Playing His Game (The Reynolds Brothers) by Justine Elvira Page A

turned on and soon I was enjoying
everything Tawny was doing to me. It was a fun night, but it won't ever happen
again."
    "Keep
going," Scott says almost immediately.
    "So after our
sex marathon I passed out and when I woke up it was just you and me. I don't do
sleepovers, not ever, so I moved to the couch. When I woke up the next morning
the shame of what we did took over and I knew I had to leave. I couldn't chance
anyone finding out about us.
    "Part of me
hoped you would have called, but you didn't. You just sent me one lousy text
message that made even more doubting questions arise for me. I wanted you,
Scott, and I got you, but I got Tawny, too, which means Tawny got you. Even if
it's completely irrational to feel this way, it still pissed me off and hurt
me. Even as a child, I never played well with others when it came to what was mine."
    "And I'm
yours?" Scott's always got a quick and clever reply.
    "No, but you
were supposed to be mine that night."
    I stop talking and
wait for him to fill the silence. The pounding inside my head is starting up
again so I'll need to take some pain reliever as soon as I get off the phone
with him.
    "It was a
night of bad mistakes, Winnie, and I'm sorry. It was fun but I promise I'll
never do anything like that again. That's kind of why I'm calling. I want to
make it up to you. There's this real estate convention down in Chicago this
coming weekend and I want you to come with me. I want to take you out."
    "Like what?
On a date?"
    He coughs to clear
his voice before speaking, "No, not a date. Just two friends hanging out
while one tries to make things right."
    "I can't go
to Chicago," I answer truthfully. "I have to work this weekend."
    "Get someone
to cover for you, or call in sick. Don't make excuses, Winnie. Let me make up
for the last time I saw you."
    "I don't
know..."
    "Don't you
want your panties back?"
    What?
    "Excuse me?”
I ask, slightly confused.
    "Your
panties. The ones you left behind when you dashed out of the room in the middle
of the night. I have them and you'll only get them back if I see you in
Chicago."
    "Are you
trying to blackmail me with my own underwear?"
    "Yes. Is it
working?"
    I huff and try to
gather my thoughts. "I'll see what I can do. I'll call you if I can get
someone to cover for me. I've got to go now, Scott."
    "Alright.
Don't forget to call me and let me know."
    "I know. Bye,
Scott."
    "Bye, beauty."
    Did he just call
me beauty?
    The line goes dead
and I toss my phone onto my bed, gripping my head from the headache that is now
back at its full intensity. I down two more aspirin and another bottle of water
before falling onto my bed face first.
    I need sleep
before I can even consider going to Chicago for the weekend. It's only a two
and a half hour drive. I can even be lazy and take the ferry, but is this a
friendship I want to rectify? Should we forget it ever happened and just
exchange awkward greetings when we're forced to be in the same place together
in the future?
    My phone vibrates,
indicating I've received a text so I grab my phone to read it.
     
    Scott: Please
consider coming. It won't be fun without you.
     
    Fuck my life. How
can I say no to him?

    Chapter Six
     
    June is the
perfect time to be in Chicago. The weather is warm, the sun is shining and
there is an abundance of activities to do.
    Too bad I'm not in
Chicago.
    When I texted
Scott this morning for the address of the hotel so I could plug it into my GPS,
he gave me a Rosemont, Illinois address. Apparently, his real estate convention
is at a convention center there. After arguing with him through text about how
Rosemont is not Chicago and downtown Chicago is at least thirty minutes from
there, he promised to still take me downtown. That made everything better.
    I pull up to the
hotel, parking off to the side and flipping the overhead mirror down to check
my makeup and reapply my lip-gloss. I'm trying to be pretty low maintenance for
this weekend. Just my duffle bag filled with my