Page 53 of Playing for Keeps

My chest grew tight and I clutched at the smooth stone. “In the Bahamas,” I murmured.

“Oh, that’s right. When you went down there with Vinny.” Unaware of the pain that stabbed through my chest at the sound of his name, Mom turned back to her chair. “Where is Vinny, anyway?”

There was a split second where I wanted to run. Where I wanted to race to the front door to my car, to speed away and never come back. But the pathetic part of me was locked in Vivian’s stare, waiting with bated breath for word of my ex.

“He’s traveling for work or something,” Frankie said before taking a sip of her drink. “He didn’t say exactly what for. He’s up in Seattle, but he’ll be home in time for the rehearsal dinner in a few days.”

Seattle.

Vinny was in Seattle.

It’s the only thing my mind could grasp. But a moment later, something else hit me.

Aaron was in Seattle, traveling for work.

Both my ex and my boyfriend were on the same coast, in the same city, and here I was, stuck listening to my future sister-in-law ramble on about the man who stole my heart.

“How’s he doing?” Mom asked, oblivious to the thoughts racing through my head. “We haven’t heard from him in a while.”

“He’s good,” Frankie said, a sad smile on her face. “He’s been busy. Helped me with one of my companies so I could focus on the wedding and take a breath.”

“That’s sweet of him.”

Dad nodded from across the room. “He’s a good kid.”

“He’s the best,” Marco agreed.

Frankie turned a gentle look to my brother, wrapping her arms around his waist and tugging him close. “He really is. I don’t know what we would have done without him. He saved me, really. And I didn’t even know I needed to be saved.”

“Saved me, too,” Vivian agreed, eyes on the lavender sprig in her hands. Mitch left the sideboard and gripped her shoulders, leaning down to nuzzle his face into her neck.

I hated them all in that moment. Frankie and Corey. Vivian and Mitch. Even Mom and Dad, who were making eyes at each other across the room. I hated that they’d found their happiness, that they’d kept it. And here I was, going on over a year, waiting for something to happen to bring me mine.

Rose silently snuck into the room to check on the spread of food at the far end of the table, her unsettling gaze flashing toward me. As if she could hear my thoughts, knew how my misery had spread through every inch of my being.

And I hated that, too.

Determination filled me up, filling my lungs with air and straightening my back. Happiness wasn’t going to come if I didn’t do something about it myself. I knew that. Knew waiting around would get me nowhere. Knew if I wanted something, I had to go after it.

That’s exactly what I planned to do.

* * *

Vinny came rushing into the church, his phone held to his ear. We’d proceeded without him, going through the motions and the placement of everyone in the wedding party. Walking through the ceremony as if there wasn’t a huge hole where he belonged.

Nobody balked at the fact that he was late. Nobody chastised him for missing out on such an important day. Frankie, Vivian, and Marco hugged him as if he’d been gone for a year, and Corey gave him a firm handshake and back pat before sending him off to stand next to Mitch.

I wanted them to make a big deal. I wanted to know why he was late, where he had been, what it felt like to wrap him up in my arms.

Instead, they proceeded with the final walk-through, Mitch murmuring guidance at his side the entire time.

Vinny’s eyes caught mine as I started to descend the stairs at the front of the church. His smile knocked into me like a two-ton truck. I stumbled, feet tangling together, causing me to miss a step. And just like the day I broke up with him, I fell to the floor with a giant splat.

Pain radiated upward through my wrists and knees, making my hips and shoulders throb in time with my racing heart. I closed my eyes against the pain, only to see that smile again in my memory.

It was beautiful.

As beautiful as the man himself.