The ball didn’t go into the pocket—it didn’t even get near it. We really were losing miserably.
“Sorry,” I said softly to Luke, who just smiled at me, not at all bothered. I didn’t know this game, and I felt foolish for agreeing to play. Especially since Megan was amazing at it. Even worse, every time she leaned forward to expertly position her cue, Neil would sneak a peek at her butt. He did it very discreetly, but his eyes were undeniably tracking the woman’s enthralling form. I had seen right away that Mr. Disaster was not immune to Megan’s wild charms. Anyone would have been captivated by someone like her: strong, confident and extremely attractive.
“Let’s swap. We’re destroying you,” Neil suggested, pulling me abruptly from my thoughts. I didn’t know why he’d made this sudden request, but Luke didn’t object and walked over to stand next to Megan. I stayed where I was until I caught the scent of musk in the air and realized Neil was right behind me.
“Now I’ll show you how to hit it right, Babygirl,” he whispered in my ear. His strong torso brushed against my back, and his long arms wrapped around me, encircling me. Then, Neil forced me to bend forward and draped himself over me, not caring about all the stares we were attracting. I could feel his hips bump against my ass in a bold, uninhibited way. His hands covered mine, moving them into a better position. “It just takes patience, dedication, and precision. You’re a quick study; I’m sure you’ll get it this time,” he added, breath hot on my neck. If he kept talking to me in that low, thrilling voice, I would lose my mind completely. Neil—a man who could provoke such storms within me and upset my equilibrium—made eroticism into a deadly weapon, and I was his target.
In that moment he was using some strange erotic strategy to get me to yield inexorably to him. I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and as it burned down my throat, I looked at the end of the cue. Neil’s fingers were long and firm over mine. I stared at them and licked my lips, surprising myself with my intense desire to feel them all over my body.
“Come on,” he murmured. I focused on not letting him down, on striking the little colorful ball in the best way possible. I jabbed the cue forward with just the right amount of force.
I saw the ball spin, and then… It went into the pocket.
I stood frozen for a few moments, wondering whether I’d actually done it. But then my lips curved up into a grin, and I instinctively jumped for joy.
“Yes!” I let out a squeal of happiness and turned to Neil, who gave me the loveliest smile I had ever seen.
And that was the real victory: getting to see him smile.
We continued the game against Megan and Luke until we won.
United, simpatico, strong. Together.
I still knew that Neil had demons but, somehow, those demons had managed to communicate with me.
I no longer feared him.
I felt protected by him.
And it felt like each day I discovered a new part of his personality that did not require words because I was learning to read his silent signals.
I could sense the purity of my own feelings and the strength of something else that was being born within him.
Maybe this thing that brought us together would never blossom in full. Maybe we’d never have a real romance or be a real couple. Maybe we’d just keep bumping up against each other forever.
Maybe we’d keep finding each other whenever we wanted to get lost.
11
No other girl ever mattered that much to me.
Neil
What the fuck was happening?
I had no idea either.
Selene and I had just come back from the club, and I brought her to the pool house with me for no reason that I could think of.
That was where I took the girls I fucked.
The blond girls. Always blond.
Selene, apparently, was the exception to the rule.
“I didn’t know you were so good at pool,” she commented from behind me, her voice echoing off the walls of my lair. I still couldn’t believe she was there with me.
Babygirl had arrived from Detroit that morning—Matt had been talking about it constantly for days on end. But I’d welcomed her much differently than the rest of my family because someone had ripped up my drawings, and I’d lost my cool, like usual.
