Nero (Made Men #1) (11 page)

Her
mind fully returned. “So, how long is it gonna take for me to turn into a wolf, so I can run the hell away from you?”

Chapter
Fifteen

I Want a Fucking Hug

Nero got a good laugh out of that one
. She had never heard him laugh like that before. His mood had greatly improved.
Yeah, because he finally got to stick his tongue down my throat.

“Just don’t lie to me again
. I’m not going to put up with it the next time.”

Elle knew she should really start cutting down the lies
. “Fine, I won’t lie to you anymore.”

Nero looked at her
, and when he was satisfied with her answer, he started the car. Once he was on the road, Elle decided to ask the question that had been bothering her all last night.

“How did you know
I’m seventeen?” She kept her eyes on Nero.

“All the seniors are either seventeen or eighteen. I just went with the one that popped in my
head first. Lucky guess.” She watched Nero not move his eyes from the road. She knew Nero had only had two options.
There was a fifty-fifty shot
.

“How old are you?”

“Turned eighteen in August.”

“Feel any different?” Elle was curious if she would feel like an adult, even though she felt like an adult already.

“Other than the fact I can buy cigarettes and get charged as an adult, nope.”

Elle laughed hard
. She’d figured that was about how it would feel.

Nero looked at Elle and she quit laughing
as he grabbed her hand. Looking at his hand woven in hers, she noticed again it actually looked much worse than yesterday.

“Was there another face that needed punching?”

Nero smiled. “Nope.”

“Nero
, you can’t lie to me if I can’t lie to you.” She was going to make sure everything was going to be fair between them.

Nero looked at Elle
. “I’m not lying. I didn’t punch anyone.”

Elle knew he wasn’t lying
.
Liars don’t look you in the eye when they lie.

“Will you do me a favor and quit punching people and things?”

He squeezed her hand
. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep, Elle.”

“Well
, will you do me a favor and
try
to quit punching people and things?”

Nero took her hand and placed a kiss on the back. “For you, I will
.” He kept her hand on his side, putting it in his lap. She thought about snatching it back, but the look he gave her made her reconsider.

She relaxed in his car for the rest of the way to school. She wished she didn’t have to go
, content with staying in his car, but she needed to be there for Chloe.

They pulled up into the parking lot
and Elle scanned her eyes across the lot for her friend. When she didn’t see her, Elle started to get anxious to get out of the car.

She figured Nero
had caught on. “Elle, I told Amo to go ahead and take her to class. She will be right there when we get there.” He held her hand a little tighter. “Together.”

Elle decided to calm her nerves
. “Okay.”
I’m sure she’s fine with Amo.

Nero finally let her hand go and she exited the car
, grabbing her bag. She decided to trust Nero, and instead of running to her classroom, she stood by the car. As Nero reached her, he took her hand and they both started walking in the building together. Elle did walk faster than she thought Nero would like, but she didn’t care—she just wanted to see Chloe.

When they got close to the classroom
, Elle noticed Amo leaning against the lockers. He looked even rougher than Nero did this morning.

After
she finally reached the door, she poked her head inside. Relief flooded over her when she saw Chloe right in her seat at the back of the class. She could tell Chloe might have been a little pissy, but she would take that.

Grateful, s
he did something she was sure she would regret later, yet she was too happy Chloe was safe.
I may finally have someone else I can trust with her.

Elle hugged Amo’s side,
then she leaned up as high as she could and kissed him on the cheek, barely making it. “Thanks.”

Elle ran off into the classroom to go be with her best friend
. She couldn’t be happier.

*
* *

Nero couldn’t be more pissed
. He didn’t understand how Amo could get a fucking thank you without asking. How he could get a kiss without asking.
How come she never throws herself at me for a hug? I want a fucking hug.

He decided to keep his cool
, though.

“Did she just do what I just think she did?” Amo
asked, pointing in the direction Elle had run away from Nero,
again.

“Yep
, she did.”

Amo held up his hands
. “Hey, man, I didn’t do anything.”

Nero grabbed Amo’s shoulder
. “It’s fine, man. Someone looks like shit today. Rough night?”

“Try rough fucking morning.” Amo lowered his voice
. “That girl is fucking nuts. I can’t babysit her anymore. Tell Vince to do it; he’ll like watching her.”

“That’s exactly why he can’t watch her
. Elle ain’t going to trust him with her.” Hell, Nero wouldn’t trust his sister with Vincent. In five seconds, he could have any girl drop to her knees.

“Well
, I don’t know what to tell you. She practically screamed when I almost touched her, and it wasn’t the kind of scream I made Christa do last night.”

Nero knew this job wasn’t going to be easy
. The girls were possibly tighter than him and his crew.

“Listen
, you know our job. We want in, don’t we?”

Amo nodded
. “Okay. Fine.”

Nero decided to change the subject
. “Christa, huh?”

“Yep
, and Christa has a shit ton of friends waiting to meet some prep school guys tomorrow.”

“Good
. You, me, and Vince deserve a reward after these two.” Nero had to get laid.

T
he way Elle’s mouth felt only made it worse. He hadn’t planned to kiss her like that; however, the only other thing he wanted to do was choke her for telling him to go to bed earlier. The only reason he had stayed up the whole night was because all he could think about was a way to get her to stop riding the bus.
And fucking her brains out.
Then, when she moaned in his mouth, he had to stop because, if she made another sound, he was sure to take her on the hood of his car.

“Yes
, we do, man. Oh, that reminds me, when I met Chloe this morning, her car was still there. I figured her dad would have picked it up.”

“Yeah
, me, too. Maybe he was too busy running the city.” He didn’t know why else he would leave a BMW.

“Or maybe he doesn’t like dealing with her crazy ass just as much as
me.”

*
* *

“Elle
, I can’t deal with him. He’s crazy!” Chloe tried to keep her voice down, but Elle knew she was about to lose it.

“
Shh, I know, but you are here in one piece, untouched, right?” Elle was making sure no one had tried to give them any trouble.

“Barely! He tried to push me to walk beside him. All he had to do was tell me to.”

Elle laughed. “Chloe, you gotta start to get used to walking beside us. It’s okay as long as we’re with them. This is a good thing we got going now. I’m not as worried anymore. Are you?”

Elle knew she wasn’t by the way she looked
. She definitely had gotten more than an hour of sleep.

After a minute
, Chloe finally answered, “No, I’m not that scared when they are around.”

“See
, Chloe. They can get us to survive the rest of the semester. Then, when we’re out, we won’t need them anymore.” She knew they would finally be free, and it was going to just be her and Chloe.

Chloe sighed
. “Whatever. Fine.”

“Want to go shopping tomorrow
? I got Friday off. I think we deserve it.” Her closet seriously needed some help and she deserved a girl’s night.

“We sure do
, surrounded by those three idiots.”

Chapter
Sixteen

What’s
Up His Butt?

Elle watched Nero walk into the classroom. Whatever he and Amo had been talking about had made him pissed.
Geez, I thought he was pissed earlier.

This time
, Nero was fuming. Elle thought she should probably be a little scared. When he started to take his seat right in front of her, he gave her the look of death.
Okay, now I
am
a little scared.

She had no clue what
had gone on between them in the hall, but something told her she probably didn’t want to know.

After
Mr. Evans assigned everyone
Beowulf,
they started going around the classroom, reading a scene aloud by playing popcorn. Elle honestly wasn’t paying attention; she was too preoccupied thinking about what Nero was so pissed about.

Nero’s look of death brought a memory to her mind.

Elle
and Chloe left their science class a bit after the final school bell rang, waiting to let the crowd die down. Elle had noticed Chloe had started walking a step behind her, but still halfway at her side. Every day since they had started to become friends, she felt her edge over more and more at her back. Elle understood why
—
hell, even her head stayed down to the point where she needed to use Elle to guide her anyway.

Elle didn’t mind being her guide
. She knew it was hard for Chloe to show her new markings. Elle would have been the same way. The cuts still looked red and nasty, but they were healing better every day. Elle just wished her mind would begin to heal.

As Elle walked down the hallway
, she saw Sebastian and a senior doing something fishy. Sebastian handed over the money while the senior handed over a small bag. Elle figured they thought they were being sneaky doing it in the back hall when all the teachers had checked their minds out for the day an hour ago.

When the deal was done
, Sebastian looked around as the senior left with his money. Elle quickly turned her head, afraid Sebastian might have seen her. She guessed he hadn’t when he didn’t come after her.

She
was closer to the doors when she had to take a sharp turn to get out of the halls and reach the front. When she took the turn, she felt a huge whack on her face. She swore she heard her nose break from the hit. Elle was whacked so hard she fell back on her ass. Reaching for her nose, she could feel the blood rush down her face, soaking her shirt.

Elle looked up
and saw Chloe frozen in place and Sebastian standing over her with a huge-ass biology book in his hands. Elle was terrified by the look on Sebastian’s face.

“You need to fucking keep your eyes to yourself
, bitch.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything
. I don’t care what you do.” Her hands and arms were now saturated in blood.

“What the fuck did you just say to me? You don’t care what I do?” Sebastian reared the book back in his hands as Elle covered her head. She felt a smash on her forearm
and prayed it wasn’t broken, either, because of the sound she’d heard.

“Keep your fucking mouth shut, the both of you.”

Elle looked up. She was sick to her stomach that he would go for Chloe. Exactly as she’d feared, he reared the book back again, this time toward Chloe.

“
Noooo!” Elle moved to grab his leg and was happy when she didn’t hear the book connect.

“Don’t you tell me no.” Sebastian
raised the book back a third time.

Elle managed to get her arms up to cover her again
when he smashed her same arm. By the sound, she knew it was as good as broken from the second impact.

Sebastian finally left
, satisfied with what had taken place. Elle didn’t even care about her arm when she looked up at Chloe’s crying face. The tears were illuminated red on the right side as they slid down her slashes. It was worth it to her…

“Elle, it’s your turn. Elle.” Elle was brought back by the sound of her name coming from Mr. Evans.

“My turn?”
She was starting to become embarrassed when she saw everyone staring at her, especially when Nero turned around.

“Yes,
Chloe popcorned you.” Elle couldn’t believe someone had picked Chloe.
They probably wanted to hear her stumble.

Elle was grateful when Chloe moved over and put her finger
at where to start reading. Elle began reading immediately, not wanting to make a bigger scene. When she popcorned Nero, she decided to follow along this time because she was afraid of the same thing happening again. The class actually flew by for the remaining time now that Elle had decided to get into the story.

The bell rang and Nero actually walked out of the classroom
. For some reason, she’d thought he would wait for her. Elle and Chloe packed up their things and walked out to see Nero, Amo, and Vincent leaning up against the lockers, talking. Elle walked over toward them, feeling Chloe following behind.

As soon as Elle got there
, their conversation came to an end. Nero nodded his head at Amo and he started walking. Nero was still mad, and he wasn’t trying to act friendly. Elle decided not to care, and subsequently she went to follow Amo.

Chloe walked beside her
. Although she was still somewhat awkward, she was getting the hang of it. Elle also thought Nero would walk beside her, but he didn’t do that, either. She turned her head back and saw he was walking beside Vincent today.

Elle was starting to get mad at
herself. She didn’t know why she cared so much, but she did. She had actually been getting used to him walking with her and holding her hand.
I don’t miss holding his damn hand.
Elle decided to get that out of her mind.

“What’s up his butt?”
she heard Chloe whisper.

“I don’t know
. He was fine before I walked into English. The moment he walked in, though, he flipped a switch and turned into a different person.” Elle kept it at a whisper, as well. The halls were noisy enough to block out anything they said. Besides, they were walking a few feet in front of him while they walked a few feet behind Amo.

“He’s probably bipolar
, Elle. You saw the look in his eyes yesterday with Sebastian.” She was probably right. Whatever Nero had, however, he needed to be on medication for his problems.

“I bet you
’re right,” Elle whispered back. “He has to have something wrong with him. No one is that perfect and good-looking without having a screw loose.”

*
* *

Nero heard Vincent laugh and ask
ed, “What happened?”

Nero kept his eyes on Elle in front of him
.

“Nothing.”

A moment later, he watched Elle turn around.
That’s fucking right.
He figured she would be confused as to why he wasn’t walking beside her, holding her hand. He didn’t want to fucking hold her hand right now; he had barely been able to contain himself from punching Amo in the face earlier. He had gone for it, then he grabbed his shoulder instead.

He
had been prepared to fight one of his best friends over a stupid girl, and it hadn’t even been Amo’s fault.
Although, he didn’t give two shits about moving. No, instead, he let her hug and kiss him.

“Really
? Because, by the look of her face, I think there might be a problem.” Vincent was still smiling. Nero thought he was enjoying the show.

“She did something I really fucking wish she didn’t.” Nero thought he would confide a little
in Vincent, who was the ultimate woman killer. Vincent not only slept with girls their age, but girls much older than them. Nero was almost sure he’d even slept with some girl’s hot mother.

“Just talk to her about
it. Girls love that shit. Tell her it really hurt you, and that she needs to say sorry by sucking your dick. That’s what I would do.”

Nero shook his head at his friend
. The guy was crazy. There was no way Nero would talk to her first. She needed to figure out what she had done on her own. Nero wasn’t going to give Elle the satisfaction of knowing it had hurt him.

“No
, man, I’ll enjoy watching her crawl back to me.”

Nero made his mind up
.
She will crawl, and she won’t fucking do it again.

Nero looked over at Vincent when he spoke
. “A piece of advice: that girl will never crawl to anyone. You’ll be lucky to get that girl on her knees, period.”

“If I’m lucky
enough to get her on her knees, why would you say she needs to say sorry by sucking me off?” Nero kept his eyes on Elle. The girls were whispering. He figured Elle was talking about him.
About how much she misses me already
.

Vincent’s laugh drew Nero’s attention
. “I said if it was me, man.”

Now Nero’s head
was filled with the image of Elle sucking Vincent’s dick, which only made him even more furious. He was glad they’d finally reached the girls’ classroom; he couldn’t look at Elle any longer. Walking behind her was torture; it was hard not to look at her ass, thinking about giving in and talking to her just so he could kiss her again and grab it.

Nero watched Amo wait by the door
while Chloe walked in the classroom right before Elle turned again, looking him in the eye. Nero stared back like he didn’t give a shit, then he watched Elle stomp into the room.

Nero looked at his crew
, who were laughing and shaking their heads. Nero was on the verge of giving them a lesson or two. He ran his hands through his hair.

“Let
’s go.”
This is going to be one long-ass day.

*
* *

Elle went to her seat,
not believing the way Nero was acting toward her.
He can’t even tell me bye!

Once they were settled,
Chloe asked her the question Elle had been waiting for. “You okay? You’re, like, zoning out now.” Elle knew Chloe always worried.

“Yeah
, I’m fine, Chloe. I’m just a little tired from work.”

Chloe nodded and their class began,
bringing Elle back to her memory from earlier. She had been forced to get her nose reset and her arm had indeed been broken. That was another day she had learned a valuable lesson.
Don’t look anyone in the eyes.

Unfortunately
, Elle wasn’t the only one who had learned a lesson. From that day forward, Chloe had started completely walking behind her. Elle welcomed her there. She was glad to become Chloe’s armor.

Calculus flew by and Elle hoped Nero’s mood was no longer sour. Something in her even wondered if she
would
find them in the hall waiting for her.

W
hen she exited her classroom, she didn’t know whether she was grateful to find them there or unhappy. She looked at Nero’s still-pissed-off face and came to a conclusion.
Very unhappy.

This hall break went the same as the last
. Nero continued to walk behind her, next to Vincent, when he was more than capable of holding her hand. That was what was driving her mad. Her hand itched to be held by his, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

They were close to the Spanish door
, and still, Nero refused to talk to her.
He’s acting like a child.

Elle really hated the whole silent treatment thing.

She watched Amo do as he usually did; stand beside the door. She knew he hadn’t opened it because that would force her to go in and not talk to Nero.

Chloe walked in the classroom, and Elle’s feet told her to walk in
, as well, but her mind told her otherwise. Elle decided to turn around instead and face Nero.

“What is your problem?” She looked
straight at his green, scary eyes, wishing she hadn’t said it.

She saw Vincent smile and walk toward Amo, leaving her to deal with Nero alone.

Nero calmly asked, “What do you think my problem is, Elle?” She didn’t like his calm voice because it didn’t match the way she knew he felt.

“I don’t know what your problem is
, that’s why I’m freaking asking.” She tried to mimic his calm voice.

Nero was quick
. He grabbed her arms and scooted her away farther from the others’ ears, placing her against the lockers.
What is it with him and shoving me against things?

Nero lowered his head to speak in her
ear, keeping his hands on her arms to lock her in place. “My problem is simple, Elle. I have a problem with you having no trouble saying thank you to someone else. I have a problem with you wrapping your arms around someone else. And I have a big fucking problem with you not minding kissing someone else. Not one fucking time have you done any of those things to me without my asking, or just doing it because
you
want to, not because
I
want you to.”