The Cruel World Read online

  Rook seems to be the only boy who isn’t glaring at West. In fact, he is smiling. His face is soft and his baby blue eyes seem to be sparkling despite the fact that his team clearly doesn’t like mine. His eyes widen a fraction as he looks at me, tilting his head to the side. He’s probably curious what I’m doing with the guys, but I’m not going to answer again.

  Cole points to me. “And the hot one is Roxy Villareal—she’s the very single new team member to join West.”

  Oh, boy. I can already tell I’m going to regret telling him that I’m very single.

  “You’re a Villareal?” Rook observes me, making me feel a bit unnerved.

  Kal steps closer to me. “Roxy, this is the team that we were telling you about. The one from last year.”

  Ah, I get it now. This is the rival team—the one that West punched to get my team disqualified. Looking at them, I wonder which one West punched.

  That is… until Jensen opens his mouth.

  “Very single, huh?” He smirks at me. “Roxy, you and I should get to know one another a little better.”

  “Not happening,” West says through clenched teeth.

  Part of me wants to defy West—how dare he tell me no. The other part of me, the part that is winning, would never go out with Jensen. Even though he is a beautiful man, he’s a member of my rival team. Loyalty to my team comes first, no matter what.

  “Why not let the girl speak for herself?” Jensen winks at me.

  My cheeks grow warm and I drop my head a bit, not wanting the boys to see how red my face most likely is.

  “Princess, can you tell this guy to get lost so we can continue with our training?” West asks.

  I clear my throat, finally looking up. “I’m not saying no because West told me to.” I glare at West before looking at Jensen. “I just don’t do the whole dating thing. I just become a Royal a few months ago, so this is my focus right now. I don’t have time for a boyfriend.”

  Jensen’s smile widens. “Maybe later then.”

  West growls, “Not happening.”

  “Can anyone call you Princess, or just your team?” Jensen asks, completely ignoring West.

  I groan, shaking my head. “Please, just call me Roxy. West calls me that because he knows it makes me mad.”

  “Oh, you don’t like it?” West asks, feigning innocence.

  I glare at him.

  “Wait a minute,” Cole says, holding up his arms. “I heard a girl in a dress beat West last night at Fight Club. Was that you?”

  Kal and Alek both snap their heads toward me. West just looks away.

  “I…” my mouth opens, but nothing comes out.

  “She’s good.” West crosses his arms over his chest. “Really good. That’s why I wanted her on my team. She only wore a dress to mock me.”

  Part of me thought he would defend himself and let everybody know that he ‘let me win.’ We both know he did. But maybe he wants these guys to think I’m better than I really am.

  Rook, who hasn’t said a word up to this point, grins. “Wow, you must be awesome if you beat West Newman at Fight Club. That is something I would have loved to see.”

  I smile at him, thinking Rook is the nicest one on our rival team. He doesn’t seem at all effected when West glares at him.

  “You guys better be careful. If Michael Sinclair hears about you fighting, he’s liable to drop you off in the middle of a forest or something,” Cole warns.

  Alek, Kal, and I burst out laughing. Even West cracks a smile.

  “Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” Rook asks.

  “You definitely are,” I tell him. “That’s why Ian is still asleep—he broke his leg. My fault, really. I attacked West and we sort of knocked Ian down a hill… it’s a long story.”

  He raises an eyebrow.

  “We already got dropped off in the middle of a forest,” Kal says.

  “And it didn’t help?” Jensen looks between the four of us. “Maybe you guys should split up if you can’t get along.”

  “No, it’s worked,” I say quickly, not wanting them to think I don’t get along with my teammates. “I get along great with Alek, Ian, and Kal now.”

  Cole chuckles. “Of course you don’t get along with West.”

  “Nobody gets along with West,” Jensen adds.

  “He’s not so bad.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear—a tell that I’m lying.

  Jensen snorts. “Keep telling yourself that, Princess.”

  West huffs. “As lovely as this chat has been, we’ve got to get to training.”

  He stomps off, Alek and Kal following. I mumble a quick bye to the boys from the rival team before I follow the guys.

  I can’t believe the rival guys moved in next door to us—this will definitely make things interesting.

  Sharing is caring.

  West is in a foul mood through our entire run. And since I am the person he hates most, other than Cole, Jensen, and Rook, he takes out his frustrations on me. It’s times like this that I wonder why I’m so attracted to him. Is it true that girls like guys who are completely wrong for them? In this case, maybe that is.

  When we head into training, West decides I’m going to train with him—something he never does. It’s not until he’s knocked me down about ten times straight that I realize why he’s doing it. He doesn’t want Alek and Kal to think that I actually beat him. He’s proving to them, and me, that he’s stronger than me. I already knew that. He has nothing to prove to me.

  I let out a groan as I hit the floor.

  Kal turns away from Alek and toward West. “West, man. Don’t you think you’ve done that enough? You’re not even training her. You’re just being a tool.”

  West shrugs. “If she can’t take it, maybe she shouldn’t be a Royal.”

  I push myself off the ground, unable to stop the wince at the movement. “I didn’t say I couldn’t take it. I can take it.”

  All I have done since I got here four months ago is take hit after hit. I’ve had these guys pick on me, call me names, and even try to ruin my hair. Every time, I get back up and I keep pushing harder to be accepted. I’m beginning to think that West Newman will never accept me.

  “You are being hard on her,” Alek agrees. “What happened last night?”

  West’s face turns red and I’m pretty sure mine does the same.

  Last night was…

  “Yeah, the guys said she beat you in the ring at Fight Club?” Kal asks.

  Oh. They weren’t asking about the kiss.

  Of course they weren’t. Kal and Alek don’t know about the kiss. I’m just paranoid.

  West lets out a long breath. “I let her win.”

  Alek and Kal look at me.

  “He did,” I confirm. I turn to West, putting my hands on my hips. “But you and I both know I got in two good hits that took you off guard.”

  He rolls his eyes, not saying anything. That’s his way of confirming what I’m saying is true.

  Kal holds out his knuckle to me and I bump mine against his.

  “Way to go, Roxy.”

  West turns to glare at Kal and me.

  “Why did you let her win?” Alek wipes at the sweat on his forehead. “I know you, West. You can’t stand for anybody else to win.”

  He shrugs, neither confirming or denying.

  I, too, would like to know why West let me win, but I doubt that is something he will ever let me know. I doubt I’d know that all four guys voted for me if I hadn’t hacked the vote—I’m sure they’d all still be denying it.

  Before anything else can be said, the door to the gym opens up. I automatically look over because there is hardly anybody in the gym at this time. Before I even see who it is, I can tell by the way Kal groan and West stiffens. Even Alek’s smile has turned into a frown.

  I don’t get why the guys hate them so much. Of course, for me to know that, West would actually have to communicate with me, which is something he struggles with. Glares, he’s got down to an art.
Yelling, he’s great at. Having a civilized conversation, that’s too hard.

  Glancing over at the rivals who are joining us in the gym, I can sort of get why West doesn’t like Jensen—because Jensen is just like West. They’re so alike that their personalities clash with one another.

  Jensen winks when he sees me looking.

  Gross.

  Well, not completely gross. Jensen is a good looking man. But then West glares at me, like it’s my fault that Jensen winked at me.

  I cross my arms over my chest and glare back at West.

  West is done with me though because he turns his attention to the three guys walking into the gym.

  “We train during this time. I think it would be better if you guys came back later.” West’s words are nice enough, but I can hear the authority behind them. If it were me he was talking to, I’d probably turn and run the other way. But apparently, West doesn’t scare these guys.

  Jensen laughs. “Yeah, not happening. We have to train too.”

  West grunts.

  “It’s public domain. Can’t we just get along for an hour or so while we train?” Rook suggests.

  I’m with Rook on this one.

  I turn to West. “Come on, West. Let’s just ignore them and train.”

  West turns to me, narrowing his eyes. “Princess, can’t you just take my side for once?”

  I tap my chin with my finger. “Is that a rhetorical question?”

  Jensen and Cole both laugh at our exchange.

  “Come on, West. Listen to Princess.” Jensen takes a step closer, invading our side of the gym. “Sharing is caring. Can’t we just ignore one another?”

  “Do you think I’m stupid enough to let you watch us train? You’ll be looking for things to use against us in The Royal Games,” West says. “It’s not happening. You need to leave.”

  Cole steps up in front of West. “We’re not leaving.”

  I put a hand to the base of my throat, wondering if some kind of terf war is about to break out in here. Something tells me I couldn’t take on any of these guys if it came down to it.

  Jensen surprises me when he steps up in front of me. “You can always train with us. I’m sure I could teach you a thing or two.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “I don’t think I want to know what you have in mind to teach me.”

  Kal and Rook both laugh. West just growls and Alek’s fist turns white from clenching his hand so tightly. I’m trying to think of something to defuse the situation because I don’t want to get into a fight.

  I put a hand on West’s shoulder. “West, come on.”

  He shrugs my hand off. “Princess, why don’t you go wait in the condo. Let the men take care of this.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Do you remember what happened last time you told me to let the men take care of it?”

  West turns to me. “Yeah. You disobeyed and got Kal shot.”

  “He seriously said that?” Jensen asks, his eyes widening. “Maybe you really should train with us. We don’t discriminate on gender.”

  I smile at Jensen. He might get under West’s skin, but that was an awesome thing to say.

  He has to ruin it by winking at me—again. “And after training, maybe we can hang out.”

  “Sorry, you’re not really my type.” I grin, trying to soften the blow. Something tells me Jensen isn’t used to hearing the word no from the opposite sex.

  Cole snickers, patting Jensen on the back. “Wow. Jensen Kaplan just got rejected. I never thought I’d see the day.”

  Jensen shrugs. “She’s just playing hard to get.”

  West huffs, grabbing onto my hand. “Practice is over. We’ll come back later.”

  Seriously?

  After all that, West is just folding?

  I don’t have time to question it as he pulls me from the training room. Kal and Alek stomp after us. I can hear Jensen and Cole both chuckling as we head toward the exit. Just before West pulls me out the door, I look back and see Rook standing there with a frown on his face. He waves at me when he sees me looking.

  West doesn’t say one word until we enter the condo. As soon as the door shuts, he spins me around, pressing me against the wall. I squeal at the movement.

  “Do you have to flirt with every guy you meet?” West points an accusatory finger toward me.

  I blink. “What are you even talking about? When did I flirt? And who did I flirt with?”

  “Jensen,” he growls. “And Rook.”

  I furrow my brows. “I didn’t even talk to Rook. And Jensen… the only thing I said to him was that he isn’t my type. Please, explain to me how any of that is considered flirting.”

  “I saw the way you looked at Jensen.” He backs up a little. “Don’t try to deny it.”

  Kal walks up behind West. “Come on, West. Roxy didn’t do anything wrong.”

  West huffs. “Is everybody defying my authority now? I knew having Roxy on the team would be a mistake.”

  I flinch at his words. They’re nothing new, but they still sting.

  “Forget it.” West throws up his hands. “I’m going to go out. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

  West stomps toward the front door, slamming it as he goes out.

  Kal gives me a sad smile and I wipe at a tear that is rolling down my cheek.

  I thought things were going to be okay. West had accepted me. But now… it’s like he hates me more than ever. I can’t help but think maybe he’s so upset because of last night. I never should’ve kissed him back.

  The nerve of him.

  Later that evening, Ian and I hang out by the pool. The water is too cold to actually swim, but it is a good evening to sit outside. Really, it’s a good evening to be anywhere that West Newman isn’t. I swear he’s been getting on my nerves so bad lately. He’s one smart comment away from me punching him… again.

  Ian is always pleasant to be around. He and Kal are the two guys on the team that I can always depend on to be consistent. And I like Ian. He’s a very loyal friend. I’m not sure I’d survive being on this team without him.

  I dip my feet into the water as I sit by the edge of the pool. Even though the water is cold, it’s pretty warm today—eighty-five degrees.

  “So, what happened to make West hate those other guys so much?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. I think it was something that happened before Jensen and West joined The Royals, while they were still in Spy School. West is a year older than me. When I came to school as a freshman, they already hated each other.” Ian rubs at the back of his neck. “And since I’m on West’s team, I chose to be loyal to him. I guess the rest of us hate their team on principle.”

  “It’s kind of dumb.” I pull one leg up out of the water, hugging it to me.

  “He is definitely worse this year,” Ian admits. “I think it’s because West feels so protective of you. Jensen sees that and wants to use you to push West’s buttons.”

  “Great,” I mumble. “Just what I need—to be put in the middle of their feud.”

  “Hang in there.” Ian pats my back. “Everything will work out.”

  I hope so. I really do.

  I look over at Ian. He has one leg in the pool and his casted leg is stretched out on the other side.

  “You know I’m going to laugh at you if you fall in the pool when you try to get up,” I say.

  He chuckles. “As long as you pull me out of the water, you can laugh all you want. I’m not sure I’ll be able to swim with a cast on.”

  “How much longer do you have to wear it?” I ask.

  “My appointment to get it cut off is January fifteenth.” He groans. “Another month and a half basically.”

  I frown. “Sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “I feel like it is.” And it really kind of is. If West and I hadn’t been fighting…

  “It was my fault too,” Ian assures me. He grabs onto my hand, squeezing it. “You and I might be friends now, but once upon a time,
I was as bad as West is to you.”

  I shake my head. “Nobody is worse than West is.”

  He laughs. “Maybe you’re right.”

  The sound of the gate creaking as somebody else enters the pool has me turning my head. I hold my breath, praying it’s not West. But when I see Jensen walk our way, I’m somehow not relieved by the fact that it’s not West. At this point, I’m not sure who is worse—Jensen or West. They are both the cause of a great deal of stress in my life.

  “Hey, guys.” Jensen grins as he comes and takes a seat directly beside me, putting his feet in the pool.

  “Jensen.” Ian nods at him, but then turns his head away.

  Jensen looks at Ian and my intertwined hands and smirks. “You should’ve told me you had a boyfriend. I wouldn’t have flirted so hard with you.”

  “Ian and I are just friends,” I say, but wonder if maybe I should’ve played along with it. If Jensen thought I had a boyfriend, maybe he’d leave me alone. Then again, I guess I did tell Cole I was very single earlier today, but that was more to irk West than anything.

  He nods as his smile widens. “Ah, right. You already said you’re single.”

  “Are you just going to show up everywhere I go now?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

  He shrugs. “I’m not trying to stalk you. I guess we’re bound to run into one another pretty often since we live in the same building and train at the same gym.”

  I eye him warily.

  “You plan on being here long?” Ian asks, his tone sharp.

  Jensen glances at Ian. “Please tell me you’re not going to try and run me off too. West tried that earlier.”

  The gate to the pool squeaks again and I look over to see Rook come through. He’s not wearing a shirt and only has on a pair of swim trunks. My cheeks burn as I look away.

  Rook is a good looking guy. If he weren’t on a rival team, I might have a crush on the guy.

  Maybe he’s what I need to get over my stupid crush on West.

  Just thinking about West makes my heart race. He drives me crazy. Why do I have to have a crush on the most infuriating guy on the planet?