Page 65 of Let the Game Begin

“He’s looking at other women? Well, then you get to flirt with other men so he can know what it feels like,” Alyssa suggested, giving Adam a cheeky smile. He raised his middle finger in response.

“Fuck. Anyone else see Professor Cooper over there?” Cory turned everyone’s attention to the professor who was walking down a mainthoroughfare and holding a few books in one arm. She was wearing an elegant cream pantsuit that softly skimmed her prominent curves. Her golden hair gleamed, tied in a high ponytail, and her eyes were the same color as the sky. She truly was a beautiful woman, but I couldn’t help but remember when I’d watched Neil threaten her to extract who knew what kind of favor.

It was then that something else occurred to me: the professor, Jennifer, and all the girls he brought home had a lot in common. All of them were blond, seductive, and compelling. All completely unlike me.

“Her ass… My god, what an ass,” Jake commented, earning himself an elbow from Logan.

“Is that all you do, cuz? Think about women?” a low voice with an unfamiliar timbre cut in, and I turned to see a pair of magnetic blue eyes. I raised a hand to shield my eyes from the sun so I could get a better look at the new arrival.

It was a guy about our age whom I had never seen before. Maybe he was a fellow student? He was wearing a long, elegant coat, lightweight pants, and a dark sweater. I couldn’t tell much about his body, except that he was tall and willowy. His black hair covered his ears and was pulled back into a small ponytail. An earring sparkled from one of his earlobes, and his olive skin contrasted sharply with his dazzling blue eyes.

“Kyle, you son of a bitch! You didn’t tell me you were coming here today!” Cory mussed up his hair, but the other boy didn’t seem at all bothered. In fact, he gave Cory a hug and slapped him on the back. When he was done, everyone else greeted him with similar enthusiasm. Logan informed me that Kyle was a good friend of theirs whom they’d known for about three years. He didn’t live in town, though, so they only saw him twice a year when he came to stay with his aunt and uncle, usually for about a month.

While everyone said their hellos and chatted about people I didn’t know, I remained seated on the bench and kept my eyes on the book I’d been reading in my spare time. I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and kept reading until someone slid a leaf right between the pages I was on. I frowned and looked up to see Kyle—whom I still had not officially met—smiling at me.

“They say it’s good luck to put a leaf between the pages of a book,” he said, and I blushed like an idiot.

“Are you a new addition to the group? You’re going to need a lot of patience with these fools. I’m Kyle.”

“Nice to meet you, Kyle. I’m Selene.” I shook his hand and he lifted mine to his mouth for a chivalrous kiss that made everyone laugh. I knew that I was blushing again, but I tried to hide my shyness with a smile.

“May I?” He gestured to the space next to me on the bench, and I nodded.

“There he is, the wolf on the prowl,” Cory teased, but his cousin shooed him off with one hand and turned to give me his full attention.

“So, Selene, you’re a reader.” He stared down at my book, and I closed it to show him the cover.

“I love the classics. Novels, critical essays…” I typically didn’t talk much about my literary tastes or passions, but with Kyle, I immediately knew that I could.

“Favorite author?” he asked.

“Vladimir Nabokov.” Kyle grinned enthusiastically at my answer.

“The Enchanter,” he said immediately, pointing an index finger at me in playful challenge.

“Bend Sinister,” I fired back.

“The Gift,” he answered.

We burst into laughter while everyone else stared at us like we were a pair of aliens. I’d rarely found anyone who shared my tastes, and Kyle was a lovely surprise in that regard. He tied his long hair up in a loose bun and raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged, smiling.

He had a certain allure.

He could have been a rock star or maybe an artist. The guy gave off the vibe that he wasn’t afraid to just be himself, and that made him different.

17

Player 2511

“There she is, the lovely Selene in the company of Logan and his friends.” I smiled, observing the small group in question as they talked and laughed on a bench.

It wasn’t difficult for me to trace everything back to her—to the beauty who had somehow drawn the beast’s attention. Now I just had to figure out whether she actually mattered in Neil’s life or if she was just one more slut he’d fucked.

“Logan’s always with her; what are we supposed to do?” asked my right-hand man, sitting next to me in the passenger seat. He was always asking inconvenient questions, but a cool head was the hallmark of a strong person.

Keeping my cool would allow me to plan out everything, just the way I wanted it.

“Logan won’t be a problem if we play our cards right.” I blew cigarette smoke outside the car. The half-open window gave me a better look at her. Selene Anderson, originally from Detroit.