Page 90 of Play to Win

Oh, for Chrissakes.She’s not going to stop.I need to deal with this.I’m just going to be blunt and to hell with it.

Please stop texting me.We’re over.I’m married.You’re with JP.

JP and I are done.

What the fuck?

I thunk my head back against the headrest.

Cheating on me with JP was unforgivable, and I’ve also come to realize that I was more hurt by JP’s betrayal than by hers, but now I’m actually pissed off that she’s doing the same thing to him.Only this time it appears she actually had the ovaries to tell him they were done before moving on to another guy, unlike with me.

I’m sorry to hear that.But the fact remains ...you and I are done.I’m married.Bye, Emma.

I tap a couple of buttons on the messaging app to block her number from being able to get through to me.There.That takes care of that.

I sure hope JP isn’t crazy in love with her.But at least the awkwardness of family gatherings will be no more with Emma out of the picture.

Ha!Who am I kidding?Emma was the least of the reasons for family awkwardness!

I go pick up the pizza and booze.But when I get home and walk in the door, I’m greeted with loud music and laughter.I stand still for a moment, my hands full.What the hell is going on?

I set the food and beverages down, noting a bunch of empties already on the counter, and follow the noise to the patio.There’s a fuckin’ party going on out there, with a whole bunch of people.

I survey the group—Lacey.Taylor.Everly?For fuck’s sake.Also Manny and Wyatt Bell, who’s apparently back in town, and another guy I don’t know.

“Hey!You’re home!”Lacey jumps up to greet me with a smile as big and sunny as California, coming at me for a hug.I set my hands on her hips and murmur in her ear, “What’s going on?”

“Oh!I invited Everly over for a drink, and Taylor was walking on the beach so I asked her too, and then the guys heard us out here so they invited themselves over, but it was okay because they brought beer.”She laughs.

She invited Everly for a drink.Doesn’t she know Everly is from the enemy side of the family?Although, I’m working for the enemy side of the family.

I glance over at my aunt, who’s talking to Wyatt and wearing a look on her face as if she’d rather be eating cockroaches.I shake my head.

“Grab a beer, dude!”Manny calls to me.“In the kitchen.”

“Yeah, okay.”I turn back to the kitchen, Lacey following me.

“Oh, you brought pizza!”

“That was the plan.Although I didn’t bring enough for a party.”I thought it was going to be just the two of us.

“We can order more, no problem.”She grabs a bottle of wine out of the fridge and refills her glass.“What kind of beer do you want?”

I sigh.“A cold one.”

With a laugh, she hands me one from the fridge.

“I’ll go change.”I sure don’t fit in, in my tailored dress pants and shirt, when everyone else is wearing shorts and T-shirts.

She gives me a cheerful smooch on the mouth and carries her glass and the bottle out to the patio.

I stand there for a minute.Weirdly, I’m disappointed that it won’t be just the two of us.I’m also disgruntled.I hate last minute changes to my plans.I know this about myself, but it still bugs me.Lacey looked so happy—like she was having fun.She’s young and vibrant and sociable—I’m a boring number cruncher who plans his spontaneity.

I also remember that her life hasn’t been a lot of fun lately, after caring for her mother, being the grown-up for her piece of shit brother, working multiple jobs to pay the bills and bail him out.She deserves a little fun in her life.

So I swallow my aggravation as I trudge upstairs to change.

A Friday night with pizza, Netflix, and ...okay, yeah, sex, sounded good to me.But maybe I need to make other plans with Lacey.Maybe she’d like to go out to a club or a concert.Even a movie or a nice restaurant for dinner.Like ...a date.We kind of skipped over that part.

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