Page 153 of Let the Game Begin

He departed in a hurry while Mia remained in the waiting room, head in her hands. She was devastated, and there was nothing I could do except try to give her some moral support.

Overcome, I turned to look at Neil and found him staring off into space, lost in his inner torment.

“Neil,” I moved toward him, intending to be with him, but he just fixed me with a cold stare and brushed past me with a shoulder check that made me stumble.

He headed for the exit, and though it was my instinct to follow him, I didn’t. Sighing, I glanced back at Mia. I walked over to her and took a seat beside her.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I said softly, swallowing hard. She lifted her blue eyes to me, so full of suffering. Then, suddenly, she embraced me. I stiffened at the unexpected show of affection but returned the gesture.

“My baby, my son…he could die, Selene,” she sobbed into my shoulder, as though transmitting all her misery to me.

“He’s strong, Mia. He’s going to recover.” I was surprised, as I wept with her in that moment, at how close I’d gotten to my father’s family in such a short amount of time.

“Selene, please go after Neil.” My father’s girlfriend put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. “He cares so deeply about Logan, and I’m afraid he’s going to do something foolish. Please, don’t let him out of your sight,” she begged me.

I reassured her that I would and left to figure out whether Neil had calmed down.

Cold air stung my face as I exited the hospital, making me pull my coat more tightly around me. I looked around, searching for Neil’s golden eyes and then I spotted them, staring off into space. He was sitting on a wall by the primary parking structure, smoking a cigarette.

He looked as good as ever and just as imposing. He sat in the only pool of soft light provided by a streetlamp, surrounded on all sides by gloomysemi-darkness. He’d pulled up the black hood on his sweatshirt to protect himself from the cold, as all he was wearing was basic sweatpants and a T-shirt with a black hoodie over it. He’d probably rushed here without bothering to find something more appropriate for the weather.

“Did you come out here to check up on me?” He shot me a fleeting glance before returning his gaze to the cigarette he was smoking.

“I just wanted to keep you company,” I answered, debating whether or not to sit down next to him. With Neil, I had to strategize my every move because his mood fluctuated like a seesaw.

“I don’t need company,” he answered seriously and took a drag from his cigarette.

“Neil, whether you like it or not, I’m not going to leave you here to face this on your own,” I said firmly. He had to stop running away from me. There was no reason for it.

“I’ve always faced everything on my own, with help from no one.” He smiled bitterly, staring at nothing in particular. Then, he frowned thoughtfully and parted his lips to let loose a cloud of smoke into the air.

“Well, not anymore. I’m here now.” I sat down next to him. I was probably risking one of his fits of rage but I didn’t care.

Then, Neil turned to me and blew more smoke directly into my face. I coughed but didn’t complain. I knew he was doing it to irritate me, knowing how much I hated the smell of cigarettes.

“He’s going to be okay.” I refused to give up, and I was going to keep supporting him, even when he tried to thwart me at every turn.

“And why do you think that?” he sneered and turned those magnificent eyes on me, staring intensely.

“Because Logan is stronger than he seems,” I said softly, swinging my legs against the wall. Neil’s gaze dropped from my eyes to my lips and my heart flipped.

“You really believe that?” he asked in the barest whisper.

“I’m certain of it.”

We kept staring at each other, and it occurred to me—not for the first time—that in addition to being the most beautiful in the world, his eyes were the only ones capable of peering right into my soul.

I wanted to kiss him, and I got the feeling he wanted the same thing. But we couldn’t, not out here where we ran the risk of being caught by Matt or Mia.

“Maybe it’d be best if we went back inside.” It was Neil who broke eye contact first, and I was grateful because I could finally breathe again.

We hopped off the wall and returned to the hospital. I followed him, confused and increasingly convinced that I was never going to understand what he and I were.

We weren’t kissing.

We weren’t having sex.

We weren’t in love.