A smile plays at my lips as I reach for the door handle of the Jeep. I know now that everything is going to be okay. Someday, all the guys will accept me. I can’t give up because things got a little hard.
Truthfully, I expected pranks when I first moved in. Though, what West did went a little past just a ‘prank.’ I have to remember, even if he is the best agent I’ve ever seen, he is still a teenage boy. And teenage boys are dumb. Apparently, West Newman is no exception to that. I just know I won’t trust him ever again.
When I get up to the seventh floor, I keep my head down and walk straight to my room, not wanting to talk to anybody, especially West. I want to avoid talking to him for as long as I can.
Not knowing what to do once I get inside my room, I decide to read a book. I haven’t read a book for fun in way too long. It’s something that I used to do a lot more when I lived with my parents, but after I started at Spy School I didn’t have a lot of time for reading. So, I download the Kindle app on my iPad and start reading a book I already had in my library. I’m about halfway through chapter one when somebody knocks on my door. I lock my tablet, putting it onto the nightstand, and I walk to the door.
My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty at the thought of opening the door. I’m nervous to see who is going to be standing on the other side.
When I open the door, I am surprised to see West standing there. He’s got his hands folded behind his back and his shoulders are slumped forward.
He clears his throat when I don’t say anything.
“Uh, can I come in and talk to you?”
Part of me wants to say no and slam the door in his face, but I know that we’re going to have to have a conversation at some point. We may as well get this over with now. I push the door open wider, which is the only invitation he’s getting, and walk over toward my small bed. I sit down, leaning my back against the wall. He stands there kind of awkwardly and then shuffles over to the other bed in the room. His bed, technically, but he never sleeps there. After he plops down, he watches me, tapping his fingers against his knees.
“I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry for what I did.” His voice sounds higher than normal and he can barely make eye contact with me. This is not the West that I know. He actually looks… guilty.
Wow. West is actually sorry. I didn’t expect this. I guess I sort of thought we’d be mad at each other for the next few weeks until I eventually forgave him.
“I see you got the pink out,” he says.
I nod. “It only took three hours.”
He stays quiet.
I chew on the side of my lip. “Why did you do that? I mean, pranking me is one thing, but you used semi-permeant hair dye. That stuff takes months to wash out.”
He lowers his head. “I didn’t know. I thought it would wash out the first or second time you tried.”
“I’m not sure if I believe you, but maybe I should. You are a guy. How were you supposed to know? Then again, the dye did say semi-permanent. Even an idiot could figure it out from the name alone.” I’m rambling. But I’m also extremely uncomfortable. I don’t know what to do about the West who apologizes to me. He doesn’t ever apologize. He usually just does what he wants and doesn’t care about the consequences.
West shifts on the mattress. “The guys were all pretty mad at me. They wanted me to apologize to you.” He glances up at me, licking his lips. “I know I already said it, but I feel like I need to say it again. I’m sorry, Roxy.”
I know he means it because he called me Roxy and not Princess.
He grins. “If it’s any consolation, pink hair does look good on you. But you’re beautiful and could literally pull off any color.”
“Oh,” I manage to choke out. I clear my throat. “Uh, thanks.”
His smile only widens at my discomfort. “Sorry. I know you don’t like to be called pretty, but it’s true. You really are beautiful, Princess.”
My breath catches in my throat as my eyes meet his.
West gets up from the other bed and walks over to sit down beside me. He grabs onto my hand, gently squeezing it. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want things to be weird between us.”
I nod, my face growing warm. “Thanks, West. I, uh, forgive you. But don’t ever do anything like that again.”
“I promise I won’t.”
My heart gallops in my chest so fast and loud that I’m worried West will hear it. I look up at him through my lashes, studying the sharp angle of his jaw. I’ve never noticed before, but he has light freckles across his cheeks and nose. And his eyes are the prettiest color of blue I’ve ever seen. They’re so dark, they almost look like a deep, royal blue.
Maybe I forgave him too easily, but when he looks at me like this, it’s hard to remember why I was mad at him to begin with.
West is gorgeous. I’ve always thought so, but he’s usually scowling at me. When he’s not looking at me like he wants to kill me, he’s even more attractive. This West is dangerous to my heart. I could easily fall for him.
I’m not sure which of us move toward one another first, but our faces get closer and closer until finally, our lips touch.
It’s gentle at first, our lips moving softly against each other. But like everything with West, it quickly turns explosive. His lips meet mine with force, his tongue darting out to taste my lips. I run my fingers through his hair as he leans into me.
I know I should pull away—this shouldn’t be happening. I shouldn’t be giving West Newman a piece of my heart. If I do, he will break it. But when his lips are against mine and when his hands gently graze the small of my back, I forget all reason.
Neither one of us want to stop kissing. If we did, we’d both realize that this is a bad idea. But right now, I don’t care if it’s a bad idea. I want this. I’ve wanted this from the moment I laid eyes on West in Michael Sinclair’s office. When he was standing there with his shaggy hair, which is now freshly cut, and he was glaring at me, I was attracted to him. Now that I know him, I’m even more attracted to him. I like him more than I probably should, considering he’s my team leader.
I shouldn’t like anybody on my team. Anything with any of these boys would be complicated. Especially if we broke up. We’d have to work together, and that would be uncomfortable.
West pulls back, just a little bit, and he gently traces his thumb across my lips.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers.
I shiver at his touch.
I’ve never felt anything like this before.
He presses his lips against mine again before I can respond.
I groan against his lips. “West.”
His body tenses up as he pulls back. He won’t look at me.
My cheeks grow warm as I realize what just happened—West and I just kissed.
He stands up abruptly from the bed, his eyes hardening as he finally looks at me. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Roxy. That meant nothing to me.”
His words feel like a knife in the heart. As hard as I try not to let him see me be affected by his words, I flinch at the harshness.
“Tonight, I’m going out with Alek. I’ll kiss another girl just like I did you. So don’t think I want to date you or something.”
I just sit there, staring at him with wide eyes.
What do you say to somebody to says something like that to you?
West turns around, storming out of my room without another word. Part of me wants to cry, but I refuse to allow myself to shed anymore tears because of him.
I put my pillow over my head and scream into it.
I hate freaking West Newman.
It was nothing.
As I am sitting in bed, fuming, I decide I am not going to let West get away with what just happened. He cannot mess with me like that.
I walk out of my room, slamming the door shut behind me, and I find Alek and West both in the foyer of the house. West’s hair is still messed up from our make out session, but he’s got keys in his hands, ready
to go out and ‘pick up chicks.’ Just the thought alone makes the heat rise to my cheeks with anger.
“We need to talk.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“No time, Princess. Alek and I are headed out.” West smirks at me.
I hate that stupid smirk.
“Alek can wait.” I grab West’s arm and I pull him toward the balcony so we can talk in private.
Once we’re on the balcony, I slide the glass door shut behind us and I turn to West, putting my hands on my hips.
“What the heck, West?”
He just keeps his smirk in place. “What is it, Princess? You break a nail?”
I point my finger into his chest. “Why did you kiss me?”
He shrugs. “I was bored. And you kissed me back.”
He was bored? That’s why he kissed me?
West huffs, but the smirk is still playing at his lips. “Look, I already told you, that kiss meant nothing. If you’re done being a clingy girl, Alek is waiting for me.”
Clingy? He thinks I’m being clingy?
I pinch the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger for a few seconds before looking at West.
He’s such a freaking idiot.
“I’m going too,” I tell him.
“Uh, no. You’re not.”
“I am.” I stand up straighter. “Give me five minutes to get ready.”
I walk into the condo, leaving him on the balcony with his mouth hanging open.
Alek is sitting on the couch and he gives me a questioning look.
“I’m going with you,” I inform Alek.
He just nods, like he’s not surprised by this, and I run off to my room to get ready.
I look through my closet for something to wear. I’m so mad at West. I refuse to be treated like that, especially by my teammate.
No, West isn’t just my teammate, he’s my team leader.
I put my face in my hands, groaning.
Why did I have to kiss him? It most definitely takes two people to do what we did and I am just as guilty as he is. In fact, I liked the kiss. And the thought of West kissing somebody else tonight the same way he kissed me makes my stomach churn.
Maybe I am clingy. Don’t clingy girls get jealous when they have absolutely no right to be?
As I put on my dress, I tell myself the ache in my stomach is not jealousy. It’s… anger. Or maybe stress. How am I supposed to face West and the rest of the guys now? Every time I look at West, I’m going to remember what it felt like to put my lips against his.
I look at myself in the mirror, questioning my own judgment.
Should I really go with Alek and West tonight? Won’t I just be torturing myself? Maybe I should just stay here and hangout with Ian and Kal. I always have a good time hanging out when it’s just the three of us. And it’s easy with them. I know exactly where we stand. They don’t confuse me like West does.
I walk out of my bedroom and am surprised to see that it’s not just Alek and West ready to go. Now Ian and Kal are dressed and ready to go, too.
West crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at me. “Is Princess ready to go?”
I smile as sweetly as I can at him. “Yes, I am.”
“I see the Princess had to wear her ball gown,” he scoffs.
I will not punch him.
Ball gown? Hardly. It’s just a sundress.
“West, come on, be nice to Roxy,” Ian says, sticking up for me. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough to her already.”
Ian’s comment makes my heart swell. Isn’t that what I wanted to begin with? For one of the guys to stick up for me? It’s nice to finally have somebody in my corner.
“Thank you.” I grab Ian’s hand as we walk out the door of the condo.
West looks at Ian and my intertwined hands, but he doesn’t say anything as he locks the door.
I wonder what the guys think when they see me holding hands with Ian. Maybe I should feel uncomfortable about holding hands with him, but I’m not. It’s… surprisingly comfortable with him, actually. I like to hold his hand because it makes me feel closer to him, and not in a I-want-to-date-you kind of way. Just in a… he’s-my-best-friend kind of way.
I can’t believe we’re all going out like this. It’s so strange.
Nobody says a word the entire time on the elevator or on the walk to the car. All five of us pile into one Jeep, me getting stuck in the middle in the back again. I end up halfway sitting on Kal’s lap while I hold Ian’s hand. It’s kind of strange and nice all at the same time.
Alek turns on the radio and some Russian rock song starts playing through the speakers. Kal, Ian, and West all grunt, clearly displeased with the choice, but nobody says anything.
“Are your nights out always so lively?” I ask, trying to break the silence.
It’s so… awkward. I didn’t expect going out with all the guys would be so weird. But I know once we get where we’re going, we’ll probably split up, which makes me a little bit sad, but we’re definitely not at the stage yet where we can hang out as friends.
“Usually we don’t have a gabby blonde with us,” West mumbles.
I glare at him when our eyes meet in the rearview mirror. “You know I kind of hate you.”
“Ditto, Princess.”
I roll my eyes.
“Are you still mad at him for putting pink hair dye in your shampoo?” Kal asks.
And about so much more.
But that is a conversation I will not be having in front of the other guys. It is embarrassing enough with just West and me knowing what happened.
My cheeks grow warm. “Yes, I am still mad about that.”
“Really?” West challenges me. He keeps glancing between the road and me in the rearview mirror. “Because you didn’t seem that mad earlier.”
I don’t say anything and the car grows silent again.
“What happened earlier?” Alek asks, when neither one of us elaborates.
I look at West, waiting to see if he will say something, but he just clenches his jaw, keeping his eyes oddly focused on the road.
“Nothing.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear. “Absolutely nothing happened.”
Because that kiss… it was nothing.
At least, according to West.
To me… that kiss was everything.
That will never happen again. I refuse to let it. I will not let West get that close to me again. And I will definitely never kiss him again.
Ian glances over at me, his eyebrows scrunched together as he studies me.
He knows me well, so I am hoping he can’t tell what happened between West and me. I would be mortified. But I have a feeling that what happened is written on my face, easy for him to read.
“Can you turn up the music?” I ask Alek.
Because anything is better than this uncomfortable silence.
Maybe going out tonight was a bad idea.
First rule of Fight Club.
We drive for a good thirty minutes before we get to our destination and I am confused when West finally pulls into a parking lot. The parking lot is already mostly full of cars.
There is no sign on the building, declaring what it is. It’s just a big warehouse in the middle of nowhere. I’m super confused, but I’m not going to ask anything. I don’t want to get a snarky response from West, not right now.
Ian gets out before me and holds out a hand to help me down.
He’s so sweet, I wonder how he even gets along with the other guys.
I’m just mad right now—mostly at West. I shouldn’t take it out on the others, but he just makes me so mad all the time. I don’t know what it is about him that frustrates me so badly.
It’s a little chilly tonight as the wind blows, so I wrap my arms around myself, shivering.
Kal, who is standing closest to me, puts his arm around me, pulling me closer into him. West glares at Kal’s arm, making me wonder if maybe West is jealous. But he can’t be, right? He’s the one who said ou
r kiss meant nothing.
Nah, he’s definitely not jealous. I’m just imagining things.
“What is this place?” I ask Kal.
Kal opens his mouth, presumably to answer, but West cuts him off.
“You’ll just have to figure that out for yourself.” He turns away from me, walking toward the building, so I stick my tongue out at his back.
Kal chuckles, pulling me closer to him. “Stick close to me tonight, okay? Tonight could get rough.”
Rough? I don’t know if I like the sound of that, but I’ve committed to this. There is no way I’m backing out now.
As we walk closer to the building, I see there is a guy outside, checking ID’s as people enter. I’m beginning to wonder what it is they brought me to. I’d be worried they were trying to take me to some kind of floozy bar if it weren’t for the way people are dressed. The girl in front of us is wearing yoga pants and she has her hair in a messy bun. I’m suddenly feeling very overdressed.
“Why didn’t you tell me to change?” I whisper to Kal, who still has his arm around me.
The corners of his lips tilt upward. “Because you look so adorable. You, in this dress, deserve to be seen.”
His response takes my breath away.
How can I be mad at him for that?
“Thank you.” I lean into him, which only causes West to scowl more at me.
Kal whispers in my ear. “His face is going to get stuck like that.”
I giggle. “I think it already has.”
Because that scowl? It’s pretty much how he always looks at me.
West now turns his glare to Kal. “Remember the rules, Kal.”
Kal drops his arm abruptly, stepping away from me slightly.
I roll my eyes, hating that West uses ‘the rules’ as a way to get all the guys to comply with what he wants. I get that he doesn’t want me dating any of the guys—and I won’t date them. They’re my teammates. But it’s not like I’m interested in dating them anyway. Kal is just being his normal, flirty self. I haven’t got the opportunity to see him around a lot of other girls, but I imagine he’s like this with all the girls, not just me.
We finally reach the front of the line and I see that the guys aren’t just pulling out fake ID’s, they’re pullout out our Spy School ID’s. I grab mine, showing it to the guy, who motions us on inside.
The Unwanted Spy Page 16
