Page 61 of Playing for Keeps

The necklace I’d bought her when I took her to the Bahamas. Vivian told me she never took it off.

My lips twitched and I dragged my eyes back to hers. Extending my hand, I begged, “Dance with me?”

As she’d done when we first met, she gifted me with a gorgeous smile before sliding her fingers into my hand. I pulled her along beside me, pulled her away from the people who cared for her, who might overhear, who might keep her from saying things I needed to hear. Then I pulled her to me, the girl wrapping her arms around my neck as I held her waist like I’d dreamed a thousand times.

Stars shone in her eyes, nestled in a bed of dark clouds. I tightened my grip on her, and my girl, she did the same. Hugging me close. Breasts pillowed against my chest. Head on my shoulder as a sigh escaped from her lips.

“Vinny.” There was so much emotion wrapped up in that single word. I hugged her back and whispered her name back to her.

“Jen.” My lips ghosted the skin of her cheek and a shiver traveled down her back. “I’ve missed you.”

She pulled away, and I felt the loss of her like a part of me had been cut out of my body. But she didn’t go far. She turned her watery eyes toward me, her hand feathering along my jaw before she cupped my cheek. “I’ve missed you, too.”

The lights flashing gently over the dance floor settled like kisses on her skin. I wanted it to be my lips, not the lights. I wanted to taste her skin, to remind her what it felt like to be in love.

“I’ve been needing to talk to you,” Jen murmured as she dragged her gaze down to my lips, then ducked her head as if she were embarrassed. “Things have gotten in my way. I wasn’t sure how to approach you. Whether you’d want me to.”

“Jen.” My hand left her back, curling around the back of her neck and tangling in her hair. “I’ve never stopped.”

A grimace slashed across her face, causing my heart to clench. I didn’t want her to be in pain. I didn’t want her to question the love I felt for her. I wanted her to know she was always in my heart.

“I was so horrible to you.” She started to back away, but I pulled her closer, refusing to let her go. “I didn’t realize how bad I was. How much I hurt you. And I’m sorry, Vinny. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh.” I pressed my finger to her lips, trying to stop her words, to stop the pain that bled out in her tone. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not.” Jen dropped her hand from my cheek, throwing her arms back around my neck as she buried her face against my chest. Her body shook against me, and I rocked her, swaying in time with the music, trying to soothe away the anguish that lived in her eyes and sad tone.

“I don’t blame you,” I murmured in her ear. “I can’t blame you for what you did. I know I was intense. I was too much. I know you love your brother and that he should come first. But I’ve never felt anything like this before. From the moment I first saw you, that was it. I was done for. Head over heels, I couldn’t see anyone else but you. You make me crazy.”

A strangled cry escaped from her throat, and she shook her head, this frantic look in her eye. “I can’t keep doing this—”

“Please,” I begged of her, clutching her to me, not ready to let her go. “Tell me you don’t still feel something, Jen. Tell me there’s nothing there, and I’ll leave you alone.”

“I can’t,” she cried, hand trembling at her lips. Her fingers shook as she reached for me, cupping my cheek. “I never stopped loving you.”

My heart leaped, jumping around in my chest as if trying to get out. I pulled her closer, needing her body against mine. She struggled against my tight grip, pushing forward on her toes until her lips met mine.

I melted into her as my lips melded into hers, the warmth of her mouth spreading through me, heating me inch by inch, making everything inside of me stir with love and hope and lust. She was perfect. In my arms, against my chest, in my heart.

“I love you,” I whispered against her lips, and her answer was another hard kiss. Her tongue swept out this time, drawing a line across my bottom lip, slipping into my open mouth, urging my tongue into a familiar dance.

“Vinny,” she whimpered, the sound one I’d longed to hear for over a year. “I love you so much.”

“Come home with me,” I pleaded in her ear as I held her close.

And she nodded, lifting up on her toes, wrapping her arms so tight around my neck. “We need to talk,” she whispered, this strangled cry, draping me with uneasiness that choked my throat.

It took much too long to get out of the reception hall, to separately say goodbyes to Corey and Frankie and grab our coats. An ache filled me every second I was away from her, but we’d both agreed this was best.

As I waited for Jen near the door, my eyes on her brown locks as she hugged her mom and dad, something nudged against my shoulder.

“You two back together?” Vivian asked, her gaze drifting over the heads of the crowd. My sister had her arms wrapped around herself, tighter than needed to fight off the cold trickling in from the door to the outside.

“I don’t know.” I swallowed hard, because what Jen said was right. We needed to talk, and I feared what I had to tell her would do more than just scare her away. “I’ve done some things, Viv.”

She turned her gaze to me, then loosened her grip on her arms to wrap them around me. “We’ve all done things. Sometimes you have to do them to help the ones you love.”

Before I could ask her what she meant, I caught Jen coming our way. “I have to go.”