Page 47 of Playing for Keeps

She grabbed Mitch’s arm as she passed him on the way into the condo, and he went willingly at her side, letting himself be dragged into the living room.

The whole time, glancing at me over his shoulder.

“Vinny!” Frankie rushed over, only pausing long enough to excuse herself from the conversation she’d been in. Her arms wrapped around me, then her hands gripped my shoulders as she kissed the air next to each of my cheeks. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

Huffing out a quiet breath, I forced an awkward smile. “How’s it going, cuz?”

Frankie gripped my arm, fingers tight as if worried I’d get away. “I’m good. It’s been so long. I wasn’t sure if you’d show up.”

With a shrug, I looked away. Mitch stepped up to my side and I wanted to hug the man as he handed me a tumbler of whiskey.

“I never see you anymore,” Frankie continued, ignoring the fact that I hadn’t said a word. Ignoring that she’d been gone just as much as me. “It seems you’re always jet setting around the world.”

“I have been busy,” I offered.

“You find a new girl?” she asked, leaning in, voice quiet as if the whole thing was a secret we didn’t want anyone else to hear.

A laugh billowed up from deep in my chest, rising from the ache that grew stronger with every second I was there. “Something like that.”

“Well, don’t be a stranger. Come on in and chat. Dinner will be early tonight. I’ve got a meeting with Lee at eight.”

Two and a half hours. I didn’t have to look at a clock to see the seconds counting down. I could feel it. Feel it in every inch of my soul, the burden heavy on my shoulders, weighing me down.

Frankie made her way back to the small group where she’d been before I came in, standing next to my father and jumping right back in the conversation. I took a sip of my drink, intending to head in the opposite direction, but Mitch’s arm dropped around my shoulders and he pulled me away.

“You take lessons on running away from your sister?”

Tension gathered in my shoulders, and I glanced to the couch where Vivian sat with some of her friends. As if my sister could help save me from this discussion.

“I learned from the best,” I told him, giving a tight smile.

Mitch frowned. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. “You sure you’re okay?”

Who needed a twin connection when you were friends with a man like Mitch?

“I’m fine,” I lied, though I knew he could see through me. Knew he’d seen through me from the day Jen broke my heart.

“This about her?”

He didn’t even say her name and I flinched. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “Not really. It’s business. I’ve been busy. Got a lot on my plate. It’s just getting to me.”

With a nod, he glanced around the room. When he returned his gaze to me, I wanted to run away.

“Your sister’s worried about you.”

“She doesn’t need to be.”

“But she is. She sees you getting worn down, Vin. She sees you ignoring your family and running away. And she sees herself in you. She’s worried you’ll end up where she was a few months ago.”

My head shook and I raised my tumbler to my lips without taking a sip. “This isn’t the same,” I promised. “I’ve got friends I check in with every day. I’ve got business associates who rely on me to be available. I’m not her, Mitch. I’m not pushing the world away and running away from everyone. Just because I’m avoiding her—”

A slow smile spread across his lips and I tipped my head back, staring up at the ceiling. “You’re avoiding her still.”

Of course, I was. I was avoiding Jen. I was avoiding Frankie. I was avoiding any thought or conversation that might end with me doing what I’d done the last time Frankie and I met for drinks. When my cousin’s reminder that Jen had moved on had led to me fucking Carina’s mouth, and each subsequent hint at that same train of thought had me considering doing it again.

Considering putting my dick somewhere other than her mouth.

Fuck.