Play With Me (Playing for Keeps, #2)

by Becka Mack

Poor guy hasn’t figured out that I’m caviar; he can’t afford me no matter how hard he tries.

One of my character flaws is agreeing to plans in advance. By the time they come, I’d much rather take my bra off and not have to put it back on.

“I just wanna love you out loud. Why won’t you let me love you out loud?”

“Living without your soul mate is something no one should ever have to do,” Hank murmurs. He pats my hand. “I know there’s something extra special waiting for you, Jennie. A love above all the rest. That’s what a soul mate is. Someone with smooth edges to soften our sharp ones. Someone who fits us so perfectly, vibrates on the same frequency, makes all our best parts shine. And together? Together, everything is exactly the way it’s meant to be.”

I changed my mind. I want her, and I’m gonna have her. Carter walks away, leaving his sister glaring at me, and when she flips me the double bird, I know that only God can help me now. Fuck me, I’m going for it anyway.

“That’s you, sunshine. You’re my favorite dessert.” With my hand on her throat, I haul her into me. Breathless, she clings to me as I whisper my next words. “C’mon, Jennie. Play with me.”

All I know is this right here—my face buried in his chest, his arms wound around me, his soothing voice in my ear telling me everything will be okay—feels like exactly where I’m meant to be. Garrett’s my solid and my steady. He’s the constant in my life, the smile always waiting for me, the friendship that never wanes, the connection that grows stronger each day. He’s the warm arms that hug me, the fingers that drift down my back, the quiet voice that eases my worries at the end of the day and promises to be my safe place to land.

“You like pissing me off.” “Don’t be ridiculous, Garrett. I love it.”

“You are a goddamn masterpiece.”

She’s stunning, a beautiful soul, my best friend even though I wasn’t looking. And as we sway together, the music telling us how quickly we’re falling, how hard, the future that could lie before us if we let it, I realize how difficult the words on the tip of my tongue are becoming to swallow down.

Because with him, I’m safe. Safe to be myself, safe to feel, safe to want, safe to be. If this is love, I’m in it.

Only she did. She’s mine, and I’m hers. I think that’s the way it was always meant to be.

I’m not going to let her be just my Sunday night anymore. I want her to be my sleepy Monday morning, my thank-fuck-it’s-Friday, my stay-in-bed Saturday, and all the other days too. I’m not going to force myself to live without the brightest spot in my world.

Real love isn’t conditional. It’s seeing somebody for everything they are and accepting all of them. It’s knowing you’re friends first and lovers second, understanding that arguments are opportunities to know each other deeper. It’s dinner waiting in the microwave, lights left on to welcome you home safely. It’s showering together so you can kiss a little longer. It’s two a.m. secrets spilled while you’re wrapped up in each other, dancing in the kitchen, Disney movies on the couch while crying your heart out. It’s supporting dreams, growing together, and growing separately. Because when you can stand strong on your own, you can stand strong together.

“Every bit of you fits every piece of me, and that’s how I know. We bring out the parts of each other we’ve spent so much of our lives being too scared to show. You’re my best friend, and we found everything we needed when we found each other. Falling in love with you is like checking the very last thing off my bucket list.”