Page 175 of Let the Game Begin

“Ignore it,” Logan groused, glaring at the phone’s screen where my friend’s name was displayed. I gave him a look, knowing that I was going to answer. I couldn’t ignore a call from one of the Krew. Too often, they’d fucked something up and needed my help. Help that I never denied any of them.

But my brother hated them, especially Xavier, whom he thought was the worst of them. He couldn’t imagine how we could be friends, nor could he accept it.

“You know I can’t.” I stood up and lifted my index finger, asking him to give me a minute. Then, I answered the phone.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Hey asshole. Wanna go get a drink?” he offered. I glanced at Logan, watching the movie intently with a serious expression on his face, and I sighed. My brother would be upset with me if I accepted Xavier’s invitation, but at the same time, I could really use a distraction. I needed to let off some steam after everything that had happened. My talk with Dr. Keller, Logan’s breakdown… I needed to clear my head.

“Okay,” I said simply, accepting a dirty look from my brother who shook his head as if to say,“I knew it.”

“I’ll be back shortly,” I lied, ending the call with Xavier. Typically when I went out with the Krew, I never got back early. I glanced at the time. It was already past eleven, and I was probably going to end the night in the pool house with some random blond, giving her the only thing I was capable of giving anyone.

Heedless of my brother’s protests, I took a shower and changed into clean clothes. Then I headed out for the address Xavier had texted to me. I sped down the streets with The Neighborhood blasting from my speakers as I ran a hand through my hair, trying to tame it. My hair was still wet, and like always, it smelled too strongly, but I didn’t care. The scent of shampoo overpowered Kim’s vanilla perfume in my mind.

It was a smell that I would have recognized anywhere, even after so many years.

Thinking of my tormentor, I sped up even faster and cranked the volume. I wanted the music to push down all those irritating thoughts, but I knew that nothing and no one was going to erase what I had experienced. It was embedded in me, like a giant scar across my heart.

The bright red LED sign was the first thing I noticed as I went inside. The interior was full of people, many of them beautiful women. There was a bar along one wall and lots of low tables with leather sofas. I headed for Xavier, who I’d found sitting at one of the stools in front of the piano bar, intent on his beer.

“Finally,” Xavier said, chuckling. It seemed he was already pumped. I took a seat on the stool next to him and rested my elbows on the bar. I didn’t even know why I’d agreed to come out with him. I would have rather stayed on the sofa with my brother, watching movies and commenting on them. But that was something I only realized in that moment. What a dumbass I was.

“Are you already drunk?” I looked my friend up and down. He didn’t seem completely wasted, but from his vacant look and pink cheeks, I figured another beer would probably be enough to finish him off for good.

“Has the baby doll recovered from that perverted show you put on for her? Bet she’s never fucking seen anything like that before.” He chuckled, chewing on his lower lip piercing. He wasn’t wrong. Maybe that’s why I feltso twitchy. I wasn’t proud of what I’d done, but it was necessary. Selene had to realize who I was. She had to know every part of me so she could run away and seek refuge in the arms of some much better person.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Not only did I not want to talk about it, I didn’t even want to think about what had happened after that with Luke. I hadn’t fully dealt with that kiss yet and it was ridiculous of me.

I never cared about anyone. Never.

“Scotch,” I demanded of the bartender, turning entirely to face the bar. Fortunately, the soft music created just the right atmosphere to distract me from my thoughts. I might have called it meditative if Xavier hadn’t been there talking shit the whole time. Now he’d started in on Alexia and their undefinable relationship, the jealousy and the constant fighting. He couldn’t figure out why she was acting like an overbearing girlfriend.

“The hot blond over there had been eyeing you since you walked in,” he informed me abruptly, giving me a small nudge. The bartender gave me my Scotch and I took a drink, glancing briefly at the blond in question. She was with a friend and had to be at least thirty. She was attractive, sexy, and confident. She was sipping a cocktail and smiling at her friend while never taking her eyes off me.

I could read every one of her desires.

Body language held no secrets for me. I could thank Kim for my education there.

The blond smiled strategically, and I observed that even her basic posture was sexually inviting. She traced the curve of her own neck with one hand, intending to draw my attention to that erogenous zone. Typically, that kind of overt trick strongly appealed to me—I liked it when a woman tried to seduce me. But in that moment, I found myself inexplicably bored. I turned my attention back to my Scotch and took another drink, savoring it slowly.

“Well?” Xavier asked, gesturing instead to the girl’s friend.

“Well nothing. I’m not in the mood for fucking,” I admitted bluntly.

“Are you shitting me? Did you see them?” He finished his beer and got off his stool. “I’m sorry for you, bro, but I’m not gonna miss an opening.” He gave me a friendly shoulder pat and walked over to the two women,clearly attempting to pick up one or possibly both of them. I shook my head, smiling. I had forgotten that going out with him when I didn’t plan to pick someone up meant spending the night alone for sure. I decided I’d stay for another ten minutes and then I’d head back home.

“Is that you, kid? What a coincidence.”

I turned immediately to see a man was now occupying Xavier’s recently vacated stool. Dr. Keller gave me a sidelong glance and ordered a gin and tonic. I’d already sat through his introspective bullshit about love and whatever once today and that had been plenty.

“Fuck,” I grumbled, visibly annoyed. “You go to places like this?” He didn’t strike me as a late-night barfly, yet there he was, sitting next to me, dressed impeccably as always. His unique charm was not going unnoticed by the women around us and I wondered why someone like him didn’t have a wife.

“Did I fail to notice some sign forbidding entry to men who are pushing fifty?” he asked sardonically, adjusting his stylish jacket. The more I looked at him, the more he struck me as a rare bird here among these horny degenerates. His air of refinement clashed with the atmosphere around us, full of men looking to pick up girls half their age.

“No, but the people who come here are usually looking to drink or fuck. Choice is yours, doctor.” I took another sip of my Scotch and traced the rim of the glass with my index finger, bored.

“Is that how it works, then? You have to come in with a predefined objective?” He glanced around, frowning at a group of men standing nearby. “I just came here for a gin and tonic. That’s it,” he explained easily.