Playing His Game (The Reynolds Brothers)

by Justine Elvira

  My parents’ house wouldn't have been the first choice of places for me to stay, but since I lost the apartment when I moved to California, it was my only option. After their initial shock in seeing me last night they sat me down and lectured me for an hour.

  Honestly, I expected worse.

  They expressed their disappointment and embarrassment of the situation, along with their concern for my bad decision-making, but ultimately they were just worried about me. Their love for me, even after all this, is what broke the well and I cried the rest of the evening. My mother stayed with me for half the night, even bringing me soup on one of the rare moments that my tear ducts were all dried up. Eventually, even she went to bed because she had to work at the boat shop in the morning. It's the end of the summer season.

  I get up out of bed and walk out of the room, going straight into the hallway bathroom to wash my face. When I look in the mirror I'm horrified. My eyes are almost swollen shut and my hair is a knotty mess. I'm unrecognizable. I wash my face quickly and then head into the kitchen to grab some pain reliever and an icepack. Hopefully, the puffiness will be gone soon with a little cold compress.

  My parents’ home is a typical Midwest home. It's a bi-level with the kitchen and living room on the main floor; the downstairs that is kind of like a half basement is seven steps down and the upstairs is seven steps up. It's a real hodgepodge as far as houses go.

  I take the seven steps down to the basement and sit down on my dad's favorite recliner. I lean it back as far as it can go, close my eyes and apply the icepack to my swollen flesh. The coolness feels nice.

  I have no plans for the day, but I need to do something. If I just sit around the house all day I'll be forced to think about the video, California, and Scott. I don’t have many female friends I can call. Being the wild one in a small town like South Haven doesn’t make you many friends of the same sex, but it makes you a lot of friends of the opposite sex and if any of those friends saw my video I know they'll want to hang out, which means I have no one to hang out with because I have no plans on fucking anyone anytime soon. I'm going to try something new for a change and be celibate.

  I could call Josh. The fact that I'm even contemplating calling him shows how desperate I am. He texted me last night asking to hang out. He found out I was in town from my mother, which is impressive because I had only been home for a couple hours. That woman could never keep her mouth shut. If they awarded a town gossip, she would win.

  I know it's a bad idea to see him, mostly because I know he would love to get back together with me and I have zero interest in him. He ruined any chance at having a relationship and I'm just too heartbroken over Scott, but Josh could be a nice distraction today. Maybe catching up will help me forget about Scott for a few hours.

  After leaving the icepack on for another ten minutes I take it off and decide to text Josh. Maybe we could go to a movie or something. An action flick might actually do the trick in distracting me for a while.

  Me: Still want to hang out?

  Josh: Always with you.

  I look up at the time on the top of the screen and realize it's the middle of the afternoon. I slept over half the day away.

  Me: Movie?

  Josh: Dinner and a movie?

  Me: Platonic dinner and a movie?

  Josh: If that's what you want.

  Me: It is. I'm celibate.

  Why I just added in my newfound celibacy is beyond me.

  Josh: Well that's just sad. Women as beautiful and sweet as you should not be celibate.

  Me: And we're back to just a movie

  Josh: I can't compliment you?

  Me: No. I was beautiful and sweet before too, but that didn't stop you from walking all over me.

  Josh: Ouch. That hurt. Okay platonic dinner and a movie and I promise not to try and mess with your celibacy.

  Me: Good. Where should I meet you?

  Josh: The Square. 6ish?

  Me: See you then

  I shower and get dressed, but since I have no real desire to even leave the house I throw on a ratty pair of blue jeans and an old concert t-shirt. I pull my hair back in a bun and I don't even attempt to put make-up on. Nothing can cover the mess that is my face.

  I'm actually not that pretty when I'm dressed like a slob and make-up free. My curves make me look plump and I can see all the small imperfections of my skin without concealer on. My nose sticks out more too. My blue eyes might be able to brighten up my face if my eyelids weren't still swollen. The icepack from before was very little help.

  Screw it. I don't have any reason to impress Josh anyway so I shouldn't care how horrible I look. My purse is still on the kitchen table from the night before so I grab it, toss my phone inside and step outside my parents’ front door, locking it behind me. When I turn around I almost fall flat on my butt.

  Scott is sitting on the second step leading up to my front door.

  His head is in his hands and he has a small brown duffle bag placed next to him. He looks up from his hands when he hears me, and he looks... breathtaking. I mean, he looks like shit, even worse than he did on TV yesterday, but the sight of him on my parents’ steps is breathtaking.

  Stop thinking that way, Winnie. You hate him, remember?

  "What are you doing here?" I ask, still shocked he's sitting in front of me. He stands up and dusts his hands off on his denim jeans. I watch as he adjusts his shirt and then his piercing gray eyes meet mine.

  "I rang the doorbell a few times but I figured no one was home so I just sat on the steps until someone arrived."

  "How long have you been here?"

  "The cab dropped me off around ten this morning."

  It's almost six now. He's been sitting out here in this summer heat for almost eight hours.

  "Why are you here? You shouldn't be here." I go to move past him so I can get to my parents’ garage and drive their spare car, but he stops me. He places both of his hands on my shoulders and turns me around to face him. Now I have no choice but to look up at the face of the man I love and hate all at the same time.

  "Yes, I should. I should be wherever you are. It's you who shouldn't be here. You should be back in California with me."

  "Let go of me, Scott. I have somewhere to be and you should go home."

  "I am home. My home is wherever you are."

  My heart flutters and I internally curse myself for being so gullible and falling for a line like that.

  "Me? I'm your home? You could have fooled me."

  "I fucked up. I screwed up so bad and I let the best thing that ever happened to me get on a plane and walk out of my life. I don't expect you to believe me and I know I don't deserve you, but I love you, Winnie."

  His words are exactly what I've wanted to hear for so long. They’re exactly what I wanted him to say several nights ago when I expressed my love for him, but he never said it. Instead, he told me he cared about me. Why should I believe he loves me now?

  "You don't love me. You're just freaking out because I left you. Is this an ego thing? Has a girl never left you before?"

  "Winnie," he whispers, moving one of his hands from my shoulders to cup the side of my face. "It's not an ego thing. I have no ulterior motives. I. Love. You."

  He leans in and brushes his lips against my forehead. I'm so stunned by his words that I don't even stop him. His mouth moves down to my ear and he whispers again, "I love you. I love you so much and I'm so sorry I screwed everything up. You mean everything to me."

  My body starts to tremble and my eyes fill up with tears. I don't know if I'm happy he's finally saying the words I've longed to hear or if I'm finally having a nervous breakdown.

  "Beauty," he moans and folds me into his arms, squeezing me tightly to his body. "Don't cry, Winnie. I'm so sorry, but please, don't cry. I'll fix this. I'll make this better.”

  I continue to sob and my eyes burn from the fresh tears. I haven't given my eye sockets enough time to rest from the tears I shed the night before. I turn my
head into Scott's chest like I've done so many times before, and I let his chest and his scent comfort me. I have no idea how much time passes but eventually my tears stop falling and I move away from his body, wiping the fallen tears from my cheeks.

  "Who has Sinatra right now?" I ask. My concern for her is suddenly all I can think about.

  "Jared took her, Winn. She's in good hands. She's just waiting for us to come home to her."

  I feel a lot better just knowing where she is.

  "You look so beautiful right now." His words have me laughing internally at how ridiculous I must actually look and how blind he must be from love.

  Wait. Do I actually believe he might love me?

  "Scott, you did some really unforgivable things. The sacrifices I made for you, making that movie to save you, I did that all because I love you. I thought you would understand that, but the way you treated me in front of Jared and my sister... there are no words for how you made me feel."

  "I-" he tries to interrupt but I don’t let him.

  "I know I'm not your girlfriend. I never claimed to be your girlfriend, but I thought I still meant something to you. You wrote me off to them as if I was nothing. Do you realize how far I went for you? What I gave up for you?"

  I pause, giving him time to speak now because I really have no clue what else there is to say.

  "I do, Winn. You gave up everything for me, to save me. That was the ultimate act of love, but I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't know how to handle you and I screwed it all up. Jared got under my skin and I said things I didn't mean. You're right, you weren't my girlfriend because I don't deserve a girl as amazing as you, but I want to. I want to deserve you because I am head over heels in love with you, Winnie.

  "I should have never allowed you to make that video with me. I should have never made the video, period. Knowing how you felt about me and how I felt about you, I should have never been so okay with sleeping with another woman, but I honestly had no idea you loved me. I honestly didn't think you and I had a fighting chance, but now that I know that you love me I'm not going to let you go. I'm going to fight for you for as long as it takes. I'm not going to screw this up, Winn.

  "I'm going to get help so I never jeopardize what we have again. I want to make a life with you, Winnie Adams. I just hope you still give me the chance to."

  I'm a blubbering mess again. Seriously, how much can one person cry?

  "What about the last few days? I can’t just forget that, Scott. You didn't call me. You didn’t text and then I see you out with Tawny and some girl, and doing interviews on the news. You… you broke my heart."

  "Winnie," he mumbles and his eyes start to gloss over. He runs a hand through his dark hair, trying to compose himself. "I didn’t contact you because I was trying to give you time. I thought you just needed time. I know I said some pretty horrible things and I didn’t want to come talk to you before you were ready. I know now how wrong I was. I should have called you. I should have texted you. I should have fought for you, right away.

  "As far as the other stuff goes, it was just press, Winnie. Mandatory press I had to do because I signed a contract saying I would do it. The picture of me leaving the club? That was a mandatory appearance I had to make. I ignored everyone for the hour I was there and the minute the hour was over I left. Tawny and some girl she was hooking up with for the evening just happened to leave at the same time. It only takes one photo to misinterpret the entire events of the night. I went home right away and I was alone. I showered, snuggled up to Sinatra and dreamt of you. You were all I thought about those few days."

  He reaches into the front pocket of his jeans and pulls something out. All I can see is something silver shining in the gap of his fist.

  "I found this on the beach several months ago and thought of you like I always do when I see shells. I'm always looking for the prettiest ones to bring to you. This one was more than pretty. This one was unique. Almost as if it was man made. I took it home that day but instead of giving it to you, I put it in my nightstand. I wanted to find just the right time to give it to you."

  He reaches for my quivering hands and then places the item inside them. I look down and am surprised at what I see. It's a necklace, handmade with a long silver chain. Attached to the chain is a clamshell and it's in the shape of a heart. It's not perfectly symmetrical and it has its flaws, but it's unmistakably in the shape of a heart. It's off white with hints of faint pink and purple throughout.

  "I found a place down in Santa Monica that specialized in turning shells into jewelry by adding personalization and chains. Last month I had this made when I was down there with Jared. Turn it over, Winnie."

  I look up at him and then back down at my hands. Turning the shell over, I gasp at the words that are etched into the shell.

  Scott + Winnie

  Forever

  I look back up into his eyes that are now glazed over with unshed tears. "What does this mean?"

  "It means I love you, Winnie. I've known I loved you for a while, I just couldn't say the words out loud for some reason. It scared the hell out of me and it took losing you to finally be able to say them out loud. And Winnie? If you take me back I promise to always say it. I'll say it over and over again because I love you so much and a woman like you deserves to hear that as much as possible."

  I may be the stupidest woman on the planet, but I believe him. I believe everything he's saying and as much as I know he deserves the hell he's in right now, I don’t think I deserve the hell that pushing him away will put me through. I want to be happy. I deserve to be happy and Scott makes me happy.

  "Scott, if you ever, and I mean ever, do anything like this to me again, we're through. I don't deserve to ever be treated that way again and if it were any other man I wouldn't even be giving him the time of day right now."

  I step forward and crush my body to his. My arms move up behind his head and I pull him to me, crushing my lips to his. The salt from my tears is all I can taste, but his lips are warm and inviting and I feel like I'm finally home in this kiss. He was right about one thing though. I'm his home just like he's mine.

  Scott breaks the kiss and looks down into my eyes. "What does this mean?"

  "This means," I pause, trying to clear my head so I can speak clearly. "This means you screwed up and I still hate you, but I love you more. You're going to have to prove yourself to me. That may sound unfair, but I need to know you mean everything you said today. I need to know that you love me and that might take some time, but the last few days have been miserable. I've been in an internal hell and I don’t want to be anymore. I want to be with you. I love you."

  “I love you, too, Winn. So much. So, so much. You won't regret this. I'm going to sweep you off your feet and never have you doubt me again, and-"

  I cut him off with my lips, no longer wanting to hear an apology or how he'll make this better. I want to feel the connection I feel every time he touches me. Every time he kisses me.

  My arms wrap around his body as his hands move under my ass and he lifts me up, twirling us around on my parents’ steps. I wrap my legs around his waist and then break the kiss, letting my forehead fall to his shoulder and rest there. I close my eyes and breathe him in, glad that he's here and making everything better.

  His nose nuzzles against my head before he whispers, "I love you, Winnie."

  I kiss his neck and whisper, "I love you, too."

  Epilogue

  "This is seriously the best night of my life, " I squeal, grasping onto Scott and pulling him down for a kiss. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

  "Christ, beauty, we just got here. Why don't you tell me how you feel at the end of the night? You might hate it."

  "How could anyone hate a magical place like this?"

  I scream that last part and everyone laughs at my expense. This has been the best birthday ever.

  Scott woke me up this morning with breakfast in bed and after I ate the delicious meal he prepared for me, he ate m
e. Twice.

  We spent most of the morning on the beach but then he told me to dress warm for my gift. It gets chilly in Malibu at night so I didn't think anything of it. We hopped in his truck and picked up Autumn and Jared on the way to wherever my gift was. I thought it would be a short trip but it took two hours to get to our destination. I was getting impatient until I saw the sign and my heart stopped.

  Disneyland.

  We were going to Disneyland. It had been my dream since I was a little girl to go to the most magical place on earth but I never had the chance to. Now I am here with the man I love, my sister, and her husband. What could be better?

  I'll tell you what. Having an amazing boyfriend who had his filthy rich brother rent out the park for the evening so you can ride all the lines without waiting in line. Like I said... best gift ever!!!

  I had to ride Space Mountain first so we're standing outside the entrance, ready to go in to ride when Autumn stops us. "You guys go ahead. I'll just wait out here."

  The guys are looking at her like she's crazy because only I know the real reason she can't go on this ride. In all the chaos of the last several weeks she hasn't had a chance to tell Jared she's pregnant yet.

  "Billy, you've got to come. We're the only four people in the park who can ride these rides," Jared pleads with her.

  "I know, but I can't." Autumn is looking up at him ridiculously. When we got out of the truck a little while ago Autumn was freezing. She was already wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt but it wasn't enough. Jared had to buy her the most ridiculous, but warm, sweatshirt, beanie, and gloves. She's wearing her Disney themed attire now and I can't help but laugh at the face she is making up at him.