Page 27 of Let the Game Begin

“Dunno. I told her you were still sleeping. She wanted to go up to your room.” Logan made a displeased face. Evidently, he didn’t like the blond with her tight miniskirts, either.

“I get it; I’ll deal with her.” He stuck his phone back in his pocket with a shrug. How was he going to “deal” with her? I shook my head, unable to understand why I felt so possessive over a guy to whom I meant nothing. After all, the only thing between us was one night of sex, and he’d had plenty of those.

I decided I needed to put some distance between myself and Neil and all the feelings he stirred up in me, so I got up and went into the living room. Before I could get there, though, a hand grabbed me firmly by the wrist and pulled me into an isolated corner. I could smell his amber scent, and I shivered.

“What are you doing?” I whispered furiously.

“Shh. I just needed to make one more thing clear.” His breath was warm against my face, and I had to close my eyes to keep from thinking about that last time I’d felt that sensation, when we were…

“Let’s hear it.” I cleared my throat, trying to hide the effect he had on me, though it was a difficult task.

“I don’t want you to be weird around me. We’re going to have to share this house for a while. What happened was a mistake. I understand that you feel bad about it and—”

I shook my head abruptly, halting the flow of his words. “I don’t think you’re capable of understanding how I feel.” It was easy for him to give himself to a series of strangers. Sex was a hobby for him. A game. It wasn’t for me. I had always believed that sex and love should be connected, and I’d never questioned those beliefs.

“I didn’t realize you were a virgin.” It was as though he didn’t know whatelse to say. Like he was trying to excuse himself or apologize, maybe. Either way, he wasn’t succeeding.

“This isn’t easy for me; I need time to process everything that happened,” I said, looking down at the place where his hand was closed around my wrist. It felt like my skin was burning. My emotions felt unstoppable. I tried to fight them back, but they crushed me beneath them as easily as a stone would crush a tiny, helpless butterfly.

It occurred to me that I needed to talk to Jared soon.

“It won’t happen again. It was just a terrible mistake,” he said and then his gaze fell to my lips, and I knew with certainty that no one could believe those words.

Least of all us.

7

Selene

It was especially sunny when I finally decided to take a walk in the park with Matt. In reality, I’d only agreed to go out with him to avoid Neil—the tsunami that had upended my life.

So, I walked alongside my father in silence until he sat on a bench and motioned for me to join him. I took a seat next to him and put my hands on my knees, rubbing my palms over the surface of my jeans.

“You know, Selene,” he began, watching as a group of children pushed each other on the swings, “I feel regret every day that I wasn’t a better father to you.” I regretted it too, but I didn’t say that to him. Instead, I chose to keep quiet and hear what he had to say. “I know what you and your mother went through, but I think I deserve…” he trailed off, hesitant.

“Another chance?” I finished for him with a bitter smile. If he thought I was dumb enough to give him one, he was sorely mistaken. “I still remember when I walked in on you and your coworker. Do you realize that?” I added in disgust. Matt adopted an embarrassed look. His embarrassment, though, was nothing compared to the disillusionment I had felt.

“I am so sorry…” he murmured, not looking at me.

“Should have thought about that before you did it.” Ours was not an evenly matched fight. Matt was in the wrong, and he knew very well thatit was contemptible for a father to put himself in a position where he was caught with another woman by his own daughter. He fell silent, and my anger, repressed for so long, swelled and then exploded.

“You have no idea how many times I watched Mom cry when she smelled someone else’s perfume on your shirts or when you gave her some flimsy excuse for why you were going to be late.” My voice shook, and I couldn’t hide how upset I was. It was still so painful for me to talk about this, and as far as I was concerned, his actions were unforgivable.

“Selene, I…”

“You have no idea how many times we waited for you pointlessly. To eat dinners, to celebrate birthday parties, to watch school plays.” Matt hung his head, and I turned my face away so I wouldn’t have to see his contrite expression. Ironically, the new angle gave me a perfect view of two parents holding their daughter’s hand.

“I used to love you so much,” I murmured, staring at the happy little family just a stone’s throw from us.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, more to himself than to me. I got to my feet and looked back down at him.

“We’d better head back now,” I said with finality. Matt got up as well and followed me.

Back at the house, my father went upstairs to find Mia while I remained downstairs alone. I sat down in the living room, worn out and bummed out by my conversation with Matt and watched as Logan emerged to grab the keys to the Audi.

“Where are you going?” I said curiously. He was all dressed up, like he was going out on a date, but I didn’t ask directly if he was because I didn’t want to seem nosy.

“I’m going to watch the game at Adam’s place with the guys,” he answered immediately, but I didn’t believe him. He wasn’t dressed for a night with the boys. Still, I just smiled at him and shrugged. Logan’s love life was none of my business, though I would have been pleased if he had finally decided to date Alyssa.