Playing For Keeps by Dani Weston Read Free Book Online Page B

hear it, then they can’t stop listening, you know?”
    I forced a laugh and took a huge bite of falafel, brushing off the irritation I felt when she mentioned how Jimmy Keats had looked at her. Because I couldn’t yet get over how he’d looked at me . And I didn’t want to: not be over it, not to even need to be over it. It was a toss-up whether I preferred conversation about him, or conversation about our failed attempt at musical stardom. “I don’t know about know , but I can certainly daydream about it.”
    “I was daydreaming about quitting my job at the coffee shop,” Kaitlin said with a wry grin.
    “We gave it a shot. We knew it was a long one.” I shrugged and tore a piece of pita bread into miniscule pieces, then wiped my hands on my napkin.
    “The girls at Delta Gamma are going to flip,” Bea went on. “Too bad there isn’t better news to share with them.”
    “They would have been so excited for us.” I could imagine their hugs and screams of delight had I returned with good news. There would have been, without doubt, an impromptu party. “Think of it this way, Bea. We’re supposed to struggle. It’s required of us to hate our pre-megastar years so we can someday write amazing, insightful lyrics and become very cool adult rebels.”
    Bea shoved a handful of cold fries in her mouth. “Except we’re breaking up after this.”
    I sighed and pushed my plate away. “We’re in our last year of college. Do you know how much studying I have ahead of me?”
    “Um, you’re not the only one,” Kaitlin said.
    “See? We have responsibilities.”
    Bea grabbed a stack of napkins for her greasy hands. “We have dreams, too.”
    I scanned the faces in the Gyro Stop, guessing at their lives. Office workers abounded. Several college students. A few academics. Were they all living their life’s dreams? Would any of them scoop up the chance to be pop stars? I knew I could have given more of myself at the meeting. We could have danced when we were asked to. We’d practiced after all. A professional would have breezed in there, saw Kevin or Jimmy or whoever and let the memory of a sordid night they’d shared together slide like water off her back. But I acted weird. Was I just being too damn stubborn for my own good?
    “Didn’t you say you were seeing a new guy?” Kaitlin blurted, as though sensing an argument on the horizon. If only she knew the new guy was the last thing I wanted to talk about.
    “Nah. I mean, the sex was good. But--.”
    “But there’s actually more than that?” Kaitlin said, and we all giggled in our sodas and moved the conversation on to other things.

4.
     
     
    That Saturday night, a restored Mustang pulled up to the Delta Gamma house. I wouldn’t have noticed had I not been sitting in front of my bedroom window, cramming for an exam on Monday. The driver didn’t get out of the car right away, but I saw the outline of him.
    Kevin.
    No, Jimmy.
    Shit.
    I closed my laptop and bit my lip. I could hide in my room until he got the hint. I could met him at the door and tell his lying ass to piss off.
    Or, I could do what I actually wanted to do and greet the man who made my skin sing, ignoring that he held my musical future in his capable hands.
    I decided a combo of those things was the best possible action. He rang the doorbell and I raced to it, only because I didn’t want anyone else to open it. Diya, sitting nearby, raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. After a count of ten, I opened the door, slowly. Looked him up and down like he was the last thing I wanted to see on the doorstep.
    He wore fitted black jeans, a gray t-shirt and a leather jacket. A few brushed chrome chains circled his wrist. I could pretend I didn’t want him until the cows came home, but my body betrayed me, coming to life at the sight of him. Stupid body. He looked me up and down, his eyes alighting with appreciation. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, he was seeing, since I was dressed for comfy