Play With Me (Playing for Keeps, #2)

by Becka Mack

“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.”

Besides, who needs a boyfriend when you’ve got a drawer full of battery-powered ones? Men don’t vibrate, but dildos do.

“Hey, ref! Might wanna check your voice mail! Looks like you missed a few calls!”

“Hey, ref!” Cara hollers. “Want a pregnancy test? ’Cause you’ve missed two fucking periods!”

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.

“You weren’t made to fit in, Jennie. You stand out way too much to hide in the shadows.”

“I’m so fucking tired of pretending.” “Pretending what?” It’s nothing but a breathy whisper as he prowls toward me, matching each of my steps backward. His strong hands cup my face, piercing gaze locked on mine as he looms above me. My heart slams in my chest as his thumb sweeps across my lower lip, and his eyes dip, watching as my lips part on a jagged inhale, before flipping back up to mine.

“I’m so fucking tired of pretending I’m not in love with you.”

But then nighttime comes along, the goodbye inevitable, and you wake up on Monday morning alone, ready to start another tedious week. You tuck your weekend away and become the person you don’t really want to be, pretending you aren’t managing to get by without the person who matters most, the one that makes everything easier, just waiting for the weekend all over again, when you can finally be together. I don’t want to wait anymore, and I’m tired of hiding.

Real love isn’t conditional. It’s seeing somebody for everything they are and accepting all of them.