Nero (Made Men #1)(19)

Elle tried not to smile. She didn’t want Nero to know she appreciated him letting her follow Chloe to make sure she was safe. I still don’t like him.

She tried to free her hand from his again, but he pulled her to walk closer to him. She heard Vincent’s laugh again and turned her head to scowl at him. He kept laughing.

Elle watched Amo open the classroom door. Chloe stood there, waiting for him to go in first. She saw him mouth the word go when she clearly wasn’t going to head in. Chloe stomped in and Amo walked in behind her, shaking his head as he shut the door.

She’s safe. Elle didn’t want to admit she was probably safer with Amo than she ever had been with her.

“Can we go to class now, or do you want to miss it by staring at the door all day?” When Elle kept staring at the door, he grabbed her chin to look at him. “Elle, she’ll be fine, I promise.”

Elle nodded and they both walked hand in hand to art class.

“Thank you for letting me watch her go to class.” She didn’t want to say thank you, but she had to for that.

A smile touched Nero’s lips. “Oh, now you thank me. So now I know to do nice things for Chloe, not you. Have you both always been inseparable?”

Elle thought about the memory she’d had just a little bit ago. “No, we met here.”

“Really? What made you so close that quickly? Because I remember you both freshman year, and back then, you were always standing in front of Chloe.”

Elle shrugged and kept her eyes forward. “I guess we could relate to each other.”

She could feel Nero’s eyes look at her and knew he was trying to get something from her face; as a result, she made sure to reveal nothing.

They were about halfway to class when Elle really noticed what was going on. It became surreal to her that she was walking down the hallway, her hand locked in Nero’s while all the students could only stare. She heard them whispering, and most of the girls were throwing her dirty looks. Elle decided not to care. It wasn’t as if they could possibly torture her more than she already had been. She thought she should at least enjoy the moment of a boy holding her hand for the first time.

Nero’s hand felt nice in hers, like it was a perfect fit. At least what I think is perfect.

His hand was strong. It wasn’t too soft or too rough. Her fingertips rested on his knuckles, which felt big and bony. He probably cracks his fingers too much.

She slightly moved her fingertips and could feel a scrape on his middle knuckle, thinking he seemed like the type that would punch walls.

They reached their art class and Nero nodded his goodbye to Vincent, who had followed them the whole way there, walking a few steps behind.

Elle decided to pose the same question. “Have you three always been inseparable?” Elle asked as they took their seats.

Nero laughed. “Yeah, pretty much. Our fathers are all friends, so we were basically forced to like each other when we were young. Now we’re one big family.”

“Aww, that’s actually really cute and ador—”

“Shh… No, it’s not, Elle.” He was looking around the room for someone that could have heard.

Elle couldn’t help laughing. “That’s so adorable your fathers are friends—” As Nero tried to cover her mouth to get her to quiet down, she kept giggling and moved her face out of the way, grabbing his hands so she could finish. “And so are all their sons. It’s cute, like a Disney movie.” She laughed hysterically at that last bit, bringing tears to her eyes.

“You’ve done it now.” He stood up and took her hand, making her stand and walk with him to the back of the classroom toward the art supply closet.

Her laugh still filled the air. “What are you doing?” she barely managed to get out.

“Getting my thank you,” he gritted out.

Elle immediately stopped laughing. Shit.





Chapter Nine

Walk Beside the Beast

Nero forced Elle inside the closet. She seriously regretted teasing him now. As he shut the door, it was no longer funny.

Nero pushed her against the wall.

“I’m—I’m sorry. I won’t joke about how cute it is again.” She thought Nero looked at her like a wolf and she was his prey. He grabbed a piece of her hair and spun it around his finger. “I mean, it definitely isn’t cute. Nope, it’s manly that all the fathers and sons are all best friends.” Elle was more and more nervous with each word she spoke. She knew she wasn’t making it better.

“You’re not helping yourself out here, Elle.” He placed his hand under her ear, his fingers grasping her hair with his palm resting on the side of her neck, positioning her for the taking.

Elle didn’t know what to do. She blurted out something she hoped would save her. “Don’t. I’ve never been kissed before.”

Nero looked at her a second and saw she wasn’t lying. He rubbed his thumb back and forth across her jawline. “All right. Well, for the first time only, I’ll just take a small kiss.”

Elle’s heart stopped beating. “Here?”

Nero nodded and leaned his face down, his mouth an inch from hers. “Here.”

Her stomach filled with butterflies. Elle could only close her eyes as his lips touched hers. He didn’t force it; he’d said it perfectly, just a small kiss. It was just a brief second of his lips closing over her bottom lip, and then it was gone.