Page 71 of Let the Game Begin (Kiss Me Like You Love Me #1)
Neil
I came to my senses.
As compelling as Miss Anna’s words had been, I had realized once again that I was never going to be able to undertake any sort of journey with Selene. My issues were far beyond the ordinary emotional problems experienced by regular people who lived their lives while clinging to pointless illusions.
Just then, the dawn of another goddamned day was filtering through my bedroom window where, for more than an hour already, I had been hitting my punching bag with just my black wraps wound around my hands.
Working out every morning was a good way to vent some of my anger, especially when the nightmares seized my brain.
Boxing kept me from succumbing to the wrong temptations and gave me an outlet for my anxieties—other than sex.
I threw punch after punch, alternating hooks with uppercuts and uppercuts with jabs. I controlled my breathing, bounced in place and then struck again.
Hook, hook, uppercut, jab.
Now, however, another even more dangerous problem had been added to my long list of them: the girl from Detroit. I smiled as I thought about her.
I was a bundle of contradictions: I wanted Selene all to myself, but at the same time, I didn’t want her to get attached to me, because I knew I could never give her the things she really deserved.
Knowing that made me feel increasingly uncomfortable, so I rolled my shoulders and hit the bag again with a powerful strike, making it swing wildly from side to side.
I shouldn’t have let myself get distracted.
Overthinking could have ruined the last ten minutes of my training, but that happened anyway because of my phone. I searched for it, following the sound, and found it on the dresser next to the bed. A bead of sweat rolled down my temple, and I stopped it with the back of my hand before I answered.
“What the fuck do you want?” I spit out breathlessly, hearing a sardonic laugh on the other end of the line. I was tired and sweaty, my black tank top was sticking to me along with my sweatpants. I wanted to take a shower; until I could, my anxiety wasn’t going to lessen.
“Good morning to you too, dickhead. Don’t tell me you’re fucking right now?” Xavier ribbed me, and I sighed.
“What do you want?” I asked again. He snorted, and I heard a female voice near him, a sign that he was probably with Alexia or possibly someone else.
“Hold on, kitten, give me a break. I’m on the phone,” he chided the girl, and I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t Alexia, then, because she hated being called kitten.
“Spit it out,” I ordered impatiently, earning myself a curse from him.
“I heard that Carter Nelson woke up from his coma and that he’s planning to turn you in.” He dropped the bomb all in one breath, and I went still.
Shit.
By then, I had completely forgotten about the kid’s existence. I had been hoping I could simply wash my hands of him, but now he was back just to fuck up my day.
“How do you know this?” I scrubbed a hand over my sweaty face and repositioned the phone in my hand.
“Reliable sources have informed me,” he answered, vague but confident.
“Fuck,” I swore. Now this was a real shitshow. I needed to find some way to stop Carter from bringing up my name, or I would be immediately arrested.
“You got something in mind?” Xavier knew me well.
“I’ll see you tonight at Blanco,” I answered, telling him nothing.
Then I hung up and got in the shower. I had a short amount of time to come up with a plan I could execute immediately that would resolve the whole sticky situation.
***
I didn’t go home after my classes to avoid running into Babygirl or making my brother suspicious. Instead, I went straight to Blanco.
The LED sign illuminated the packed parking lot adjacent to the club. As usual, the place was full, packed with men and women of all ages, intent on entertaining themselves in the worst possible ways.
I stepped out of my Maserati and leaned on the hood, lighting a cigarette. My leather jacket pulled against my biceps with every movement, and my imposing presence attracted a number of stares, especially from women.
One girl in particular, wearing a short, slutty dress, stared at me insistently, making it very clear to me that she wouldn’t mind at all if I were to plow her in any corner of the lot.
A glance at her hair—the color of wheat—made me momentarily consider wasting half an hour with her.
My body, however, seemed numb to the concept and didn’t give me any arousal signals.
My heart did not pound the way it had the night before.
I inhaled the smoke and looked away from the blond to the entrance where two women were walking right toward me.
Alexia swung her hips, propped up on a pair of tall leather boots that enhanced her soft curves.
She had small breasts but her ass was first-rate.
Jennifer, in her braids, had a more hard-edged and provocative style.
She had a shapely body, and her plump lips could work magic when they were wrapped around my cock.
Though, after what had gone down with Selene, I had stopped paying any attention to her.
“Where are the others?” I asked immediately, without saying hello and addressing myself only to Alexia.
“Inside,” she answered with a shrug. She reached out to me with her fingers in a V shape, wordlessly requesting that I pass her the cigarette. After one final drag, I obliged her.
“Thanks, boss.” She grinned, bringing it to her lips. Jennifer, by contrast, watched our interaction with rage because she hated being ignored.
“You’re the one who talked to Paul and told him not to let me set foot in his place again, aren’t you?” she started in, already furious, her voice low and menacing.
Paul was the owner of Blanco as well as the only person who really mattered in the local cocaine trade. I was, in fact, the person who asked him to cut Jennifer off, because she needed to pay for what she’d done to Selene.
“I haven’t been able to score in two weeks because of you.” She thrust a finger at me, but I just continued to lean against the car, my arms folded and my posture unruffled.
“Chill out, Jen.” Alexia tossed the cigarette butt to the ground and drew close to Jennifer before she could go off on a psychotic rant.
“Chill out? He’s been acting like a total asshole ever since I laid a finger on his little brat.” She moved toward me, and I darted forward like I was spring-loaded.
“You don’t talk about her,” I threatened. And then Luke arrived, grabbing my arm as he did so.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he asked in confusion as Xavier walked toward us without a care in the world, a sinister grin on his face.
He zipped up his pants as he glanced between me and Jennifer. “You two wanna knock it off? I can’t even take a piss without finding you out here fighting,” he grumbled with a dismissive wave of his hand. But Jennifer ignored him and went right back on the attack.
“You fucked her raw! She must be really good at spreading those legs because she’s literally fucked your brains out!” The bitch kept shouting as Alexia got between us, trying to push her away from me.
“Better than you, that’s for sure,” I lied, giving her a wink. Selene wasn’t more skilled than Jennifer—she couldn’t have been, considering her inexperience. But the sex I had with her was indeed better than what I had with Alexia or Jennifer.
“Did you fuck her bare? Seriously?” Xavier cut in, but I had no intention of telling that story or of confessing that Selene was as pure as any princess from a fairy tale.
“Enough! Let it go!” Luke came to my defense. I backed away as he continued to hold me with one arm.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and walked away to try to regain some control over myself. I could hear Jennifer cursing me, yelling and shouting all kinds of nastiness, but I didn’t care.
I didn’t give a damn about her.
I went back to my car and signaled Xavier and Luke.
“Get over here, guys. Stop wasting time with that bitch,” I said bluntly.
It was sufficient enough to shut Jennifer up and make her realize that I was no longer in the mood to fuck around.
Alexia whispered something into her ear and she sighed, saying nothing.
Good. If she hadn’t shut up, I would have shut her mouth for her in the least pleasant way possible. Once the blond was dealt with, I looked to Xavier and Luke, who were both frowning at me.
“I need you. There’s somewhere we have to go,” I informed them decisively. They exchanged blank looks with one another before turning back to me.
“Where?” Luke asked, skeptical.
“Is this about fucking shit up?” Xavier interjected with considerably more enthusiasm.
“It’s about one of our fuckups, yeah,” I answered, and we understood one another without exchanging another word.
“Fuck yeah! I’m in!” Xavier exclaimed, pulling out his car keys. Luke, by contrast, took a deep breath before murmuring “okay.” But he didn’t sound convinced.
“Do you have a problem with that?” I asked him bluntly, making him flinch. He narrowed his eyes at me and jerked a thumb back toward the entrance to the club.
“I was on track to fuck a crazy-hot redhead in the bathroom in there, but now I need to postpone it because of you,” he answered, irritated.
Was that really why he wasn’t thrilled to be coming with us? I cocked an eyebrow and leaned in to within an inch of his nose.
“There will be other fucks. Now focus, because I won’t tolerate any kind of distraction.” I gave him two light slaps on the cheek to emphasize my point, and he just clenched his jaw without saying anything.
“Let’s go,” I said. I looked to Alexia and informed her that she was coming with me. Xavier and Luke would have to follow us in Xavier’s car.
“I’m coming, too,” Jennifer interrupted in a defiant tone before I could turn away.
“No, you’re not. You’re staying here,” I ordered without the slightest hesitation.