Play Along (Windy City, #4)

by Liz Tomforde

“Such a good girl for me,” I whisper against her neck, decorating the slope of her shoulder with kisses. “Are you going to be a good boy for me?” I chuckle, remembering that day at the field when I told her she could call me a good boy while she straddled me naked. “You let me inside of you and I’ll be such a good boy for you, baby.”

“I’m on,” she exhales heavily, “birth control. I should’ve told you that. And I haven’t been with anyone since⁠—” “Say another man’s name right now,” I cut her off. “I fucking dare you.” She smirks, pressing her mouth back to mine. “Possessive.” “You thought I was possessive before we fucked? I feel fucking unhinged now.” All sorts of possessive thoughts run through my mind. How I want to mark her. Keep her. Fuck her until she forgets about the idea of ever leaving me.

I know this house. I came here last year on a random summer night when I got drunk with Miller, Indy, Rio, and a sober Stevie. Miller was just realizing she wanted to be with Kai more than she wanted to be on the road. Stevie was pregnant then, and Indy wasn’t quite yet.

And I… Well, I was still stewing over the whole Connor thing and entirely annoyed that when I got back to Kai’s house that night, his brother was sitting on the couch. Little did I know, less than a year later, I’d be this fucking gone for the guy.

“I’ve been enjoying doing things that make me feel good.” “Does that mean you’ve been enjoying doing me?” “Very much so.”

That right there is another first. Having someone across the room looking for me, checking on me. It seems like such a simple act, but it’s something I’ve always wished for and didn’t think I’d have.

While she’s figuring out a timeline to move out of her apartment and catch a flight to the West Coast, I’m glued in my spot waiting for her to come back and tell me it’s over.

Kennedy stands there in the doorway, only looking at me when she says, “I didn’t get the job.”

She didn’t get the job. In what fucking world did she not get the job? It’s the only question I’ve been able to ask myself over the last twenty-four hours.

“Pretty,” he hums his approval, and just as I think he’s going to slip that finger into his own mouth, he instead presses it to the seam of mine. “Open.” I do.

“You need to taste this for yourself, maybe then you’ll understand why I’m so far gone. You taste like fucking heaven.”

She’s happy now, I try to remind myself. Sure, she didn’t get the job she dreamed of. Didn’t get the fresh start she wanted. Didn’t get to try her hand at dating. But she has me, and she seems happy. Right?

His words hit me square in the chest. I did that. I trapped her in a relationship she didn’t want. I wouldn’t give her the annulment she wanted. I came up with the scheme to save her job. And for what? She didn’t get her dream job and now she’s stuck working for that piece-of-shit doctor again.

“I don’t know about that.” My tone holds no inflection, my eyes fixated on the floor. I’m standing here like a zombie as too many realities I didn’t want to see are sinking in. “Maybe she just doesn’t have another option.”

“What are you talking about? She turned down that job offer in San Francisco to be with you. She had another option, and she didn’t want to take it.” My attention comes back to life. “What are you talking about?”

I’m always worried people won’t stick around once they see the real me. How many times did I tell her that? She’s trying to stay for me.

But I didn’t need to go to a new city to find what I’ve been looking for because all these years, it had been right in front of me.

Isaiah loves me. So much so that if I would’ve told him that I got the job and turned it down, he wouldn’t have let me stay. So, I didn’t give him that option.

“You’ve never gotten a say in your own life, and the last thing I’m going to do is take that away from you again. Every option is yours, Kenny. Whatever you want to do, I will be your biggest supporter.

There’s a heavy silence before Kai speaks up again. “Mom would be proud of you.” I nod quickly, clearing my throat to unclog the emotion stuck there. “And I am too.”

Yes, I want her to have a choice, but that doesn’t mean I’m not entirely desperate for her to choose me.

Yes, I lost my mom on this date, but she spent the last twenty years sending her sons the greatest gifts in her absence, and it’s become impossible to think of this day with anything other than overwhelming gratitude and love.

His smile goes wide. “Grandma Mae.” The room goes silent. We’ve been teaching Max about our mom for a couple of years now, so it’s not shocking to hear him say her name, but today, on the day she passed, on the day he was born, on the day I get to marry the love of my life, it feels important to say her name out loud. “Yeah,” I exhale. “She would’ve loved to be here.” Kai puts a hand on my shoulder. “She is here.”

There was once a time Kennedy questioned what it felt like to be missed, but she’ll never have to wonder now. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. If she goes into another room, I miss her. If she leaves for work before me, I miss her. And I’m sure to tell her each and every time.

Kennedy gave me that gift, to accurately know what this ring looked like on my two favorite women.