Page 80 of Neo
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. You’re leaving and I’m not. I came here with my own dreams, Neo. I’m going to finish my degree in the very place where my mom didn’t get a chance to. I’m going to get into law school. I’m going to have a fantastic career as a litigator somewhere and in that life, there’s no room for me to be the girlfriend of a professional hockey player. Think about it.”
“I won’t let you go,” he unclenches the same fist and uses it to cradle the side of my face. “I love you, Violet. Please don’t hurt me like this.”
Hurt him?
He just doesn’t get it.
I turn my head and kiss the inside of his palm. “There are the way that I want things and then there’s the way that things are. Good bye, Neo.”
I walk out of his bedroom door and try fighting back the tears as he recklessly calls after me.
“You’re pissing me off, Violet. This shit ain’t funny. Come back here.”
There’s a lot of people in the main room of the house, including Shane, Bass, and Lucia. They watch the both of us with cautious glances, but I don’t respond to Neo at all.
“I’m speaking to you!” He yells wildly. “Shane, don’t let her leave.”
Shane looks at me with pleading eyes, but I ignore them. Neo runs down the stairs, grabbing me by the arm.
“Stop ignoring me.”
The entire team watches Neo lose his shit. I hate how this is probably coming off to everyone. Their captain, their ice hero, looks like a crazy lovesick boy, running after the cold-hearted girl who broke his heart.
“Let go of me,” I say cooly.
“Violet,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Let me go.”
He releases my arm put then points to every player in the room.
“If any one of you lets her leave this house, I will fuck you up.”
“Cariño, ¿qué haces?” Lucia says to him and I don’t know the translation of what she asked, but the intent is pretty clear. She wants him to relax.
“Cap, you need to calm down,” Bass says, like he’s staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. “If Violet wants to go home, then that’s her prerogative. She’s a guest here.”
“Are you okay?” Shane asks, approaching me slowly.
“This is a personal disagreement between the two of us. I just need a chance to explain some things to her,” Neo tells the room. “Everything’s fine.”
“Are you willing to stay a bit longer, Violet?” Shane asks me.
I shake my head no.
Silent tears rolling down my face.
“She doesn’t want to stay, Neo,” Shane tells him. “Why don’t the both of you sleep on it and revisit things in the morning?”
“Please, Violet.” Neo says, pain etched in his voice.
My resolve is slipping.
I have to get out before I change my mind.
So I run.
Right out the front door and down the road toward campus.