and chocolate milk without a word, then disappeared again. When five minutes passed and I didn’t see her resurface, I grinned and got to work, starting on the side with white pieces like I was Sterling. “Hmm, how to begin?” I said, mocking him to the best of my ability. “Pawn to e4!” I scooched the pawn in front of the king forward two spaces, then slid to the other side of the booth.

“You think I don’t recognize the makings of a Bishop’s Opening when I see one?” I said to the empty seat across from me. “Bold of you, Sir. But now that I’ve called you on it, you won’t do it.” I moved the black kingside knight to f6 and moved back to the other side of the booth, then laughed loudly enough to draw attention. “You fool!” I was no longer doing a Sterling impression, it sounded more like an evil villain, but it all served a purpose. I moved the kingside bishop to c4 to complete the Bishop’s Opening and let out a triumphant yell, then slid back over to black.

By now, I could see people watching me like I needed a lengthy appointment with a therapist. I could hear Mia too, telling people not to mind me as I mounted black’s defense with my best Ron Weasley accent, then moved again. I was just opening my mouth to continue when Mia returned and braced her hands on the table, only making my eyes drop to her gorgeous breasts.

“Eyes up, Ollie. What are you doing, volverse loco?”

“Playing chess to keep myself occupied,” I replied innocently, not commenting on the fact that she was accusing me of going crazy. “I’m losing, though, so if you don’t mind ...”

Mia held up her hands and backed away. “Have fun then.”

I was a little disheartened that she didn’t seem as taken with my shenanigans as normal, but I wasn’t going to be deterred. If nothing else, I had some of the other patrons laughing, and I had to hope that would be contagious and spread to my grumpy, gorgeous Mia. “Here we come a-castling!” I singsonged, now determined to fuck around until she cracked a smile.

I could tell she was trying not to, but she softened the second Rio gathered his things and made his way into my booth with curious eyes. “Why is my Mamá mad at you?” He was staring at the chest set though, tiny inquisitive fingers grabbing the king and examining it closer. “I heard her call you a butt.”

“That’s probably because I acted like a butt the other day,” I admitted. “I’m trying to apologize to her, but I’m not sure she’s ready to forgive me and that’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” I watched him study piece after piece, then prompted, “Have you ever played chess?”

He shook his head. “How do you play? Can I be this one?” He held up the knight with a smile. “I like horses.”

I tucked my lips between my teeth and cleared my throat. “I can teach you, if you like. You actually get to be all the ones of the same color. The horses are called knights, and if you ask me, they’re the coolest pieces. They can do tricks.”

“Tricks?” His face lit up. “Cool. Am I white because I have more white on my side?”

I nodded, then reset the board. “This is how you start. White moves first, then black. We take turns going back and forth until one of us checkmates the other. See the kings?” I pointed both out. “These are your most important pieces. The object is to protect your own king while attacking your opponent’s. Make sense so far?”

“No.” He looked sad for a moment, but that familiar determination flashed in his big brown eyes, making him look more like his mother than ever. “So we protect this guy because if you get to mine, you checkmate?”

“Pretty much.” I beamed at him, then slowly pointed out each piece. “These are the pawns. They’re more important than some people will make you think, but they’re simple. They can only move forward. Two spaces if they’ve never moved before, one space if they have. When they capture an opponent’s piece, they move diagonally.” I demonstrated, then explained again before moving on. “These are the rooks, or the castles. They can move forward, backward, or to the sides. Never diagonal. They also do something else pretty cool, but we won’t get into that yet. You still with me?”

Rio nodded, tongue between his teeth with his brow furrowed. “Will you remind me when we play?” He relaxed a little when I told him I would. “And what’s this guy?”

“That’s the bishop, like my name. He can move diagonally, and he’s handy to have in a pinch. See, this one controls the black spaces, and this one controls the white.” I watched to make sure he got it, then backtracked to the knights. “Here’s your guy. These can be really confusing at first, so I’ll help you. They move in an L shape like this –” I demonstrated – “and remember how I told you they do tricks? They can jump over other pieces. The rest all need a clear space to work in, but the knights can go anywhere they want as long as the space they’re moving to isn’t already occupied by one of your pieces.”

“Whoa,” he whispered. “They’re definitely my favorite. What’s next?”

I flicked my eyes toward Mia as I explained the queen and all she could do, then took a deep breath as I finally got to the king. “And now here’s the big guy. He’s the weakest player on the board despite the title, believe it or not. He needs protection from all those around him. He can only move one square at a time, so his movements are limited as it is, but he needs to stay hidden to help himself.”

“Why’s he so weak?” Rio asked. “He’s the king, how come he can’t do more?”

“It’s not so different from real life. Kings have armies and advisors and poison testers to keep them safe. In chess, the king has his bishops, his knights, his castles, and his pawns ... but most importantly, he has his queen.” I was looking right at her now as I spread out the black pieces and moved a few of the white, until my king was all alone. “She’s versatile, strong, and capable. All the things her king is not. When he’s left defenseless, the only thing he can do is rely on her to save him. That’s called an exposed king, Little Hombre. And that happens in real life, too.”

“It does?”

I nodded, still gazing at the love of my life. “Mhm. Sometimes, us kings are left defenseless and vulnerable, and we need to rely on those around us. We build walls full of pawns and flank ourselves with castles and knights, but sometimes, our defenses come down when we’re least expecting it. And we rely on the queens of the world to keep us safe.”

Rio glanced between me and Mia. “And is Mamá your queen?”