Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Play Me
    Play Me
    Play Me
    Ebook84 pages1 hour

    Play Me

    By Zoe Ashton

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    All I wanted was to make my family happy and fend off their nagging and questions. So, while I still continued to lead a life as a raging workaholic in New York with close to no social life, I invented a boyfriend.

    To my family, I fed stories about a heroic, charming and loving boyfriend … and this lie continued for two years. I constantly came up with excuses to not introduce him till my family put their foot down. They demanded to meet this new “love of my life” or else …

    I should never have lied in the first place, but now I had no option but to come up with a plan. Dizzy with desperation, I asked the first guy I saw.

    Damien went to the same gym as I did and even though we had never spoken to each other before, I invited him for an all-expense paid trip to Napa Valley to pretend to be my boyfriend.

    Shockingly, he agreed, and now I wondered if this, too, was another one of my failed plans.

    How am I going to get out of this without hurting my family? I invited a complete stranger to our home, and now it seems like he is out to prove himself to be the perfect boyfriend. 
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZoe Ashton
    Release dateApr 3, 2017
    ISBN9781386398455
    Play Me

    Read more from Zoe Ashton

    Related to Play Me

    Related ebooks

    Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Festival

      Sep 15, 2018

      My husband, who loved festivals, who was a great fan of festivals, wanted to get to the square in time for the first band at eleven o’clock. From bed, the dog and I watched him dress. He tried on various T-shirts, declaring some of them too tight and

      13 min read

    • Article

      Daughters’ Bodies

      Dec 1, 2019

      WHEN I’M about to go away to college, my grandmother dies and my mother silently puts herself up for adoption. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO ADOPT ME: Kind, lonely, beautiful woman in her 50s. Dead husband. No children. Cooks and cleans. 4’11 and 90 lbs. Gu

      20 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Birthday Surprise

      Sep 17, 2021

      Birthday Surprise
      5 min read

    • Article

      From The heart

      Oct 27, 2020

      Dear Sally My step daughter often feels spirits around her. The other day I was talking to her on Facetime and I thought her husband was standing behind her until she told me he was at work. She took a picture of some poles she was selling and later

      5 min read

    • Article

      King Of The Castle

      Dec 28, 2023

      King Of The Castle
      5 min read

    • Article

      My Secret

      Jan 23, 2020

      Calling out from the top of the stairs, I wanted my mum to come and check on something. ‘My head feels weird,’ I shouted down to her. ‘What is it darling? Oh I see…’ she said coming to inspect the back of my scalp and noticing that chunks of my hair

      4 min read

    • Article

      Virginia Ironside

      Nov 15, 2023

      Q My granddaughter brought her boyfriend over to have lunch with us and he spent most of the time, between courses, texting. I felt this was very rude, but does this mean I'm an old fuddy-duddy as it's common behaviour these days? Or was he just bein

      3 min read

    • Article

      What’s In Your Knickers?

      May 18, 2023

      Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I reached in and took it out. I had a Facebook notification – my friend Tarl Williams had liked my photo. I didn’t really know Tarl – he’d added me out of the blue, but we had mutual friends, so I’d accepted. Now h

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Charm

      Jul 30, 2020

      The Charm
      5 min read

    • Article

      You’re The Dirty Rascal

      Apr 6, 2023

      You’re The Dirty Rascal
      5 min read

    • Article

      Justanother Day

      May 31, 2022

      Justanother Day
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Space Between Us

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Space Between Us
      8 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Burn You Alive

      Aug 19, 2021

      I’ll Burn You Alive
      5 min read

    • Article

      It S Now Or Never

      Feb 25, 2020

      It S Now Or Never
      5 min read

    • Article

      LOVE, Virtually

      Feb 16, 2020

      LOVE, Virtually
      5 min read

    • Article

      Me & Davey Waters

      Jan 15, 2023

      Me & Davey Waters
      4 min read

    • Article

      All In Good Time

      Apr 9, 2020

      Packing toy blocks back into their container, I smiled at my little boy. ‘We have to get this all tidied up before we leave,’ I said. It was December 2015, and Zachary, then one, and I had been playing all afternoon. We were due to pick up my daughte

      5 min read

    • Article

      Love, Lust, and More

      Feb 12, 2020

      Fleetwood Mac was singing She is dancing away from you now, and I squirmed in my seat. Kabir was rubbing my thigh as he drove, a gesture I once thought was reserved for me. Bah! I also used to think he only took naked selfies in bed with me, but then

      11 min read

    • Article

      Leaving Home

      Jan 12, 2021

      Leaving Home
      6 min read

    • Article

      From The heart

      Nov 26, 2020

      Dear Sally I was on a ghost hunting tour for charity that my daughter had arranged at Ruthin, Wales. I just kept taking photos even though I couldn’t see anything and when I got home the next day and uploaded them to my PC, I saw what looked like an

      5 min read

    • Article

      Yellow Is the Color of Choices

      Dec 10, 2023

      For whatever reason, when she sees me each weekend, Megan still hugs me like when she was five. Her skinny arms wrap around my waist, and her eyes squeeze tight like she’s absorbing me into her skin. This is both heartening and heart-wrenching. I wan

      13 min read

    • Article

      Weekends With The Devil

      Dec 29, 2022

      Weekends With The Devil
      3 min read

    • Article

      My Good Friend

      Jun 5, 2023

      Sunday evening About the roof repair, I have nothing new to report. The tiles were supposed to arrive yesterday; they did not. I rang that young man at the store to give him a piece of my mind, but he’s always so nice that I forget I called to quarre

      20 min read

    • Article

      A Nose For Trouble

      Apr 12, 2022

      A Nose For Trouble
      6 min read

    • Article

      How Embarrassing

      Dec 9, 2019

      I had my cousin’s one-year-old kid sit on my lap at a family get-together over Christmas and hadn’t noticed she’d undone the straps on my super cute tie-up dress as I was talking away. When I stood up, my dress just fell to the floor and I flashed my

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Book

      Oct 30, 2019

      The Book
      20 min read

    • Article

      I Proposed to My Girlfriend From Prison

      Feb 8, 2019

      Several years ago on Valentine’s Day, I was sitting in my cell when I remembered it was my cousin’s birthday. When I gave him a ring, he was getting his hair braided at the salon. As we talked I heard a woman’s voice in the background. Her voice made

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Play Me

    3.5/5

    12 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Play Me - Zoe Ashton

      Chapter 1

      Mabel

      I stared at my phone screen for a few minutes; the text message from my mom wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t just magically make it disappear. In fact, the longer I stared at it, the clearer it became.

      I can’t wait to see you, honey, and bring your boyfriend this time. No excuses.

      I read it again, just for good measure. Nope. Still said the same thing. I’d made him up a couple of years ago—two years to be precise—and I found that having an imaginary boyfriend got me out of a lot of scrapes. For instance, the time my mom insisted that I attend my step father’s dad’s funeral. I sent her a quick text to tell her that my boyfriend broke his leg playing football and that I had to stay home and take care of him. I know that sounds insensitive, and I should have been there to pay my respects. But, the man was ninety-six years old, and funerals always made me laugh uncontrollably, no matter how sad I was feeling.

      Over the past two years, I used the boyfriend excuse over and over again with my family. So much so that they assumed that things were going really well, that I had finally settled down and found myself a caring, kind man who I was very much in love with.

      The truth, however, was that I was still living by myself in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, watering my plants before going to bed, piling up my laundry to the point of running out of clothes and I hadn’t had a second date in three years. Not to mention that I was still working fifty hours a week as Chloe Lopez’ assistant at her fashion magazine, and had close to no social life other than checking my social media feed over a bowl of popcorn and a third glass of wine.

      So yeah, when my mom sent me that message, my head was in a tizzy. Not a big deal, I figured. I’d just make up another excuse about why he couldn’t make it. It’s only their anniversary. I hadn’t brought him home for Christmas last year, so surely they wouldn’t make a big deal out of an anniversary.

      I was half dressed, and so I walked over to the mirror in my bedroom, and fit my cell phone between my ear and shoulder. The phone was ringing, and my mom answered promptly.

      Hi, honey, did you get my message? were her first words.

      Of course I got your message, mom. I’m calling you now because I got your message, I said indulgently, while I slid a pair of high waisted black pants up my legs.

      That’s right. Anyway, so you’re going to bring the boyfriend? she asked excitedly, and I bit down on my lip. I had to fine tune my voice so that she wouldn’t detect I was lying.

      I really want to, mom, but he has a meeting in Florida that he absolutely has to attend. He wishes he could come, though, I said, squinting at the same time.

      It’s been two years, and none of us have met him, Mabel, mom said, and I sighed.

      I know, I know, mom. It sucks. I’m hoping he can make it for Christmas this year, but you know how I explained that his family is really traditional and they want him there for family holidays, I said, while I tucked in a floral silk blouse into my pants.

      Well, then he’ll just have to cancel his meeting in Florida, I heard her say. I gulped and straightened myself, gripping the phone tighter in my hand.

      No, mom, you don’t understand. He can’t skip this meeting, I said, and I realized that my voice was beginning to sound a little screechy.

      "No, you don’t understand, honey. I want to meet him. You’ve been with him for so long, but you refuse to let us see him. I’m starting to think that there’s something wrong with him. Or you’re just embarrassed of us," she said, and I rolled my eyes. This could not be happening! At eight in the morning on a Sunday.

      Mom, I’m going to try, but I don’t think he’ll be able to get away. And also, there’s nothing wrong with him, and I’m not embarrassed of my family, I said with a huff.

      Then bring him. Let us judge him for ourselves. It’ll be fun. It’s only a small family affair. Your sisters are bringing the whole family, so he’ll get to spend some time with your nieces and nephews too, she said, and I remained silent. My brain was already working on overdrive. If there were ever the opportunity to say it, now would be the time. I could get away with just telling her that we’d broken up. Or admitting that the whole thing was a lie. Maybe he died? My mind was racing with ridiculous ideas, while my mom continued to talk.

      So, you’re bringing him? she said, and those words snapped me out of my thoughts.

      I’m going to try. He’s going to try. We’re going to try, I said stupidly, and I could hear mom smiling through the phone. There was a change in her voice, and she sounded delighted.

      That’s great, honey. We’ve been so worried about you lately. We hadn’t heard much about him lately, and we were hoping you two hadn’t broken up, she said, and I bit down on my lip.

      Gotta go, mom, I said, beginning to pull the phone away from my ear.

      Oh, honey, wait. What is his name? You’ve told us so little about him, she said, but I ignored her.

      Gotta go now, bye. I’ll see you on Saturday, I said and cut the call.

      My shoulders were heaving by the time I flung the phone on my bed and turned to look at myself in the mirror. I shook my head absent-mindedly, thinking over and over again that I was now totally screwed.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1