Page 40 of Let the Game Begin (Kiss Me Like You Love Me #1)

Selene

I sipped my coffee, trying to get something in my stomach.

My mind was still combing over memories of the previous day.

I had decided to go to Blanco with Logan.

In fact, I’d driven him. I found him in the living room, trembling as he searched for the car keys.

All he did was say Neil’s name over and over, and that he should have stopped him because he was dangerous in “that state.” I had no idea what he was talking about until I finally coaxed the whole story about Chloe and Carter out of him.

I sighed and put my cup back on the counter.

Too much about that boy still eluded me.

I’d watched him beat Carter bloody; I’d seen how incredibly strong he was, and I’d certainly observed the way he lost control.

He had even elbowed me in the midst of his rage and didn’t appear to notice.

It was like he couldn’t recognize anyone in that moment, not even himself.

My silent musing was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. I watched as Anna straightened her uniform and hurried to the living room.

Chloe was out with Mia, my dad was at the hospital, and Logan and Neil were probably still sleeping.

I followed along behind Anna and waited in the kitchen doorway as she opened the door.

I held my breath when I saw two policemen standing at the door.

They scrutinized the house like a pair of bloodhounds while Anna tried to ask them what they wanted.

“We’re looking for Neil Miller. Is he at home?” one of them asked. The officers were middle-aged, tall, and imposing, and they wore their uniforms with obvious confidence.

Anna started and glanced around, perhaps looking for some way to stall or an excuse to offer.

A rush of anxious fear ran from my head to my toes.

Surely they were here about Carter. I wanted to jump in and rescue Anna from the awkward situation, but the sound of wild footsteps stopped me in my tracks.

I turned my head and watched Neil descending the giant marble staircase. His brown hair was mussed, like always. His golden eyes were lively and gleaming, and his lips were pressed into a severe yet charming expression.

He walked past me without even acknowledging my presence, and a wave of fresh amber smell hit me, giving me goosebumps.

He’d undoubtedly just come from one of his many showers.

By now, I was very familiar with his habits and his fixation on personal hygiene.

He couldn’t seem to go without bathing multiple times a day, and weirdly enough, I also found that aspect of him attractive.

It made me want to leap on him and drag my tongue over every inch of his skin the way I never had before.

I was a contradiction even to myself. I alternated between moments of sheer exhilaration and moments of deep regret. I still hadn’t been able to have a talk with Jared, but I was going to very soon, just as soon as things calmed down for him.

“Officer Scott, what an honor!”

I snapped back to the present moment when I heard Neil’s deep baritone greeting one of the men at the door. All I could see was his broad shoulders and the outline of his back’s musculature.

“Anna, you go on. I’ll take care of things here.” He discharged the housekeeper with a polite smile and turned his attention back to the two officers. In the meantime, I hid myself behind the doorframe and spied on the scene.

“May we come in?” Officer Scott asked in a sarcastic tone. He rested his hands on his belt, not far from the holster of his weapon, and eyed Neil warily. Neil didn’t react and simply moved aside to allow them inside.

“Are you aware of what happened last night at an establishment called Blanco?” asked Officer Scott, who appeared to be the dourer of the two. Neil just stood there and stared at him, looking for all the world like he couldn’t care less.

Not a single emotion crossed his perfect, enigmatic face.

“At Blanco?” he repeated, pretending to think about it.

“Yeah, the club. Your Maserati can usually be found parked right out front.”

“And? The fact that I’ve been there doesn’t mean anything,” he deflected, maintaining his self-control, even though I saw his shoulders stiffen and his face grow a bit darker.

Officer Scott started walking around the living room while his partner pulled aside the curtains to peer out the window. What were they looking for?

“There was a fight there last night. Carter Nelson was attacked inside the club and beaten to a pulp.”

Neil parted his lips slightly. He wore the same bewildered expression he had that night, like he no longer remembered anything.

“He’s in the hospital now with major head trauma. He’s in a coma,” Officer Scott went on, but Neil just continued to stare impassively at him.

“The Nelson family would like to press charges against the assailant.” The officer approached Neil and inspected him with narrowed eyes.

“So, Neil, there’s only two ways this can go.

That poor boy could get better or he could die,” he put special emphasis on the last word, just to make sure Neil really got the message.

“It’s all going to depend on the location, severity, and extent of the brain damage that put him in that coma.

You should know all about that, though. You live with a doctor, don’t you?

” Scott drew back his lips in a sarcastic half-smile, but Neil was stoic and maintained his cold stare.

“And why should that matter to me, Roger?” For the first time, I saw real, barely suppressed hatred in the officer’s eyes, when Neil called the man by his first name.

“I get the funny feeling that you had something to do with all of this. Some of the witnesses described the assailant’s appearance to me in detail, though no one mentioned you by name.

You better pray that boy wakes up and doesn’t have irreparable damage.

If he dies, Miller, I swear on my life I will see you locked up.

” He spoke in a half-mutter but with such malice that it raised goosebumps on my arm.

“With what evidence? I had nothing to do with it.” Neil gave the man a victorious smile.

I couldn’t figure out how he was so confident that he wasn’t being trapped here.

Someone could have recorded what happened, or taken a photo, or simply just said his name, yet Neil seemed completely sure that no such evidence would ever turn up against him.

“You and that gang of thugs you run with…” The officer shook his head, giving him a disdainful look.

“Forcing people’s silence with threats and cruelty, but don’t think I’ll forget about you, Neil.

You are a thorn in my side that I’m gonna dig out sooner or later.

And this time, all the expensive lawyers and rich daddies in the world won’t be able to stop me,” he promised and I flinched.

Obviously, Neil and this man had some unfinished business between them that I knew nothing about.

How could I? The only things I knew about the guy were his physical strength and his sexual prowess, because those were the only parts of himself he ever showed anyone.

“I think we’re done here, officer.” Neil smiled menacingly at the man who ran his tongue over his teeth inscrutably. Then he nodded at his partner and together they left.

I kept still, hiding behind the doorframe like a burglar.

I just didn’t want to stop watching Neil, not for a single moment.

He sat down then on the living room sofa, legs spread with his elbows balanced on his knees and his face in his hands.

He was worried—clearly tense. All I wanted to do was go reassure him.

“Neil…it’s all my fault!” I flinched when I unexpectedly heard Chloe’s voice calling into the living room. She rushed to her brother, and he let her curl up on his lap. He held her close and stroked her blond hair.

“It’s not your fault; it’s Carter’s. If he hadn’t tried to rape you, I wouldn’t have had to hurt him.” He rocked her and Chloe wept into the crook of his neck. My chest tightened painfully, and I rubbed it with one hand as though that might ease the pain.

“Don’t cry, Little Koala.” He kissed her forehead and smiled at her.

So Neil felt things after all. He was human, and he had a heart, just like the rest of us. He simply chose to only gift it to a few people—the ones who were worth it. He was handling Chloe like she was still a girl, a fragile butterfly, and I wanted him to treat me that same way.

In that moment, I realized that I was going to have to earn his trust if I wanted to get to his heart.

Neil was a dark knight in a castle of crystal—visible but removed.

And he didn’t let anyone in, except for the people he loved.

And I realized that I wanted a place inside that castle.

That I wanted to be counted among Neil’s loved ones.

I felt stupid for thinking something like that or even hoping that it could happen, but a girl could dream.

I wasn’t going to use him the way he thought I would. It wouldn’t just be sex between us, but with sexuality—which was the only means he used to communicate—I was going to touch his soul. And I was going to obliterate the barbed wire he’d wrapped around it to protect himself from the world.

***

After the Carter incident and the officers’ visit to the house, I got my life back on track again.

I didn’t miss another class and tried to socialize more with Logan’s friends.

I was finding my place in the group and working on fitting in.

The group was always welcoming, however, and they were very kind to me.

Which is why, despite my introverted nature, it was easy to establish a good rapport with them.

“You should quit ogling everyone’s butt,” Julie told Adam. This had been an ongoing discussion between the two the entire time we’d been enjoying our break between classes. The sun was lighting up the blue sky, and we were all sitting on benches in one of the many green areas on campus.

“We’re men; looking is allowed,” Jake cut in, defending his friend. Adam and Julie had only just started dating, but she was already playing the role of jealous girlfriend.

“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 main thoroughfare 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.