Page 4 of Playing for Keeps

A hum flowed from between her lips as she reached out and took my hand. “I’m glad you came back.”

Relief, strong and freeing, rolled through me. “I’m glad I found you again.”

My palm cupped her cheek, and the girl, she leaned into me, her beautiful eyes locked on my lips. And, God, I wanted to kiss her. Wanted to taste her mouth, roll my tongue across hers. Hold my body against hers as she fell into my arms.

But my window closed, the moment lost as my sister’s voice cut through the air. “Hey, Vinny!”

Jen’s head whipped up even as her grip on my hand tightened, drawing me closer as if unwilling to let me go. I saw it on her face the minute she saw my sister. The fall of her smile as her mouth dropped open, the widening of her eyes as they caught on the woman beautiful enough to be strutting down a runway in Paris or Milan.

“Yeah, what do you want?” I hollered, unable and unwilling to tear my gaze from the devastation on Jen’s face.

Those blue eyes met mine before snapping back to Viv. Jen blinked, eyes fluttering as if trying to understand, dancing between the two of us while taking us both in.

The similarities between me and my sister were numerous. Our slim bone structure, the shape of our eyes and our faces. Even our height was exactly the same. But where I was blond, Viv had flowing, perfectly highlighted, light brown hair.

“There you are, brother! Here, I finally got our drinks.”

“Thanks, Viv.” Jen released my hand as I reached for my drink, but I took it right back, tugging her closer as I set my glass on the table. “Jen, this is my sister, Vivian.”

Jen leaned forward to shake Vivian’s hand, not for a second releasing my own. “Nice to meet you,” she said, her dazzling smile adorning her lips. Then the girl turned that smile to me, an eyebrow raising. “You’re a twin?”

“I am,” I told her, my own smile growing, because the girl, she looked like I’d given her the greatest gift.

“That’s my brother, Corey,” Jen said, quiet over the thumping beat of the music, her thumb jabbing over her shoulder at the man who’d been holding the table for her all night.

“You don’t really look alike.”

She scrunched up her nose, took her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down, and I swear my dick jumped in my pants.

Vivian slapped my shoulder, giving me the excuse I needed to get my thoughts away from the direction they were headed. Turning, I followed her gaze and found my cousin coming our way. A man I could only assume was the bartender, the one my sister had told me Frankie was seeing, was nearly attached to my cousin’s back.

“There you are!” I jumped from my seat, holding tight to Jen’s hand, wanting to drag the girl to my cousin so they could meet. But the way the bartender buried his face in Frankie’s neck gave me pause, and it wasn’t until he pushed her our way that I coaxed Jen out of her chair.

With the girls introduced, Jen and I took our seats, and I sucked down the whiskey Viv had brought me moments before. Jen nursed the beer bottle she grabbed from the table, and there I was again, lost in the kinds of thoughts that had me racing to the restroom when I left the dance floor.

“So, love,” I said, setting my glass down and leaning toward Jen, “you want to dance again?”

She looked over her shoulder to her brother, asking him something that didn’t reach my ears. I was too swept up in everything else about her. The sway of her long brown hair as it trailed over her shoulder, brushing against my leg. The sweet scent of her that wafted toward me. The thumping of her pulse in her slender neck.

And worst of all, the slim hand that landed on my thigh, so close to my dick I was sure she’d feel the kick of it under my jeans.

“Come on.” Jen tugged me out of the fantasy rolling through my head, pulling me by my hand back out onto the dance floor. And just like before, she wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her body against mine like she belonged there all along.

“I’m sorry about my brother,” she told me after the first song was over, her lips brushing against my jaw. “He’s in a mood tonight. I’m not sure what’s wrong.”

“I’m sorry about my sister and my cousin. That’s how they always are,” I told her back, letting my own lips caress her skin. The girl let out a little moan that I felt more than heard. I traced my fingers through her hair, trailing my thumb along the side of her neck. She tipped her head, exposing that throbbing pulse to me, and I couldn’t help it.

I dove in, my lips against her skin, my tongue swiping out when, once again, I heard her moan. Her hands gripped the shirt at my back, tugging at me as if there was any way to get closer.

“Vinny.” Her voice was a breathy whisper. She shifted, turning away, and I felt the loss of her somewhere deep inside.

But a moment later, her lips crashed down on mine, and that hollow space in my chest was bubbling up, spilling over with whatever it was she was pouring into me. I gasped for breath and she followed suit. I traced my tongue along her top lip and she met me, tentative at first, then swiping into my mouth, her hands clamping down on each side of my face as she opened further, accepting me as I plunged my tongue into her mouth.

I held her to me, one arm tight around her waist, my free hand caressing her back all the way down to her ass. There was no way she didn’t feel me, hard and throbbing, as I pressed her into me. There was no way she couldn’t know what she was doing to me as she rubbed her slender body against my cock.

“Fuck, Jen.” I was there again, on the brink, the need to come so strong I could barely stand it. She whimpered against me. Gasped a quiet breath. Tipped her head back, letting me suck at her neck. She shuddered in my grip. Hugged me tight. Then lowered her forehead to my shoulder, hiding her face.

“What’s wrong,” I asked, pulling her chin up with my finger. Her entire face was flushed, dark eyes half-hidden under heavy lids.