Page 130 of Let the Game Begin

“You just hit me,” I answered hatefully, and he laughed, like I’d just said something hilarious, like I was out here telling jokes. My face hurt so much it was hard to breathe. I stared down at my hands, which wouldn’t stop trembling and tried to calm myself down.

“Here we are.” Jared pulled over right in front of the Blanco sign and immediately dashed out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I got out as well and followed him, hoping that Logan had gotten there already.

“Has anyone here seen Neil Miller?” he shouted outside the club’s entrance, drawing every eye to us. I couldn’t even blush or feel embarrassed because the only emotion inside me was fear, and I was completely filled with it.

“Oh, there he is.” Jared spotted Neil a second later in the parking lot, leaning against the hood of his Maserati with a cigarette in his hand. He strode briskly toward him.

“No! Jared, wait!”

I screamed and my voice drew Neil’s honey-colored eyes to me. He turned confusedly in my direction, not understanding what was happening.

“You! You son of a bitch!” Jared rushed Neil and punched him in the abdomen, making him double over.

“Jared!” I screamed, my hands clasped against my stomach as though I’d felt the blow myself. Neil’s shoulders slumped forward, and he rubbed the injured area. For a fleeting moment, a pained expression crossed his beautiful face, but it immediately gave way to fury. His gaze grew ominous, and the lines of his face drew tight. He had turned his stare on me, and he was looking very intensely at one specific point: my cheek.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Xavier and Luke approached Jared,ready to defend their friend, but Neil immediately raised a hand to halt them.

“Selene!” called an alarmed Logan, who had just arrived. “What the hell is going on… What happened to your cheek?” He stared at me in shock, and I was trying so hard to hold back tears that I could barely speak.

“Jared… He already knew everything… He knew that—” But I didn’t get to finish because the furious voice of the man in question shouted over me.

“You fucked my girlfriend!” he screamed at Neil.

And now Logan knew everything, too.

His eyes went wide and he stood motionless, staring at the scene in front of him. He was in completely shock about everything that was happening.

Just like I was.

“You… I mean, you and Neil… You two…” he stammered, totally bewildered, but there was no time for me to explain, not then. I turned to Neil, his shadowy, imposing frame towering over Jared.

He tossed his cigarette and ground it out with his shoe, all the while continuing to stare at his adversary.

“You hit her,” he stated in a voice I didn’t recognize. It was like another version of himself had been imported from an alternate reality.

Jared quirked up the corner of his mouth and gave me a disgusted look. “She won’t be able to blow you for a little while, so sorry. Do you mind?” he sneered at Neil, and I flinched at yet another insult. Logan put a reassuring arm around my shoulders and Neil grimaced.

“Xavier, hand me that bottle.” He extended his hand for his friend’s bottle of beer, which Xavier gave to him without complaint.

“Why does he want that?” I murmured fearfully as a small crowd began to gather to watch our little drama.

“Not for anything good,” Logan answered, worried.

Neil stared Jared down for a moment, the bottle in his hand before casually cracking it against a nearby wall, making all of us jump. The bottom broke off and Neil was left holding a long, sharp splinter of glass.

What the hell…

Everyone’s attention was entirely on Neil now, all of them just waiting to witness whatever happened next.

Nobody even tried to step in because people loved to see a fight, but I feared the worst.

“Logan, stop him!” I lifted my hands to my face as Logan went immediately to his brother, who stood there fearlessly challenging Jared.

“Neil, don’t lose your shit. Put that down. You’re not yourself right now.” He approached him cautiously, holding out both hands. “I know you hate being touched without your consent, but you can’t react like this. You’re not going to solve anything with that piece of glass,” he added in a persuasive tone, but Neil just kept staring at Jared as though trying to murder him with his eyes.

He squeezed the shattered bottle in his hand until drops of blood fell to the ground, but no expression of pain appeared on his face. It was like he was carved out of ice. It was disquieting, like he’d become detached from the world and was floating away into the darkness.

“Jared, leave!” Logan shouted, getting in between the two of them.