Page 64 of Playing for Keeps

Her eyes flicked to the two empty monitors, blinked twice, then fell upon me. “Vinny?”

Squeezing her hand, I turned to face the screens. A moment later, the fourth one was filled.

“Will? What are you doing here?”

“Good evening, Jen. I hope you’re doing well,” Thatcher said, dipping his head.

“I am, thank you,” she said, her grip on my hand tightening as she said the words.

“Jen,” I told her, turning to her once more. “These are my friends. Butterman, Angel, Ford, and Thatcher.” Her eyes roved over the screens before turning back to me. “We’re hackers. What you saw on the screens before they went black was an online game we created together.”

I shifted my weight, itching to tug at the sleeves of my shirt. “We’re the reason you’re here.”

14

Jen

We’re the reason you’re here.

Four familiar faces stared at me from the computer monitors on Vinny’s wall. My mouth opened to speak, to say something, but nothing came out. I tugged at the neckline of my dress, then waved a hand in front of my face, trying to circulate some of the hot, stagnant air that settled around me like fire.

Jermaine fingered a lock of long, black hair. Hair he hadn’t had the numerous times we’d talked through video as he recruited me for my position at Guardian Group. Mr. Frost, the man who’d shown me and Kelly our apartment before we signed our lease, chewed on the lip of a pipe, looking so ridiculous in his get-up that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry.

It was Will who knocked me out of whatever daze had stolen my thoughts. Or rather, the man who walked into the room behind him, settling his well-manicured hands on his husband’s shoulders.

“Hey girl,” Geoffrey said quietly, leaning down until his face was on screen. He waved his fingers at me before giving me a smile. One that said he understood, that he’d be just as shocked as me.

Vinny fidgeted with his sleeves, head down but peeking up at me through his blond lashes. He looked guarded, uncertain, ready for more heartache. I wanted to take that away from him. As Vivian had made clear before we left the reception, I’d already caused him enough.

“What do you mean?” I asked Vinny, stopping his fidgeting by taking one of his hands. “How did you bring me here?”

“I should tell her,” Geoffrey said, words coming fast out of his mouth as he stood. He pushed in front of Will, settling in the man’s lap. “Can I tell her?”

The look on Will’s face was hard to read. Anger? Frustration? I couldn’t tell. But he wrapped his arms around Geoffrey, and when he trained his gaze on his husband, the hard look began to fall. “You might as well, since it was your idea.”

“My idea?” Geoffrey’s hands flew to his chest as he turned his wide eyes toward me. “Honey, don’t you listen to them. I didn’t do anything but come up with—” He paused. Blinked twice. “Okay, maybe it was my idea. But I did it for you. For both of you.”

Vinny turned his face away, little lines crinkling at the side of his face as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“You were so heartbroken, sweetheart,” Geoffrey said, and his tone made me realize he was talking to me. The same way he talked to me after I called him and told him I broke up with Vinny. “I couldn’t stand to see you two hurt. So when I heard Will talking about it to these dunderheads,” he said, pausing to indicate the men on the screen, “I couldn’t help but chime in.”

“What’d you say?” I asked, my voice cracking as if I hadn’t used it in a year.

Geoffrey’s face tilted toward the ceiling, as if he were watching birds fly overhead on a beautiful, sunny day. “That they should do something so you had no choice but to come back.”

I flinched. Blinked hard as my mind spun. All those late-night conversations I’d had with Geoffrey came flooding back. He knew I’d do anything for my brother. He also knew I’d do anything for my friend.

“Kelly.”

He had the decency to look sheepish.

“What did you do?”

It was Mr. Frost who answered, his pipe dropped out of view. “We bought the building. The place was going to need some work, so we just sped it along.”

“By kicking out all the tenants?”

“We made sure they were taken care of,” Jermaine said. “Everyone was given help to find new accommodations.”