Page 12 of Playing for Keeps

I grabbed that little box, taking one last peek at the beautiful ring settled against the smooth, white velvet bed. I’d bought it at one of the shops we’d found down in the Bahamas when she wasn’t looking. The blue-green larimar stone was set in white gold, surrounded with crystals I’d had upgraded to diamonds when we got back home. It matched the necklace and earrings Jen let me buy her while we were there. I’d held on to it for nearly a month, but tonight, I was going to give it to her.

I was going to ask her to be mine.

My chair spun, turning me toward the door, as those footsteps in the hall stuttered one last time. I pushed to standing, crossing the room as I dragged in a deep breath. Then I wet my lips, hoping it’d help get the words ready to leave the tip of my tongue.

I couldn’t mess this up.

“Jen.” Her name fell from my mouth like a prayer as the sight of her hit me full force. Knocking the breath out of me as my heart squeezed in my chest.

She was beautiful. Long brown hair, mesmerizing blue eyes, and lush, thick lips. One look and my thoughts wandered. My mind dreaming of her slim body snug against mine. The way she felt in my arms. The way she felt under me in my bed. And God, the way she held onto me like she never wanted to let me go.

But those blue eyes didn’t sparkle the way they always did. They were red-rimmed and glassy, puffy, with bags underneath that set off the red tinge of color on the tip of her nose. She came to a halt when I said her name, arms tightening around her chest as twin tears trickled down her cheeks.

“What is it?”

She melted against me, letting me cradle her in my arms. Tears fell against my shirt as I ran my hand over her hair and back, trying to soothe the girl who meant more to me than anything else.

“Is it Corey?” My voice was just a whisper, my throat clenching tight against the words as I searched those light blue eyes.

But she shook her head, murmuring a quiet, “No, he’s okay,” those tears falling like rain before she buried her head against me once more.

I breathed out a silent sigh of relief that it wasn’t him that had her in tears, then pressed a kiss to the smooth skin of her neck.

“Vinny.” She turned her face into me, her lips seeking mine as I pressed sweet kisses onto her skin. Those arms that held her tight loosened, her worried hands clung to me as my tongue touched hers.

She whimpered as we kissed, holding me like she thought I’d ever let her go. And I held fast, soothing as she cried, clutching at her as she pulled me as close as I could go.

Everything inside me swelled. My heart thundered at her nearness, my lungs breathed her in. And those three words I wanted to tell her slipped closer to the tip of my tongue.

“Vinny,” she whimpered again, the clutch and pull of her hands turning into a gentle push against my chest. “Vinny, I can’t.”

More tears fell and I wanted to fall to my knees, to beg her to stop crying, to tell me what caused those droplets to fall from her eyes.

“What is it?” I asked, my body teetering on the edge between pressing closer to the girl or allowing her to push me away.

She sniffed. Clenched her hands into my shirt before letting loose and smoothing them across my chest. Those baby blues sparkled with more unshed tears as she pulled her gaze to mine.

“I’m sorry, Vinny.” It was just a whisper, crackling and wheezing through a sob. “I’m sorry, I can’t...”

“Can’t what?” I prompted, thumbing away a new onslaught of tears.

“I can’t... be with you anymore.” A sob racked her. Her hands left my chest, grasping at her mouth like she could stop the words that had already rolled off her tongue. “I’m sorry.”

Blinking hard, I watched as another droplet spilled down her cheek, hanging from the edge of her jaw before falling.

Falling.

Falling to the floor with a splash.

She turned without another word, with nothing more than a sob to remember her by as she rushed out of my room.

That teardrop spread, soaking into the fabric of the rug, disappearing the way she’d just disappeared through my door. My knees hit the rug beside it, my body curling in on itself as I struggled to breathe, trying to hold myself together with my arms wrapped tight around me, as my heart broke into so many pieces that I was sure it would never be whole again.

Lifting my forehead from the floor, I spoke the words I’d wanted to say, hoping against hope that somehow, someway, they might find her ears, change her mind, and bring her back to me.

“I love you.”

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