Page 5 of Playing For Keeps
“You still love him,” he says after a few moments.
“No, I don’t,” I tell him, shaking my head. And yet, my fingers go to the pendant on my neck. The one Joseph gave me all those years ago. Being in love with him made me weak, and I don’t want to go back to that again. I deserve better than that.
“I’m still mad at all of you. You chose him over me. I know he was your friend, but what you all did was cruel,” I say angrily.
Thomas looks pained.
“What did you expect from us? The both of you were always arguing. You lashed out and turned Joseph into an entirely different person. He had just left the SEALs, he only had you. Then you turned your back on him.”
“No, he turned his back on me,” I tell Thomas coldly before leaving.
I need a glass of water. When I get to the kitchen, Joseph is there. I glare at him and he raises his eyebrows.
“What did I do now?” he asks, leaning against the fridge and sipping a drink.
He looks completely at ease. There’s sweat on his brow and he’s breathing heavily from his workout. And yet, he looks so handsome. I think back to the 24-year-old me. The one who fell so completely in love with Joseph. His light blue eyes, so clear they resemble the ocean, his curly brown hair, and his dimpled smile that could brighten any room. I gravitated towards him. How could I not? He’s the only man that has ever been able to handle me.
“Nothing,” I say angrily. I try to push him off the fridge so I can grab some water but he doesn’t budge. He’s 200 pounds of muscle. He gives me a smug smile and I glare harder.
“A normal person would say excuse me, Lena,” he says.
Lena. He’s the only person that calls me that. I hate that hearing him say Lena still makes my heart thud in my chest. I blow out a breath and push harder. I hate losing.
Joseph grabs my hand and flips us so I’m the one leaning against the fridge. He’s much taller than me. I’m a tall woman, almost 6 feet but Joseph is at least 6’4. He looks down at me, his calm blue eyes clashing with my stormy green ones. He really is the calm to my storm.
“You shouldn’t pick battles you can’t win, Lena. You hate losing.”
He knows me so well. Even better than I know myself. His gaze flickers to my lips for a moment.
Kiss me,I think. Then I force myself back to reality. I hate not learning from my mistakes. I apply force into my hands and push him away slightly. With a triumphant smile, I turn and open the fridge to grab the water. But, I make sure my ass digs into his crotch. I even wiggle it slightly.
When I turn around, he looks as still as a statue. His eyes are alight with desire. Good. He’s fucking with me, I might as well do the same back. I hate losing but when it comes to Joseph Kessler, I feel like I’m always losing.
Chapter 4
(Joseph)
______
If I had to use one word to describe Selena, I would say, fierce. She’s a woman with a lot of pent-up passion. We were dynamite in bed. I groan and close my eyes. I should not be thinking about her in bed right now. I try my best to fall asleep but these days, Lena has been plaguing my every thought. Sleeping is really hard. I wish she was in my arms right now.
I have no idea where we went wrong. I think maybe it was all too rushed. I met Selena when I was 30 years old. 1 year later I asked her to marry me. It all felt so right. Even though I was barely home because I was a Navy SEAL. She never complained. She saw me maybe once in 4 months and she seemed content with it. She told me she accepted my job. I had been in the military almost 10 years before I met her and she never stood in the way of my work. Until I left the military. I thought Selena would be ecstatic but then we started having problems. She started getting more irritated and angrier. She told me she wanted to be free and stupidly, I let her go. I really regret that. I should have fought harder. I should have never let her go.
“The both of you are exactly the same,” Thomas says, walking up to me.
Currently, I’m stalking Selena. She’s swimming in the outdoor pool behind the house and I’m watching her like a creep.
“What?” I ask, still not taking my eyes off the beautiful woman. She’s in a one-piece swimsuit that leaves nothing to the imagination. I would be pissed the other men are seeing her like this, except I know they would never think of her like that. Selena is basically their sister-in-law, or at least she was.
“She was watching you too, yesterday,” Thomas says bringing me back to the present.
“She was?” I ask, surprised.
“Yeah. There are too many unresolved feelings between you two. And it’s pretty obvious you still care about her.”
I swallow and confess to my friend.
“I still love her.”
