Page 97 of Let the Game Begin

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I woke up in a colorless but well-lit room. I glanced around, disoriented, and then I tucked my chin to my chest. I wrinkled my nose, smelling some sort of strange disinfectant odor, and that was when I realized I was lying on a bed in the student health center. Nearby, a nurse was writing something down in a folder.

“Welcome back.” She smiled at me and tucked the folder under her arm. She was a young woman, probably in her early thirties with blond hair and large chocolate-colored eyes. Her high breasts peeped out from under the light-colored top of her scrubs, and her glasses gave her a distinguished, cultured look. “I gave you some pain relief. Fortunately, you didn’t break anything, just some contusions and a small cut on your lip.” She gestured to my mouth, and I instinctively lifted a hand to touch it. I could feel the rough surface of a bandage under my fingertips, but I didn’t feel any pain.

I guessed the pain meds were still working.

“Thank you.” I struggled to sit up and she helped me tenderly.

“You should thank Neil. He’s the one who brought you here anddemanded I look at you right away. He was worried about you,” she informed me in a strangely admiring tone.

“Where is he?” I asked her quickly. She grinned and jerked a thumb at the closed door.

“Out there. Do you want me to let him in?”

I nodded. I was afraid of just about everyone except him in that moment. Neil was only a danger to my heart and mind, certainly not to my body.

The woman went to the door and gestured for him to come inside. When Neil appeared, he looked even more imposing and enigmatic than usual. I shivered and tightened my hands on my jeans-covered thighs.

“All right, she’s good to go. Can I get back to my scheduled patients now?” the nurse asked archly. He gave her a knowing look as he moved toward me.

“Well, you did owe me a favor, Claire,” he purred, and I realized these two definitely knew each other.

God, even the school nurse was one of his lovers?

“I’ll leave you two alone,” she answered with a blush before leaving to give us some privacy.

Neil drew even closer to me until I was hit with his amber and tobacco smell. His hair was extra disheveled, and his eyes were luminous like always.

“How are you feeling?” He positioned himself in front of me. I was still sitting on the bed with my legs dangling and he towered over me with his statuesque body. Looking at him always inspired a little bit of awe in me.

“Did you have sex with that nurse, too?” I pointed at the door behind him, and he grinned.

I flushed and tilted my chin down. None of this was my business, but I could never seem to hold my tongue about it.

“Just once, last year,” he admitted, searching for my eyes that eventually did look up to meet his.

“So, you’re telling me she might take a swing at me someday, too?” I answered bitterly, because the reason Jennifer hated me so deeply was standing right there in front of me, all charm and dark looks.

“That won’t happen again. The Krew know what I’m capable of when I lose control,” he said with an ominous confidence.

“And what are you capable of?” I said softly.

“I’d rather you didn’t know.” He moved closer, until his legs were touching my bent knees.

“Why?” I murmured.

“Because then you’d be afraid of me,” he answered firmly, not a hint of hesitation in his voice.

But I was already afraid of him. Afraid of what I felt with him, afraid of the person I became with him, afraid of the thoughts I had about him, and afraid for what the future had in store for both of us.

I swallowed and rubbed my index finger on my thigh, considering this whole bizarre situation. Jennifer and the Krew hated me. They were a dangerous group of people, and Neil couldn’t be there every time they tried to hurt me.

“Jennifer knows about Jared. She told me to stay away from you or she’ll tell him everything.” I kept my eyes down, still shocked and upset by what had happened. I wasn’t as upset about being on the receiving end of some gratuitous violence as I was at the way women would let themselves be tricked by men, even to the point of harming others rather than accepting reality.

“She’s not going to tell him shit.” He used his index finger to lift up my chin, and I flinched at the gesture. I was still on edge, and he must have realized it because he touched my cheek indulgently.

“She knows she’s going to pay for what she’s done,” he promised, his eyes locked on the bandage on my lower lip.