Page 11 of Playing for Keeps

Wrapping an arm around Jen, I pulled her close. “Don’t worry,” I whispered in her ear. “You can show me later.”

Her nod was vigorous, her lips as they met mine tasted of caramel and cream, the coolness of them feeling so good against the warmth of my tongue. I would have been content to stay there forever, to hold the girl and never let go, but my friends had other ideas.

“Well, I promised, so I suppose I have to keep it. Are you ready for your tattoo?” Will asked, and Geoffrey nearly squealed in delight.

“Yes! Oh yes!” He pumped his fist in the air, doing a little dance before slapping a kiss on Will’s cheek. “Jen, Vinny, come with me and hold my hands.”

With her laughter ringing in the air, Jen let Geoffrey grab her hand and drag her away. Will draped an arm around my shoulder, tugging me along behind the two.

“That right there,” Will told me quietly as Jen tossed me a smile over her shoulder while Geoffrey pulled her down the path. “That right there is love. Hold on to her Vinny, and don’t ever let her go.”

3

Vinny

Failure. I’d had my fair share, in relationships and in life. From the time I was born, I hadn’t had it easy. Forget the family money and the proverbial silver spoon stuck where the sun didn’t shine.

That wasn’t me.

That wasn’t my life.

My life was nearly dying a dozen times my first day outside the womb. Being abandoned by a mother with more issues than Vogue. Being raised by nannies because my father was lost without the woman who dropped her family like a bag of bricks and never looked back.

And the sicknesses.

Every. Fucking. One.

Low birth weight leading to chronic lung disease. Four months in the NICU just trying to breathe. A G-tube shoved into my stomach so I could grow. And then, getting sick every time someone in the next state sneezed.

My life was hospitalization after hospitalization. Being sheltered to keep me from getting sick. Watching my twin sister thrive in a world I wasn’t allowed to enter. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Schooling was done by tutors.

Friendships were made only online.

The world of computers became my haven, the safe place I could always go.

No one wanted to be friends with a kid who couldn’t go out and play. Who would show up to classes for a week, then miss the next month because he was ill. No one wanted to date the boy who couldn’t breathe. My looks only got me so far in life. Once they met me, saw the troubles I’d been dealt, they ran for the hills, just like my mother. Never looking back.

It was different with Jen.

In her, I found a kindred spirit. A woman content, happy even, to stay by my side. Someone I could talk with, laugh with. Someone I could picture loving until the end of time. She drew me out of my shell, and I gave her the kind of attention she deserved. Together, we were happy, and there was nothing better in the world.

My fingers sped across my keyboard as I worked diligently to finish the job. Life with Jen was perfect, but in her presence, the life I’d built online suffered.

“Almost done,” I whispered, prompting myself to work harder, to get the job done. I’d let things slide since I met Jen. Left things unchecked in my businesses online. My friends had noticed, had taken up my slack, but they hadn’t been enough.

Because while I was wrapped up in Jen, someone went after my cousin. They drugged her. Burned down Corey’s apartment while Frankie was still inside, then set fire to the Savory hotel in a misguided attempt to win Corey’s affection. Then two weeks ago, after I’d successfully gotten my father to put aside his hatred of Corey long enough to give him a chance, that psycho who’d been after Corey almost took his life.

I should have done more to stop her. I should have found her before she ever got close. But I gave it minimal attention because my focus was on Jen.

Now, Corey was in the hospital with a gunshot wound in the gut. Frankie had upended her life, quitting her job and buying a condo, in order to put her focus where it mattered most.

Jen spent nearly all her free time at her brother’s side in the hospital, which gave me time to work on the businesses I’d spent too little time on the past few months. And I was speeding through the final checks on my most recent project, trying to get done before she got here.

The night was all planned. I’d had our housekeeper, Rose, make Steak de Burgo with grilled vegetables. I’d set up a table for two, with candles spread all throughout my room. It would be just the two of us, a romantic dinner, and the little box sitting on my desk that was making my hands sweat.

The tapping of shoes against tile echoed down the hall. A hesitant shuffle followed by a couple quick steps. It had my heart racing. My mouth going dry as my breath fought its way out of my chest. Like lightning, my fingers sped over my keyboard, finishing the last few clicks and logging off as those footsteps came closer.