Page 81 of Play For Keeps

I’ve dreamt of this day for so long. I’ve imagined exactly how it would play out, down to the last detail. It always ended with me taking her back. Every single time.

My heart pounds. Jade and I both stand in my doorway, silent, staring at each other. It feels as though time has stopped.

She looks a little different than she did the last time I saw her. Her hair is a little shorter, and her skin is a little more tanned. But her ice-blue eyes are exactly as I remember them. Her pillowy pink lips. Long, dark eyelashes. The freckle under her left eye that for some reason, always captivated me. She’s as beautiful as she was the day she left me. That was two years and seven months ago. I think. I stopped counting.

“Hi, Jake. It’s been a while.” The moment I hear her voice, my pulse begins to race. I’ve dreamt of that voice. I’ve tried not to forget that voice. I open my mouth, but no words come.

I’m speechless. There was a time when I thought I would spend my life with this girl, and then she disappeared. Now here she is, standing in front of me with something that resembles hope in her eyes.

“I’m back.”

“I see that,” I manage to get out.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine.” I shrug, wishing I had time to prepare for this. “You should have called.”

“I should have done a lot of things differently,” she says, shifting her gaze to the ground. The familiar vanilla scent of her perfume hangs in the air.

“This isn’t a good time, Jade.”

She cocks her head slightly, looking over my shoulder. I turn to see Everly standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking from me to Jade and back again. She looks upset; angry, even. Is that how I looked when I saw Grant with Everly? I know that’s how I felt.

Before I can think of what to say, she beats me to it. “I… um… I’ll just be in your bedroom, Jake. I’m going to call Birdie.” Everly crosses the entry way, quickly disappearing down the hall.

Once Everly is gone, Jade stares at me for a long moment, eyes wide. It’s hard to believe that only four months ago I was counting the days she had been gone, keeping a mental tally. I’d have done anything to have her show up on my doorstep.

Looking at her now, I know without a doubt that I have finally moved on. I’m falling in love with Everly. Nothing about seeing Jade again—nothing she could possibly say— can change that.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“Yes.” I nod my head.

“And… it’s serious?” she asks quietly.

“Yeah, it is. She’s the one,” I say to the woman that I once loved, needing her to know that there is nothing left between us. Everly and I have enough problems to deal with without adding my ex-girlfriend to the mix. “Why are you here, Jade?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter now.” Her expression turns icy, and she squares her shoulders. “It’s good to see you again. You look good. I didn’t know you were seeing someone, otherwise I never would have come here. I hope you’re happy, Jake.”

Jade studies me for a minute, her expression uncertain. “I guess I’d better go.”

“Yeah, I guess you should. Bye, Jade,” I say, raising my hand to the door.

“Jake, wait.” She looks at me, taking a deep breath. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

“It’s fine. It’s forgotten. See you around, Jade.”

And with that she walks away, and I shut the door behind her.

I stand there for a moment, trying to process what just happened. Then I walk down the hall to my bedroom. I really need to talk to Everly.

EVERLY

I’m sitting on Jake’s bed with Birdie on Facetime when the door opens. Jake smiles when he sees me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He seems anxious and upset—his energy is palpable and makes my pulse race a little faster.

I wasn’t sure what to do when I saw Jade at the door. I knew immediately who it was. Should I have left, and let the two of them have time to talk? That would have meant walking right past her out the door, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Instead, I hid out in Jake’s bedroom, where I paced the floor, playing the moment over in my head. Jade is beautiful. She’s also a lot younger than me. And she’s the first girl he ever loved. How am I supposed to compete with that?

When my heart finally stopped beating a mile a minute, I pulled out my phone to call Birdie to say goodnight.

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