I choose pride as he comes right at me, only swerving seconds before taking me out. He whips around, spraying me with a blanket of snow. “Asshole!”
Slowing down, he pulls up beside me. “Get on,” he barks the order as if he expects me to obey.
I flip him my middle finger, teeth clamped down. “Fuck you!”
“Quit being a pain in the ass and get on the damn sled.”
“I’d rather trek up a mountain in the middle of a blizzard at midnight than take a ride from you. Besides,” I glance around the wooded area, “I’m looking for Crew.”
“You’re not gonna find him. He went home. Asked me to get you there safely.”
If he thinks I’m going to thank him and hop on, he’s wrong. “What’s the catch?”
He smirks. “Just doing my duty as a member of The Lawless and helping a student in need.”
“Bullshit. You don’t help anyone.”
Getting bored with this conversation, he scoots forward, making room for me. “Would you just get the hell on? I have better things to do than argue with you right now.”
Once again, choosing pride as my virtue, I drop my hands from my hips and continue walking back to the house.
Doesn’t mean Neo leaves, though. Which actually surprises me. Instead, he edges me, standing up, back arched while he drives. “Might do ya some good to quit being so fucking stubborn all the time. Maybe then your boy wouldn’t be mad at you.”
Gripping the strap to my back, I glower at him. “Don’t talk to me.”
“Point proven.”
“This isn’t me being stubborn. This is me disliking you and refusing to accept anything you offer. I don’t trust you and I never will.”
“Feelings are more than mutual. At least we have that in common.”
Why won’t this asshole just go away? I can literally see the house right in front of me. He knows I’m safe—not that he really cares. Hell, he doesn’t even give a damn about Crew, so I’m not sure why he’d do him any favors.
“So what’s the deal with you and Jagger? You fucking him, too?”
I stop walking, and Neo stops his sled. The grin on his face appalls me, almost as much as his ungodly sexiness does. No one should be allowed to look this good and act so inhumane. “What I do is none of your fucking business, Neo. Why don’t you just continue sticking your dick inside whatever pussy invites you in and leave me the hell alone.”
“Oh, but you’re wrong,” he tsks. “You see…those boys are my friends, and at one time, we were all really fucking close. And here you are, once again, trying to break apart a bond we’ve had since birth.”
His words hit me like a knife to the gut. Not because I care about what he thinks, but there is some truth to what he’s saying. I’m stepping between two friends and pulling them further and further apart.
I start walking again, and Neo starts creeping at my side…again. “You know I’m right.”
“You’re wrong!”
“Then why areyou so affected by what I said?”
“Go away!” I shout, not giving him the satisfaction of looking at him while I beg for his exit. When he doesn't leave, not that I expected him to, I say what needs to be said. “For the record, aside from my relationship with those guys, I’ve never done anything to come between your friendships.”
“Sure you have. Let’s see,” he begins, “it all started the night my mom died. I had to hunt Jagger’s ass down so we could go to the movies. Turns out, he was with you. Did you know my mom was the ride we got after Jagger’s sister couldn’t take us?”
I didn’t know that. No one ever told me. I steal a glance at him, searching for any hint that he’s lying.
He catches my quick look and continues, “Yep. She was gonna come right home and take us, but I told her I had to track down Jagger, so she ran some errands first.”
Chills break out over my entire body. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this? Is he implying that if Jagger didn’t come to meet me, his mom might still be alive? Does Neo blame me for his mom’s death,andhis sister’s fall?
“Neo, I swear. We never meant to hurt you. Is this why you hate me so much? Is that why you burned down my treehouse?”