Playing for Keeps: A Scorching Hot Romance (Game Changers Book 2)

by A. C. Arthur

  “Come on in,” he replied and pushed the door open wider, standing with his back against it so she could step inside.

  It had snowed again last night leaving a couple feet on the ground and frigid temperatures in the air, so she wasn’t about to make any foolish statements like, “No, I’ll wait out here.” She did, however, make a concerted effort to not touch him as she stepped into the bar. She also held her breath because her body wasn’t doing so good not reacting to the scent of his cologne, that tugging in her chest she’d started feeling whenever he was near had returned with full force.

  That sensation slipped her mind when she noticed the bar was completely empty and dark, but for the candles illuminating one of the tables closest to the wall. Music played lightly, an instrumental version of an R&B song she knew but couldn’t name at the moment. She spun around when she heard the door close. “What’s going on? Where’s Camy?”

  “She’s home,” Del said stepping out of the shadows of the doorway into the glow of light afforded by the candles. “She said to tell you she’s really sorry, but it was for a good cause.”

  His tone was light, but her heart was beating frantically. “What was for a good cause? Lying to me?”

  The moment she said those words, Rylan glanced at the candles again and then back to Del. She was gonna strangle Camy. The moment she left here she was going to her house and banging on the door until either she opened it, or all the neighbors woke up ready to curse her out for the disturbance.

  “It’s too late for games,” she said and started back toward the door.

  Del reached out, grasping her arm to stop her. “Wait. Please,” he said softly.

  She didn’t look over at him, but she didn’t keep walking either. “I’m not somebody you and your sister can toy with. I was in bed asleep thinking I was coming to help a friend.”

  “You came to see a friend,” he said. “At least I hope we’re still friends.”

  Rylan did turn her head to stare at him then. “Oh come on, Del. Tell me you didn’t call me here in the middle of the night to give me the “let’s be friends” speech.”

  He let his hand fall from her arm, probably assured that she wasn’t going to run out at this moment since she’d stopped to talk to him again. “No, Rylan. I wanna be so much more than just friends with you.”

  She opened her mouth to say something and he held up a hand to stop her. “But I’m not pressing that issue right now. Tonight, I just wanted to talk to you. To clear the air.”

  Inhaling deeply wasn’t meant as any kind of play on his words, she just needed to take a breath, to reinforce the vow she’d made to herself to get on with her life without him.

  “Look, I know everything that happened and I know that you were upset that day. If I were in your shoes I would’ve been upset too.” She wouldn’t have gone to his house blaming him for her troubles though. “So, there’s no need for us to discuss it any further.”

  “You’re wrong,” he said with a shake of his head. “I owe you so much more than a discussion.”

  “You don’t owe me anything. We’re adults, we decided to do a thing for a while and now it’s done.” She did take a step to get away from him at that point because try as she had over the past days, she hadn’t yet mastered convincing herself that what they’d had was over.

  “Please don’t go.” He didn’t touch her this time, just stated that simple plea. “You don’t have to talk. But I’m asking you to stay and listen.”

  Rylan knew she should keep walking. “You’re asking me to stand here and listen when all I wanted from you that day was for you to stop accusing me and my father of trying to hurt you but you refused to do that.”

  “I was an idiot. I was angry and hurt and I know those aren’t excuses. They’re just the truth. And despite what I may or may not have done in my past, Rylan, you know I’ve never lied to you.”

  He hadn’t. Not even when one of the guys on the football team had called her flat-chested when she’d come to one of their games. Del had jacked the guy up by the collar of his shirt and made him apologize to her, but after the guy had run off she’d asked him if he’d thought she was flat-chested and Del, with his cute half-smile had replied, “Yeah, you kinda are, but you can run laps around that jerk on the track.”. She’d agreed with him that day and he’d walked her home, cracking jokes and making her laugh all the way. Pain seared through her chest at the memory.

  “I was wrong and I’m sorry. I should’ve known better. I should’ve been calmer.”

  She spun around again. “You should’ve trusted me.”

  He nodded. “You’re right, I should’ve.”

  “Why didn’t you? Because I’ve never lied to you either, Del.”

  “I’m not used to trusting people,” he replied. “When I was a kid, I trusted that my parents would always be together and they’d always be there for me, but that didn’t happen. My dad died and then my mom was gone. I trusted the counselors at school who said to be honest and things would be alright, so I convinced Lance that we should admit to trashing those bathrooms. And we got thrown into Grace House. Then I trusted that we were all equal and had the same rights as every other kid in this town, but then Mal came onto the basketball court that day and talked all that trash before calling my mother names.” He stopped, scrubbed his hands over his face and stared at her. “Yeah, I broke his nose, but he deserved that and so much more. They gave me more time at the House and that’s when I realized I couldn’t trust anybody. Not outside of my brothers and Camy.”

  “That’s a horrible way to live,” she told him while her heart broke for the boy who’d felt so desolate and afraid that he’d make that type of resolution.

  “Was it really? Because the minute I let my guard down again, Shannen jumped in, doing her dance about selling drugs to help her grandmother and using me to save her from Renaldo. That night of the raid I realized she’d been playing us both, sleeping with me and giving me tidbits of information on Renaldo’s operation, and still sleeping with him too, taking his money and finally tipping him off about the planned raid.

  “That’s how he got to her. Since she wasn’t only still dealing for him, but sleeping with him too, all he’d had to do was text her and she went running. He slit her throat and stuffed my business card in her hand to let everybody know he knew she was an informant. Then he came to the club and shot up the place just as our officers were going in.”

  In those moments Rylan was filled with a deep sorrow and simmering rage, all swirling around her as she stared at this man she’d thought she knew so well. In the end, she hadn’t known this side of Del at all. It occurred to her in those moments that while she remembered everything there was to know about the boy, the man was a totally different person.

  “I don’t know what to say now,” she admitted.

  He shook his head. “I told you, you didn’t have to say anything.” He walked away then, moving behind the bar to pick up a bottle and carry it to the table where the candles were lit.

  There was no other request from him, so the decision was totally hers. Rylan unzipped and removed her coat. She smoothed down the wrinkled t-shirt and jeans she’d hastily slipped on and walked to the table, taking the seat across from him. He removed the top from the bottle and poured Hennessey in two glasses.

  “I figured we might need more than your spiked hot chocolate tonight.”

  She didn’t argue with him but picked up the glass he’d set in front of her right after he picked up his. “You figured right.”

  They sat like that for who knew how long, sipping from their glasses and looking at each other.

  “I love you,” he said after a while. “I think I knew it that morning when the sheriff told me your father was the one who pointed him in my direction.”

  Her heart did a stop-thud-stop-thud motion with his admission. “You had a very distressing way of showing that when you arrived at the shop.”

  He took another drink from his glass and nod
ded. “You’re right. I had two gut punches delivered simultaneously. But you’re right, I fucked up.”

  Was this the point where she told him she loved him too? Still. Because she’d really been trying to convince herself in this past week to toss that feeling out the door, unfortunately, it hadn’t listened.

  “I’m sorry for speaking to you the way I did and for not trusting you. But mostly I’m sorry for not believing in us, in what we had together. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before that moment.”

  “Because you couldn’t trust that you deserved something so good,” she said. “Truth be told, I didn’t trust it either. If I had I would’ve left the shop and come pounding on your door to tell you how much of an ass you were being. But I didn’t.” She shrugged. “I just walked away.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “I did my part and you did yours,” she said easily.

  “Man, you’re making this apology really hard with all this understanding. I was prepared to listen to you cursing me out.”

  She grinned. “Yeah, that’s why you were adamant that I didn’t have to say anything.”

  He tossed his head back and laughed.

  “But seriously, I don’t want to argue with you, Del. I meant what I said about us being adults. We both did what we did because we wanted to, I can own up to that. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this, but it did.”

  “I didn’t expect to fall in love with you,” he told her.

  She lifted her glass to her lips, took another sip and put it down. Then she waited a beat before saying, “I didn’t expect to fall in love with you either.

  New Year’s Day

  Del: Tell me what you like.

  Rylan: I like hot chocolate and morning wake-up kisses.

  Del: I miss the spiked hot chocolate.

  Rylan: You know where to find it.

  Del: So it’s still there for me?

  Rylan: If the morning wake-up kisses are still there for me.

  Del had been walking while he texted. A dangerous stunt considering this place was packed with guests of Ethan and Portia’s wedding reception. They’d spent the morning at the Pleasant Rose Baptist Church watching as two people who hadn’t planned on love but were smart enough not to let it get away, committed the rest of their lives to each other.

  Del had always been the captain of the brothers. Yet today, Ethan had been their leader. He’d shown each of them that there was hope for a happy ever after if they just had the guts to reach for it. If there were ever a point in his life that Del had to gather up the courage to do something, this was it. He wasn’t certain of the outcome, nor was he considering all the ways this could possibly blow up in his face. All he knew was that he’d been miserable all those days without Rylan and in the past four days since they’d been talking again, he’d known he didn’t want to go through that trauma again.

  He came to a stop behind where Rylan stood near the window by the back door. He’d seen her there as he’d walked down the stairs from the Skybox and had immediately taken out his phone to communicate with her—the same way he’d looked forward to chatting with her every night in the beginning, and the way they’d been doing this last few days since that night at the bar

  “I’m still here for you, Rylan,” Del said when he was close enough to her that he could smell the soft floral scent of her perfume.

  She turned slowly and Del once again admired her in the short black dress that matched the other bridesmaids that had walked down the aisle this morning. He loved the way the top of the dress crisscrossed over her shoulder and hugged her breasts and torso, flared out at the waist and stopped just above her knees. The design left her long legs bare, the high-heeled shoes she wore giving him too many ideas of how he’d like to see her walking toward him wearing nothing else. But more than how sexy the dress made Rylan look, Del was also amazed by the light in her eyes as she’d smiled when she’d stood at the altar and the confidence that radiated from her.

  Rylan wasn’t like most women, because she was her own woman. She had her own mind and opinions and never failed to express them. So, if a man messed up with her, it was likely because he hadn’t been paying attention. Del could admit that he’d been that guy.

  “Are you sure about that?” she asked, clutching her phone in her hand.

  “I’m sure about wanting, no needing you, more than I’ve ever needed anything else in my life,” he admitted.

  Del closed the small space between them. He reached out to take her free hand in his. He’d missed this simple contact. The warmth and comfort that had only come when he was with her. It moved through his body stilling the nervousness that he’d been trying valiantly to hide when he’d decided to approach her.

  Music had started to play, the easy melody of a slow song. Anthony Hamilton, no, classic Luther and Del slipped his hands around her waist. It was the first time he’d touched her since their late-night conversation at the bar.

  All they’d done that night was talk, until the sun had come up and they were both stunned that they were still sitting there. In the days that followed last minute preparations for the wedding had taken precedence and things had picked up again at the bar, so they’d been reduced to just texting. It seemed fitting that they’d get back to where they’d started, having conversations about each other’s day but also delving deeper into what they each wanted out of life and out of a relationship.

  She’d told him she wanted to find forever with someone and he’d confessed to never having that dream. But today as they’d all stood at the altar watching Ethan and Portia commit to each other, Del had begun to think differently.

  “I like dancing with you,” he spoke when their bodies were close and his lips were near her ear.

  “You hate dancing,” she replied as they swayed to the music.

  “That’s why I said I like dancing with you. And only you.”

  She pulled back enough so that she could look up into his face. “I like dancing with you too.”

  He was about to say something else, to tell her he’d missed holding and feeling her, but a loud round of applause stopped him. They both looked around at the sound only to find that the brothers, Camy and Portia included were all clapping for them. Other guests probably weren’t sure what was going on, but they began clapping too and when Lance lifted his glass of champagne in salute to them, Del resisted the urge to give his smirking brother the finger. Damn he loved that guy, he loved all of them and prayed they’d all continue to grow in love and success.

  “Seems like we’re stealing the show,” she said keeping her smile in place.

  But Del knew she was uncomfortable being in the spotlight. That was Naomi and Camy’s thing, Rylan was content to stay in her own quiet lane while reaching every one of her goals and he loved that about her.

  “Yeah, let’s not give them anymore free entertainment. I’ll go my way and you’ll go yours.” He stated before dipping his head quickly to drop a kiss on her very tempting lips, a total contradiction to his claim about free entertainment. “When this is over, we’ll meet up again at my place.”

  She surprised him by taking another kiss, letting her lips linger over his longer this time. “We’ll meet at my place,” she whispered.

  Del frowned. “Your bed’s too small.”

  She nipped his bottom lip. “Who said we’d be using the bed?” With a playful wink she eased out of his arms and he watched her walk across the room with a sway to her ass and his heart in the palm of her hand.

  Rylan’s Hot Chocolate

  INGREDIENTS

  3 cups milk

  1 cup heavy cream

  ½ cup sugar

  ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

  Kosher salt

  6 ounces Ghirardelli semi sweet milk chocolate, chopped

  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  Hennessy

  Whipped cream for topping

  PREPARATION

  Combine the milk, heavy cream, sugar,
cocoa powder and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Cover over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until sugar and cocoa powder dissolve. Do not boil.

  Whisk in half the chopped chocolate until melted. Add remaining chocolate until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and a splash of Hennessy.

  Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream.

  Pink Panty Dropper

  A Pink Panty Dropper is a pretty-looking cocktail, but don't let looks fool you, it can be stronger than you might expect.

  8-ounce glass

  Ice cubes

  2 ounces vodka

  1 ounce tequila

  2 ounces beer

  24 ounce can of pink lemonade concentrate

  Lemon slices

  Strawberry slices

  PREPARATION

  Add the Ice - Fill the glass with ice until it reaches almost to the rim.

  Slowly pour in the vodka, tequila and beer.

  Add pink lemonade - Pour in pink lemonade concentrate until the glass is full.

  Add Lemon and/or Strawberry slices

  TIPS

  The Pink Panty Dropper makes a great party drink. If you're planning to serve it to a crowd, make a large quantity ahead of time (without ice) so that the flavors have a chance to fully mix.

  Candy Cane Vodka

  INGREDIENTS

  5 candy canes, broken into small pieces

  2 cups plain vodka

  Hot chocolate, for serving (optional)

  Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

  Crushed candy canes, for serving (optional)

  DIRECTIONS

  Combine candy canes and vodka in a mason jar and shake. Chill in the refrigerator until the vodka is bright red and the candy has dissolved, about 4-5 hours.