Page 5 of Playing for Keeps

“Vinny,” she whispered, a small shake of her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I just...” She ducked her head again, then shifted until her lips were at my ear, her arms hugging me close. “I want you. So much. And I’ve never, ever done this—”

Her words were cut off, her body ripped away from mine.

“Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Corey!” Jen’s body smashed into mine as she yanked her arm out of her brother’s grip. “I’m dancing!”

“And I’m leaving.”

“Well, I’m not.” The girl clung to me with a desperation to match my own, and I held her back, unwilling to let her go.

“Fine.” Corey’s face was red, the still-flashing strobes making him look wild and unhinged. “Find your own way home.”

He shoved through the crowd, leaving his sister behind, and though she yelled after him, she didn’t leave my arms.

Jen turned, clinging to me as she buried her head against my chest. A sob ripped through her and something inside me broke. I tried to soothe her, tried to calm her, but every tear that fell from her eyes and soaked into my shirt made me feel like there was nothing I could do to fix her broken heart.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Jen as I followed her through her hotel room door. She tugged me along by the hand, stopping in the middle of the room before drawing her gaze up from the floor.

Her eyes were rimmed in red, and it took everything in me not to pull her back into my arms. The girl nodded. Sniffed. Then swiped the back of her hand across her nose.

“I will be.”

Her voice shook. Gone was the stoic girl who’d questioned Frankie, Vivian, and the bartender, Mitch, about what had caused Corey to rush away. Gone was the passive girl who barely spoke as I helped her secure this room.

Now, she was a mess of emotions, each one of them playing out across her beautiful face.

Jen took a single step forward, ending up right where I wanted her to be. “I’m sorry,” she told me, sniffling again. “I’m such a mess.”

“It’s okay, love,” I told her, sliding my fingers into her hair.

“I’m not usually like this. It’s just... Corey, he... he’s never been so mad at me before.”

“No, shh. He’s not mad at you,” I promised, hoping I was right. “You did nothing wrong.”

“I can’t go back to his apartment tonight,” she told me, though she’d already said it multiple times downstairs. “I can’t face him when he’s like this. I don’t want him to be mad.”

“I know.” I smoothed my hand over her back, the fingers of my other still tangled deep in her long hair. “It’s okay. Just stay here, let him calm down. Everything will be okay.”

“Will you...” She pressed her face into my chest, then lifted it slowly to mine. “Will you stay? Just for a while?”

My heart thumped so loud, I was sure she could hear it. My stomach dropped before yo-yoing up to my chest. I sucked in a slow breath, tightening my arm around her waist. “Of course. Of course, I’ll stay.”

I never wanted to leave.

Jen dropped her jacket on top of the desk, then went to the restroom to try to clean up. When she came back into the room, all my composure was lost.

The makeup that had been smeared under her eyes was wiped away, her face clean and clear and just as beautiful as before. The silk shirt she’d been wearing was nowhere in sight, and were it not for the black tank peeking out at her chest, I’d have thought she’d come out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a robe.

Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine as she crossed to the bed. She sat on the edge, her fingers fiddling with the tail of the belt on her robe. I went to her, kneeling at her side, stilling her fingers by taking her hands in mine.

Her name crossed my lips at the same time mine fell from hers. The corners of her lips tipped up as she dragged her gaze to mine.

“Will you stay?” It was a plea I wasn’t willing to deny.

“Of course,” I told her, and that smile warmed.