Page 73 of Neo
“Why can’t you go with me?”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea. Plus, last I heard, you’re fucking Bender Price.”
“Oh, is that it?” Her face brightens. “You’re jealous?”
“Not even a little bit. I’m just pointing out that you’re in a new relationship, just like I am. We should respect our new partners and keep our distance.”
“A relationship?” She scoffs. “You?”
“Did I stutter?”
“Are you trying to wife up one of the puck bunnies now?” She laughs mockingly. “You can’t make a hoe into a housewife, Neo. Everyone knows that.”
I keep a stone face. “I would appreciate it if you would respect me and my girl and stop popping up everywhere. You’re not invited.”
“Popping up? This is the school hockey rink where my father is the coach. I always belong here.”
“Your father isn’t here right now and last time I checked, you aren’t on the team.”
“Wait, you’re serious?”
“Very.”
She paces for a moment, then faces me once she thinks she’s figured it out.
“Is it the freshman?” she asks in horror.
“Who it is doesn’t matter.”
“You are throwing me aside for a fucking freshman?”
“How can I throw you aside when we were never together to begin with, Vikki?”
“Oh, that’s how you’re playing it now? Pretending like we didn’t have a relationship?”
“We were occasionally fucking each other.”
“Exclusively!”
I was sleeping with Vikki exclusively, not because she was my girlfriend, but because I don’t slide my dick into every random girl that bats her eyes at me. That’s how you get a damn STD or a baby before you even make it to pro.
“Well, now I’m exclusively with someone else. End of conversation.”
I stand.
She peers up at me with what I believe is a phony wounded expression, but for a brief moment I feel guilty, especially because it was so obvious to everyone but her why I even bothered past date one with her in the first place.
Vikki staggers back, her dark eyes shimmering with tears and her lip quivering. She wraps her arms around herself as though she’s hugging the heartbreak that’s ripping through her.
“That’s it? Just like that?”
“Just like that.” My cold reply hangs in the air, a heavy finality that severs the invisible thread between us.
Her tears spill over, leaving faint trails on her cheeks. It was harsh, but this conversation needed to be had. She sent Bender to my party to send a message, an obvious attempt to make me jealous, but this is my response.
I should feel something, remorse, pity... anything. But I feel nothing other than an overwhelming urge to get away from her.
I turn to leave when she throws one last accusation my way. “You used me! You used me and my father to get ahead in your career and now that he’s not coaching this year, you’re just tossing me aside.”