Page 56 of Play For Keeps

You would too Wills, if you knew how big he is.

“He’s just a really great guy, that’s all. And he’s great with Birdie too.”

“He’s met my Birdie-baby?”

“Yes.” I sigh. “I normally wouldn’t have introduced them so soon, but it wasn’t planned. Birdie and I kept running into him wherever we went, and she took a liking to him quick.”

“It sounds like it’s kismet,” Willa says. “Like it’s fate.”

I smile, and Willa squeals, then quickly turns serious again before asking, “Does Grant know?”

“No.”

Just the thought of Jake officially meeting Grant gives me a headache.

“Probably for the best,” she says, echoing my thoughts.

I sigh, feeling a little anxious, but then brush it off. I’m done letting Grant Billings ruin my happiness.

JAKE

It’s been one of those days. I got up early and drove around to different job sites, gave an estimate on a big project I’d like to land and then spent a few hours in my office catching up on paperwork. I have a stack of work to do, but I’m distracted. The fight I had with my sister has been weighing on me. I’m still avoiding Grayson and her like the plague. I’ve been avoiding the guys too, so I don’t have to see Gray. I’m still pissed as hell at them for lying to me—I feel like an idiot for being kept in the dark. I know the distance between us is killing Sierra, and it’s starting to eat at me too. I’ve lost so much in my life, I can’t stand the thought of losing my sister too, not to mention my best friend. Part of me gets why they didn’t want to tell me—they knew I’d blow a gasket, and that’s exactly what I did. I need time to work through it. It’s how I’m wired.

It’s no wonder I’m behind at work. The company is absolutely slammed—a good problem to have, but I need help at the office. I haven’t given up hope that Everly will change her mind about the job. I know she is the perfect person for it.

When she texted me earlier today asking if I was free for dinner and a movie at her house, I right away said yes. Until she told me dinner would be at five and the movie would start at six. There’s no way I’d be able to make it out of the office in time, so I had to opt for a rain check.

Now, I’m on my couch with a beer, exhausted and lonely, thinking about the two of them and everything I missed out on tonight. After flipping mindlessly through channels on TV for a while, I empty what’s left of my beer into the sink and head to my bedroom. I brush my teeth and then crawl into bed, easing back against the pillows to shoot Everly a good night text.

Jake: Sorry about tonight. I really wanted to hang with the two of you.

Everly: It’s okay. We can do it another time. Long day?

Jake: The longest. But I’m home now. I’m already in bed.

Everly. Me too.

She attaches a photo to the message. It’s a selfie of Everly in bed wearing a thin tank, her hair piled up on top of her head. She’s covered from the waist down with her bedspread. The same one I fucked her on two nights ago. I want nothing more than to be in that bed with her, naked, and fucking her so hard she can’t see straight.

A photo isn’t enough. I work up the courage to FaceTime her. My pulse drums in my veins as I wait for her to answer. She does, after two rings.

Fuck. Me.

She looks even hotter on my screen than she did in the picture. I’m not sure I will ever get over how beautiful she is.

“Hi, Jake.” She’s smiling, her head resting against the pillows she has propped up against her headboard.

“Hi.” I soak her in. Fuck, I miss her, and it’s barely been 36 hours. “I missed you today. Wanted to see your face before I fell asleep. I hope it’s okay.”

“It’s very okay,” she murmurs. She looks sated, a little sleepy but happy to see me. “I was just reading.”

“One of your spicy books?”

Her cheeks pinken, and she brings her free hand to her neck covering the blush that is rising there too. “Yes.”

“Were you reading a steamy scene when I texted you?” Just thinking about Everly in bed reading a smut scene in one of her romance books is enough to get me hard. I grip myself over my boxers to ease the ache.

“Maybe,” she admits in the sexiest tone. “What do you think?”

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