Page 120 of Let the Game Begin (Kiss Me Like You Love Me #1)

I allowed my fingers to roam over the smooth fabric of his shirt and I felt his breathing deepen when I drifted down to his glutes.

But just as I had managed to forget about Jennifer’s presence right next to us, Neil’s lips pulled away from mine.

Jennifer had grabbed his arm and she lunged for him, drawing his attention away from me and onto her.

Neil kissed her exactly the way he had just kissed me moments before.

He migrated slowly into the center of the bed, positioning himself between us.

He propped himself up on his knees and forearms, never lying down next to anyone because he wanted to remain distant.

Impersonal, dominant, the one who decided how the evening would end.

Though I was aroused, the sight of him and Jennifer kissing passionately made my stomach clench so hard that I felt nauseous from the jealousy that was slowly poisoning my body, like the venom from a snake.

Suddenly, I no longer knew what I was doing.

Instinct told me to get up and get away from that room, but reason along with my desire to strike back at Jennifer in some way told me to stay right there.

I wanted to show Neil that I was the one he wanted, the one he made love to without a barrier, the one he’d lost himself inside.

Jennifer began to moan loudly, likely in an attempt to further excite Neil. She reached between his legs with one hand and used the other to bare her breasts.

He took note of the bold gesture and kissed down her neck, across her collarbone and then, finally, to her nipple. He pressed it between his lips and sucked, coaxing more moans from her. Meanwhile, I just watched it all as though I’d lost the ability to move.

I should have played the game, tried to lure him over to me, used him like an object and got one over on that blond bitch. But whatever there was between me and Neil, it wasn’t a game. He wasn’t a thing, and what’s more: I suddenly realized that I didn’t care about “winning” against anyone.

My conscience poked its head out, seconding my instinct’s proposal that we make a quick escape. I raised my torso up but Neil didn’t pay me any mind because he had decided from the beginning that he was going to go with her. Even if I’d done everything I could to seduce him.

If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that my walking disaster wasn’t going to let a woman choose. He was the one who chose, always. And in this case, he had deliberately chosen Jennifer so that I could bear witness to another one of his obscene performances.

When Jennifer opened his fly and unzipped him, rubbing him through his black boxers, I immediately got up from the bed.

I needed to leave before he got inside her, before she started screaming, and before I got sick for real.

The two of them must surely have heard my high heels clattering across the room, but he didn’t stop me.

He didn’t even give it a token try. So I went out the door and slammed it shut behind me.

I hated him. I hated him with my whole being.

I ran down the hallway, allowing tears of rage to stream from my eyes. I wasn’t crying for him but for what I had let him do to me. I would never be able to join his world, to share him with other people, to accept the inexplicable perversions that drove him.

I could no longer tolerate the power he had over me, the vulnerability he exposed in me.

I could no longer tolerate the jealousy I felt toward womankind in general because of the fear that anyone could at any time take him away from me.

Because he wasn’t mine; he didn’t belong to me. He didn’t want to belong to me.

“Selene.”

I halted, bumping into a firm body that was suddenly in my way.

I looked up into the blue eyes of an unmasked Luke.

His finely drawn features were creased in a perplexed expression.

A black track suit covered his slim, athletic body.

It was nice but less impressive than Neil’s.

And then I cursed myself because, once again, I was comparing someone else to him.

It was the same story every single time: I couldn’t think of anyone the way I thought of him; I didn’t believe there was anyone out there capable of measuring up.

“What happened?” he asked with a serious expression as he grasped my bare arms.

“Does this have to do with Neil?” he asked incisively.

“Come on, let’s get some air,” he suggested.

After retrieving my coat to protect myself from the brisk night air, I followed him out the exit.

I still wasn’t sure how much I trusted him, considering that he was part of the Krew, and if he hung out with those people he was likely similar to them in some ways.

His vibe, however, felt anything but dangerous.

We sat down outside on a wooden bench, also decorated with fake cobwebs, while nearby a group of people talked and smoked. The fact that we weren’t in a particularly isolated or secluded place calmed me down a bit.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Luke brought a cigarette to his lips and felt around in the pocket of his jacket for the lighter.

I took the opportunity to really evaluate him and realized that he wasn’t a bad looking guy at all.

I’d even go so far as to say he was hot, just like that sleaze bag Xavier, with the main difference being that the latter was, in fact, a sleaze bag…

Luke had a masculine yet angelic-looking face. His blue eyes shone bright even in the dark, gloomy night. His blond hair was all ruffled and fell over his forehead. His nose was straight and proportionate and he had the lean body of a male model.

“Your friend is depraved with no empathy or respect for other people,” I snapped automatically, and he burst into laughter.

Well, I was glad to see someone was having fun, at least.

“What did he do this time?” He exhaled smoke into the air. I still wasn’t sure if I was confiding in the right person, but at least I knew his friend’s dirty deeds would come as no surprise to him.

“He took me into a bedroom where he knew Jennifer was waiting.” I wrapped my coat around myself more tightly and squeezed my thighs together against the cold. I saw Luke’s eyes flicker briefly down to my legs before returning to my face.

“And he suggested a sex game, right?” he asked, smiling. He might have found the situation amusing, but I was just disgusted and disappointed.

“He wanted Jennifer and me to play. Whoever was better at seducing him got to…”

“Fuck him,” he finished for me, taking another drag from his cigarette. I looked at him again, and the longer I analyzed him, the less I saw him as a friend of Neil’s or a member of the Krew and the more I saw just another nice, normal dude.

“I think he probably wanted to show you how different you are from the rest of them,” he explained.

“Luke, he kissed me and a few days ago we…” I paused because I wasn’t entirely comfortable telling him that kind of thing about myself. I bit my lip and fell silent, hoping he’d figure it out on his own.

“He definitely likes you, that’s for sure.

But I think he sees you more as someone to be protected than someone who could actually be a part of his life.

” He took one last drag and put out his cigarette, looking back at me.

My brow furrowed as I tried to follow his reasoning, and it occurred to me that he might be on to something.

Neil did like me, but he also thought I was a girl—too naive and inexperienced to be with him.

I sighed, and as I watched the cloud of frozen breath slip from my lips, I thought about what Neil was doing at that moment up in that room.

I wondered if he was done already or if he was just starting.

Did he enjoy it the way he’d enjoyed it with me?

Was that bitch Jennifer happy that she’d finally got what she wanted?

“You need to stop thinking that someone like him might change. People like us, we don’t change,” he declared firmly, looking first at my eyes and then down to my lips. I felt a jolt of electricity at his powerful, plain, and, above all, truthful words.

Luke was probably waiting for me to argue his claim, but instead I just dipped my head and accepted that uncomfortable truth within myself.

“But you, Selene…”

He tilted up my chin with his index finger, and his voice turned gentle and understanding. “You’re so beautiful and so smart. Do you realize how much better you can do than him?”

I appreciated the attempt to make me feel better, but I needed to close this Neil chapter of my life. The chapter about the screwed-up boy who, with just the sound of his voice, could reach places inside me that I hadn’t even realized existed.

Nevertheless, I smiled at Luke and he got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head and looking around anxiously. I didn’t understand the sudden change in his demeanor, but I didn’t question him.

“You don’t seem to be like them,” I pointed out, looking up at him. Luke eyes locked on mine and he frowned.

“You mean like the Krew?” he asked.

“Exactly.” I nodded and wrapped my coat more tightly around myself again. Luke smiled when he noticed. I was shivering from the cold.

“And what makes you think that?” he continued, apparently intrigued by this avenue of discussion.

“I don’t know; it’s just a feeling.” A feeling that fluctuated because, sometimes, Luke took on a persona that made me think differently of him, while at other times he seemed harmless, nice to talk with.

“Wrong feeling,” he answered, a teasing look on his face. He continued to stand a little bit away from me. He seemed uneasy. He kept glancing around like he wanted to make sure no one saw him there with me.

Was he ashamed to be seen with me?

“Afraid Xavier’s going to laugh at your for hanging out with me?”

“Do I look stupid to you? I don’t give a shit what Xavier says.” He ran a hand through his blond hair and propped his foot up on the bench, a short distance away from me. “But I don’t want any problems with Neil…”

I nearly laughed in his face.

Was he serious?

“I think he’s a little busy with something else at the moment. Believe me, Neil doesn’t care about me.” A hysterical bubble of laughter rose up from the back of my throat. There was no need to worry about Neil. He couldn’t care less if someone approached me, even—

“Remember how, after you kissed me in the pool house, he threw you out?” Luke said, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d adopted a brazen posture that contrasted with his oh-so-angelic face. I hoped I didn’t blush at the mention of our kiss, that childish, almost involuntary gesture I’d made.

“So? Do you think he’ll get mad at you if he sees us here just talking?” It was insane to think about. I would have slapped Mr. Disaster myself if he pulled something like that after what had just happened with Jennifer. He had absolutely no right.

Luke shook his head and smiled like the answer was obvious to him.

“He’s shared every other girl with us, except for you,” he pointed out, scrutinizing me like he might figure out why.

“He just tried to share me with Jennifer tonight.” Nausea clenched my stomach at the very idea. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted a long detox from Neil and the feelings he generated in me.

“He wanted you to share him with Jennifer, which is very different.” He looked me up and down, pausing on my legs.

I cleared my throat and looked over his shoulder at small group passing by.

The girls called out flirtatious greetings to Luke while the boys avoided his eyes, intimidated.

I realized then that he produced that same sense of awe I felt from people when I was in a public place with Neil.

It seemed that everyone knew who Luke was and they feared him.

“Apparently you’re just as infamous as your friends,” I said, nodding at the passing group. Luke smiled mysteriously and looked back at my face.

“I never said I was any different,” he answered, shrugging.

I got up from the bench, wandering around a little and trying to ignore the cold air against my skin. I felt horribly vulnerable, a broken heart close to another boy who could probably cause me to make similar mistakes.

But what I really wanted was to prove that I wasn’t like Neil, that I couldn’t just use other people for personal gain.

“I don’t want to have beef with Neil, but…

” Luke spoke again, and I turned my full attention on him.

He took a few steps toward me, towering over me, and looked down into my face like he was tracing every line.

“I was clear with him that, if you ever wanted anything from me, I wouldn’t hold off,” he finished with a provocative smile.

Did he really mean that?

I blushed violently, and I was sure that this time my cheeks were actually blazing.

I wasn’t completely unmoved by someone like Luke, and perhaps if I had been a different sort of person, I could have just taken the opportunity that had been presented to me.

I’d liked our kiss. It wasn’t as devastating as Neil’s, but it wasn’t bad either, far from it.

“I’m not… I’m not that kind of person. I couldn’t—”

“I understand the kind of person you are; you don’t have to explain yourself.

I think the person who doesn’t understand is Neil.

” He looked deeply into my eyes for a moment before continuing.

“Now, I think I really should go back into the house. Are you here with anyone?” he asked considerately and I nodded.

I needed to find Alyssa and get out of there right away.

After telling Luke goodbye, I hunted Alyssa down, determined to get back home.

I told her everything, sparing no details, and she didn’t hesitate to call Neil an asshole, a pervert, and a dickhead.

I was glad she could because, unfortunately, there seemed to be something inside me that prevented me from hating him the way I would have liked.

I got back home at two in the morning and thanked Alyssa for the ride.

I tried not to make any noise as I entered the house, even taking my shoes off outside so I didn’t wake anyone.

But when I walked into the living room, I found Logan still on the sofa, with a thousand-yard stare pointed at a package that sat in front of the lit fireplace.

“Logan…” I murmured in concern, dropping my shoes near the front door and running barefoot to him. I didn’t even need to hear him speak to understand how upset he was.

“I found it out the porch, in front of the door…”

A delivery from Player 2511.

The fourth riddle.