The Unwanted Spy

by Scarlett Haven

  Inside, it is packed as full as the parking lot was. People are all standing around, all facing the center of the room. I can’t see what they’re looking at because a lot of the crowd is taller than me. I try to stand on the tips of my toes, craning my neck to get a better view.

  Alek chuckles. “Need me to give you a boost?”

  I turn to glare at him. “No thanks.”

  The guys all press their way to the front. West grabs my hand and pulls me forward. I start to yank it back, just out of spite, but I’d rather not get lost in the crowd—at least that is what I’m telling myself.

  “Going to be hard to pick up chicks if you’re holding hands with me,” I yell at West, over the sound of the crowd.

  The only indication that he heard what I was saying is the slight glare he gives me over his shoulder.

  As soon as we get to the front of the crowd, West drops my hand like it’s on fire, but I’m not concerned with him anymore. I’m busy looking at the ring in front of me.

  “Welcome to Fight Club,” Alek says.

  I glance over at him, raising eyebrow. “This is what you and West do when you are out half the night? You come to watch people fight?”

  “You think we watch?” His pale green eyes home in on me as he chuckles. “No, Roxy. We don’t come to watch. We come to fight.”

  Ah, that makes sense.

  Before I can respond, Alek takes off toward the ring and I chew anxiously on my nail as I watch him climb inside. The guy he’s fighting is huge. He’s slightly shorter than Alek, but he’s probably twice as big. The guy is pure muscle. I never thought anybody could make Alek look small, but this guy does.

  Ian and Kal both step beside me. West, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. He split as soon as we got to the front. He probably hanging out with hordes of girls, hoping to prove his point that the kiss meant nothing to him. I’m not worried about him though, I’m more worried about the fight that is taking place in front of me.

  The crowd cheers and Alek and the guy I am now calling Muscles step up to one another. Muscles takes a swing at Alek, which he easily evades.

  I bury my face in Ian’s shoulder. “I can’t watch.”

  Ian laughs. “Don’t worry, Roxy. He does this all the time. We’re Royals. These other agents… well, they’ve never even heard of The Royals.”

  That does make me feel a little bit better.

  I look up again, feeling a little more confident about Alek’s odds. Not that I should’ve been worried to begin with. Alek is really good—he’s basically toying with Muscles, putting on a show. The crowd loves it because they all cheer.

  I lean toward Kal. “Can I have a turn?”

  Kal laughs, shaking his head. “Uh, no. Definitely not. You’re staying here with me.”

  I frown, but he’s probably right. I’m definitely not dressed for fighting anyway, not that it would matter. I can still kick butt in a dress.

  I look at the stage just in time to see Alek take Muscles down. The crowd goes nuts as they start chanting Alek’s name. I can’t help but roll my eyes. As if Alek’s ego wasn’t big enough, everybody screaming his name is definitely going to make things worse.

  Alek, who is now pumping his arms in the air, celebrating his victory, turns to me and winks. I imagine any other girl would be swooning, but not me. Nope. I’m not swooning, not even a little bit.

  Alek and Muscles both leave the ring, giving somebody else the chance to fight. I’m not sure how they have things arranged, but a young guy steps into the ring. He can’t be older than nineteen or twenty. He turns to the crowd and his gaze homes in on me. He points a finger at me and motions me to come on stage.

  I look behind me, to see if he’s motioning somebody else, but it’s clear it’s me he’s motioning.

  Kal puts his hand in front of me, shaking his head.

  The guy, however, won’t take no for an answer. He jumps out of the ring and heads toward us. He tries to grab onto my wrist, but Kal and Ian both step in front of me.

  “She’s not fighting you,” Kal says.

  “Then why did she come here?” The guy looks between Kal and Ian like he’s trying to size them up. “You know the rules.”

  Again with ‘the rules?’ Though, this guy is obviously talking about a different set of rules than West and the guys always talk about.

  “What rules?” I ask, curious.

  The boy, who looks like a frat boy with his bright colored shorts and collared shirt, turns to me with a smirk on his face. “You come in, you have to fight if challenged. That is, unless you’re too scared to fight me in a dress.”

  I narrow my eyes, my face growing warm with anger. “Bring it on, Frat Boy.”

  He chuckles, shaking his head. “You just don’t know who you’re up against.”

  Oh, it’s on.

  I stomp off toward the ring, ignoring Kal and Ian’s cries of protest. As soon as I’m in the ring, the entire place falls silent—probably because they’re not used to girls fighting in a dress.

  When this is over, I am going to kill the guys for letting me wear this to Fight Club.

  Frat Boy steps into the ring. He’s got a cocky smirk and he seems way too pleased. He thinks I’m going to be an easy win. I can’t wait to prove him wrong.

  For a moment, I wonder where West is. I wonder if he’s watching this or if he’s busy making out with some girl, but I push him to the back of my mind as Frat Boy takes a swing at me. I block him easily and realize just how weak this guy is. He’s going to be way too easy to beat.

  The difference between Alek and I is that I don’t care to put on a show. I’m not here to entertain anybody. I just want to beat Frat Boy and I want to get the heck out of here.

  Frat Boy advances on me again, so I block his punch. Not wanting to hurt the guy, I crouch down low, swinging my leg out. I knock his feet right out from under him and then I pin him down. He tries to fight against me, but I’m a lot stronger than him.

  He looks at me with his jaw hanging open wide. “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  I roll my eyes, getting off him. Once I’m up, I hold out a hand to help him up. He accepts it and I easily pull him to his feet.

  This boy needs to seriously bulk up if he’s going to come to Fight Club. I’m about to tell him so when he leans forward. I wonder what he’s doing when his lip press against mine. Shocked, I pull away punching him right between his eyes. He falls over once again, blood dripping down his face and nose.

  Crap. I really didn’t mean to hurt the guy.

  The crowd cheers loudly at that and it’s then I realize—there is definitely a crowd watching. While fighting Frat Boy I had completely forgotten about them.

  A hand grabs onto mine and I’m about ready to fight somebody when I look behind me and spot Alek. I allow him to pull me with him when West enters the ring. I wonder what he’s doing, but Alek isn’t letting me stick around long enough to see either. He pulls me out of the ring and we head toward the exit. To my utter surprise, the crowd parts for us, letting us through easily. When I get outside, I realize why the crowd parted for us. The look on Alek’s face… it’s quite frightening. His eyes are hard and his nostrils are flaring—even I am slightly scared of him right now.

  He runs his fingers through his hair, letting out an annoyed sigh. He opens his mouth, like he wants to say something, but then he closes it again. Instead, he grabs my arm again, practically shoving me into the backseat and he climbs in beside me. A few seconds later, West gets in the driver’s seat, which is no surprise—he likes to drive. Kal gets in the passenger seat, where Alek was sitting earlier, and Ian gets in on the other side of me.

  “Do you always let random guys kiss you?” Alek asks.

  My mouth falls open, but I’m not sure how to respond. Instead, I shake my head. “I hope you’re joking. If you’re not, you missed the part where I punched him. It’s not like I let him kiss me.”

  “Could’ve fooled me,” Alek comp
lains.

  I sigh.

  No matter what I say, it’s not going to be good enough for him. So, I’m not even going to try to defend my actions to him.

  West is speeding out of the parking lot. His knuckles are white from holding onto the steering wheel so tight. Just being in the same car as him makes me feel sick to my stomach.

  “I’m not clingy, West Newman.” I’m not sure why I’m saying this, especially in front of the other guys, but it needs to be said.

  He doesn’t say anything. He just white knuckles the steering wheel.

  “What is she talking about?” Kal turns to West for an explanation.

  West still keeps his mouth shut.

  “You’re the one who kissed me, not the other way around—”

  “Roxy, do you ever shut up?” West yells at me, his face turning red.

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” Kal says to West, then turns to face me. “What are you talking about? West kissed you?”

  “Kal, drop it,” West commands.

  Kal clenches his jaw. “We’re not dropping this. Why did you call her clingy? Roxy is, like, the opposite of clingy. She’s the coolest chick I’ve ever met and if you didn’t make a stupid rule about not dating her, she would be my girlfriend.”

  His girlfriend?

  The entire car falls silent at Kal’s confession.

  “The next person who talks is running a marathon tomorrow while the rest of us train,” West threatens.

  Nobody talks the rest of the way home.

  Monday, October 30

  Everybody hates me.

  The guys are all mad at me. For what? I don’t know, but none of them would talk to me through our morning run or during practice. Alek even blew off our second practice of the day, claiming he doesn’t feel good. Now I’m just left wondering what I did to make them so upset. Was it because of last night? Because some random guy kissed me? That wasn’t even my fault, so it hardly seems fair that they’re mad at me.

  Part of me wonders if they’re mad at me because of the whole kiss confession thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have confronted West in front of all the other guys, but I was just so mad last night. I regret it now, especially if it means the guys hate me.

  Not wanting to hide in my room any longer, head out to the living room, finding West sitting at the dining room table. Alek and Kal are on the couch, working on French together. Ian is nowhere to be seen.

  “Where is Ian?” I ask, interrupting Alek and Kal’s lesson. I’d rather ask them than talk to West.

  “Why? Do you want to kiss him, too?” Alek smarts.

  My heart clenches at his words. I guess I kind of deserved that. Part of me wonders if they’re giving West the same kind of treatment, but from the way West is sulking at the table, I’m going to say they probably are.

  I roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “First of all, West kissed me. Frat Boy doesn’t even count because, in case my right hook was too subtle, I didn’t want to kiss him. Second, I am not going to kiss all of you now just because I had a moment with the cranky douchebag over there.”

  West tenses up.

  Alek’s jaw tightens as he glares at West. “You broke the rules that you’ve been making the rest of us abide by.”

  Ah, yes. ‘The rules.’

  I wish I would’ve been there when the rules were established, because then I could’ve told them that I wasn’t interested in them anyway.

  And I’m definitely not.

  Mostly.

  Sort of.

  Totally not.

  “See what you started.” West closes his computer and glares at me. “All because you wanted to act like a whore and make out with that guy at Fight Club.”

  I suck in a sharp breath.

  “Don’t call her a whore again or you and I will have a problem.” Alek’s biceps flex at his threat.

  I have no idea why Alek stood up for me, but it’s really sweet. Still, I have to stand up for myself. I’m not going to let West treat me like this. “Why do you even care, West? I could’ve made out with every single guy at Fight Club and it wouldn’t be any of your business because I am single. If anybody is acting clingy, it’s you.”

  West rolls his eyes, not saying another word. I want to think it’s because of what I said, but it probably has more to do with Alek’s threat.

  I’ve seen Alek during training. He holds back with me. When he and West spar, they go at each other hard, and Alek is a very worthy opponent. I have no doubt that he could give West a smack down, and while I’d love to see that happen, I really don’t want them to fight because of me.

  Kal clears his throat. “I think Ian is in the gym.”

  I smile at him. “Thanks.”

  “After you’re done talking to Ian, come find me. We need to talk.”

  I nod, my heart racing at the thought.

  Last night, Kal said something that I’ve been trying desperately hard to forget. I’m worried that he has feelings for me, which would be way too complicated for me to deal with right now. I’d rather be blissfully ignorant.

  I turn and walk out of the condo, heading toward the gym. I find Ian running on the treadmill. I’m not sure how long he’s been there, but judging by how wet his hair and clothes are, I’m going to say it’s been a while.

  “Hey.” I chew on my lip as I lean against the side of the wall.

  Ian will hardly even look at me, so I know he’s mad. Ugh, this is bad. I have some serious groveling to do.

  Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I decide to just suck it up and apologize to him anyway. I just don’t want him to be upset with me. “Ian, I’m sorry.”

  He sighs. “It’s okay, Roxy.”

  “That guy last night—”

  Ian cuts me off. “You think I’m mad at you because a random guy kissed you last night?”

  I nod, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

  “What is going on with you and West?” Ian asks.

  I open my mouth to respond, but I’m not sure how to respond.

  What is going on with West and me? Other than us fighting constantly. The make out session yesterday was a mistake.

  “I guess I don’t have a right to be upset with you.” Ian shuts off the treadmill. He runs his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. “I am just so mad at you for kissing West. And I’m mad at you because of last night, even though you had no control over what that guy did.”

  Tears press against the back of my eyes as I look at Ian. “I don’t know how to fix this.”

  “Me, either.” He sighs. “I feel stupid. I guess I thought we had something and it turns out you have something with West, too. Some part of me knew it, but I wanted to deny it. I wanted to think that what we have is special. But I’m not. I’m just... an idiot.”

  It’s then that I realize the extent of Ian’s feelings for me.

  Ian and Kal?

  Well, that’s… complicated. Way more complicated than I even realized.

  “Ian.” My voice breaks as I say his name and a tear falls from my eye.

  He looks at me, smiling sadly. “Don’t worry about it. It’s better this way.”

  But I do worry about it.

  I open my mouth to say something else, anything else, but Ian jumps off the treadmill, walking toward the door. He leaves me standing in the gym alone.

  Everybody hates me. Only this time, I can’t even blame Ian for hating me.

  How could I hurt Ian the way that I did?

  How can one night go so horribly wrong?

  When I eventually make my way back to the condo, I find Kal sitting out on the balcony. I’m not sure that I’m ready to have whatever conversation with him that I’m about to have, but I don’t have much of a choice. After last night, we shouldn’t delay this any longer.

  I take a deep breath before I slide open the patio doors.

  Kal looks back at me, grinning. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear anxiously as I
take a seat beside him.

  I have no idea what to say to Kal. What he said to me last night, about me being his girlfriend if West didn’t make the rule about not dating me, is a lot. I can’t quite process it just yet.

  “About last night,” Kal says, jumping right in. “I was completely out of line with what I said.”

  I wasn’t expecting that. I glance up at him. “Are you just saying that because West told you to?”

  He shakes his head. “No, Roxy.” He lets out a long breath. “I guess I just feel kind of protective of you. After all, West did tell me to look after you.”

  “In Greece,” I counter. “We’ve been back from Greece for a long time now, Kal. Not to mention, I got you shot while we were there.”

  He looks out at the ocean, shrugging. “Still, when I heard what West said about you, I got mad on your behalf. I feel like we’ve became friends.”

  “We have.” I consider Kal one of my best friends. I don’t know what I would do with him and Ian.

  Well, now I just have Kal because Ian is mad at me now too.

  “I just want you to know, last night, I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t really do relationships.” But he doesn’t look me directly in the eyes as he says it, and he scratches at his eyebrow, which is a sure sign that he is telling a lie. Being a Spy School agent, he should be a better liar than that, but maybe he wants me to know that he’s lying.

  “So, you aren’t attracted to me?” I ask.

  He looks at me, letting out his breath in a huff. “Last night was insane. I went out with you guys, thinking we would have a good time, but you let that guy kiss you and you ruined it.”

  I groan. “Why does everybody think I let him kiss me? I was completely shocked. What kind of idiot tries to kiss a girl after she defeats him in a fight?”

  He chuckles. “It was kind of hot. You didn’t even try. That’s probably why he kissed you—he had to take his shot.”

  I roll my eyes. “Sunday morning, I had never kissed one guy. By Sunday night, I had kissed two.”