Page 10 of Playing for Keeps

“You can’t keep letting her ruin your life.”

I snapped back, “I’m the one who ruined hers.”

His narrowed eyes softened slightly, a frown tugged at the hard set to his face. “You know that’s not true.”

I did know, but it didn’t wipe the years of negative thoughts from my mind. Didn’t keep the anxiety of watching one more person walk out of my life from crawling up my throat like acid, eating away at my soul.

“Your mother—”

“Don’t call her that.”

Will sighed, nudging my leg. “Veronica had her own issues, Vinny. It wasn’t you who caused her to leave. You were a baby. What kind of mother abandons her baby the day after he’s born?”

The kind who gives birth to me.

Letting out a breath, I tried to let go of the negative emotions. Tried to see that Jen wasn’t like my mother. She wasn’t going to walk out on me. She wasn’t going to disappear. I knew that. I just needed to convince the broken little boy inside of me that it was the truth.

“You love her.”

Will’s words drew my gaze away from the shops, away from my search for the girl with the radiant smile. He was smiling at me, and something about it calmed that ever-present anxiety in my chest. I returned his smile, giving a nod. “I think I do.”

You know you do.

“I think she loves you, too.”

No one will ever love me.

“Why?” I swallowed hard, then amended my question. “Why do you say that?”

“Because of the way she looks at you. The way she looked over her shoulder fifteen times as she and Geoffrey walked away.”

“She did?”

Something inside me soared, a bird with a broken wing struggling to get off the ground but desperately wanting to be in the sky.

Pathetic. Always seeking what you can’t have.

Will nudged me again, knocking that thought off the forefront of my mind, drawing me back to the world where the love of my life might actually love me too. His gaze was directed toward the shops. Locked on the bright, shining sun of Jen’s smile as she gripped her new hat to her head with one hand, holding an ice cream cone in the other.

That tug and pull was there, the humming in my veins ramping up as the girl drew nearer, turning to a feverish pitch until she was back in my arms.

“I brought you a treat,” she whispered against my lips, our chests pressed together as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Mmm, all I need is you,” I told her, squeezing her tight.

The pink on her face deepened, then spread down her neck as Geoffrey cooed, “Girl, show him what you got.”

Jen stepped back, head ducked, and passed her ice cream cone to me. I licked at the ribbon of caramel slicing through the frozen treat as she took the bag Geoffrey had been carrying. She opened it, and that color in her cheeks grew darker when she looked inside, then glanced over her shoulder before shoving the bag toward me.

“What is it?” We traded ice cream for plastic sack, but she stepped up close, stopping me from pulling out what was inside.

“It’s just some pajamas,” she murmured, voice low. “For later.”

“Honey, that’s not just some pajamas,” Geoffrey cried. “That’s a birthday, Christmas, and Valentine’s gift all wrapped up in one.”

“Oh, God.”

“Quit embarrassing her, Geoffrey,” Will said, a chuckle in his voice.