Chapter 3 Neil #6
Picking one woman and pretending to declare eternal love to her was just a convention, just a fashion that society followed. Normal people thought that a marriage helped stabilize a relationship by adding obligations and commitments. In reality, though, nothing changed.
Women picked up men and left them behind like they were toys.
They fell in love every day because what they really loved was the idea of love.
They loved the attention, the fawning, and the idea of being with someone.
They loved thinking of themselves as necessary to another person, and they loved hearing “I love you.”
They loved jealousy.
They also loved the sex; they practically worshipped it.
And if they could find a man who gave them all of that, it was enough to call it love.
Whether it was me or some other man, it was all the same.
And Babygirl would understand that one day as well.
She’d forget about me in no time. She would come to understand that I was interchangeable, just like she was for me.
She would demonstrate how she could “love” anyone and that she said those meaningful words as lightly as I expelled smoke from a cigarette.
And I would know that I couldn’t trust Selene because she’d been sold a bunch of feelings by a society that didn’t understand how to feel anything at all.
Rejecting love was my only constant.
It was the only ending I could believe in.
“Hmm…” I grunted, taking a brazen look at Amanda’s ass as she put on her black coat. “Interesting.” I glanced back at the man who looked like he was trying to read my lecherous mind. He stared me down until he finally rested a hand on the base of his wife’s spine and followed her toward the exit.
“Can you imagine if he found out his blond bimbo had cheated on him with a student?” Xavier commented, and it brought a sly smile to my lips.
“I could give him some tips on how to keep her happy so she doesn’t need to go looking for other men. After all, that little butterfly deserves to be appreciated…” I answered amused, and Xavier and Luke laughed aloud at the insinuation.
That moment of levity, however, was interrupted by a pair of long legs wrapped in leather.
I followed them up to a matching leather jacket and a white sweater concealing firm tits and clinging like a second skin to a wasp waist. I considered the combustible combination of curves and savage femininity wrapped in black leather for a second before lifting my gaze to meet Megan Wayne’s emerald eyes.
Head Case was headed right for me, proud and self-confident.
Trailing behind was Logan. That was a combo I hadn’t been expecting.
“Oh, there you are, Miller. Your brother’s looking for you.” Megan halted in front of our table, drawing wicked glances from my friends. Like me, they had also noticed that, no matter how insufferable and obnoxious she might be, the woman oozed sex from every pore.
Megan was so goddamned similar to me. We both acted and thought in the same ways.
We had both been made strong by the traumatic things that happened to us.
It was that trauma that kept me from ever making a move on her.
If she were any other woman, I’d wonder how hard she applied herself when it came to pleasing a man. I’d wonder if she…
Shit.
I cleared my throat, coming to my senses.
“Why do you always feel the need to be where I am?” I snapped in annoyance.
“Think of me as a guardian angel.” Megan gave me a wink, but I ignored her, turning my attention to Logan, who was obviously agitated.
“God, Neil, are you okay? I saw what happened to your car. Who did it? Where were you when it happened?” He looked me up and down, checking to make sure there wasn’t a scratch on me.
“I was in a meeting with Robinson. And yeah, I’m fine,” I said reassuringly, giving him a pat on the back.
Logan sighed in relief and readjusted the heavy bag full of books on his shoulder. He still looked upset and afraid. I would wait until we got home to tell him about Player.
“It’s so touching, the way you care about him, princess,” Xavier sneered, but a look of warning from me was enough to shut him up.
“He was looking for you all over campus, and when I saw you leave with—” Megan spared a glance for Xavier and Luke, her lips twisted in disgust. “With these thugs you call friends…” She waved a dismissive hand.
“I said I’d come with him. He was really freaking out,” she explained, and Logan gave her a grateful smile.
This easiness between them was more than a little irritating for me.
Had my brother forgotten how dangerous the Wayne sisters could be?
I couldn’t even say which of the two was the worst.
“Fine. But we have to go now, and you have to give me a lift,” I ordered Logan, cutting Megan off. I didn’t feel like giving her any more of my attention.
Just her being that close to me was irritating.
“Well, as you can see, Neil is safe and sound. And a prick, but that’s nothing new,” Head Case continued anyway.
When I walked past her, I paused just inches from her pretty face.
She had to tilt her head back to look me in the eye, and I watched her inhale.
I knew what she was smelling: the scent of the excess bath gel I’d used just a few hours before.
“Knock it off. You are trying my patience,” I warned her seriously, though I had lost count by then of how many times I had given her a similar warning. Still, Megan just gave me a knowing grin and inched fearlessly closer.
“If you say it in that sexy voice, I’ll do whatever you bid me, my liege.
” She mock-bowed and cocked an eyebrow at me.
She was truly off her rocker. She just couldn’t stop provoking me even when I was explicitly telling her to stop.
It was why I hated her so much—she always did the opposite of whatever I told her to do, and she enjoyed winding me up until I lost control.
“I’m out of here,” I said, unwilling to continue that little scene. I was a man, not a boy consumed with pointless games. Logan followed me, but before we got too far, Xavier called me back.
“You going out with us tonight?” he asked. He and the rest of the Krew were going to Blanco. I, however, had no desire to get with a woman or to get drunk while club music slowly deafened me. But, as I looked back at him, a wild idea occurred to me.
“No, I think I have somewhere to be,” I said, sounding slightly uncertain. I didn’t even understand myself this time.
I swore under my breath and headed for the door, certain that I was headed straight into another major fuckup.