Cruel King (Royal Elite #0) - Rina Kent Page 0,105
me these things. I’m supposed to be there for you when you’re hurt.”
“That’s a tad bit dramatic, crazy bugger. Tone it down a notch.”
“Nope. It’s written in the friendship manual. I finally read it.”
He laughs. “About time.”
I face him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“One. It’s fucking embarrassing to tell you I was drugged and might have drugged you. And oh, wait. You had an accident that night.”
“Well, we had time after, why have you never brought it up?”
“You make it sound like a disaster or that I’m traumatised.”
“You aren’t?”
He continues staring at where Nicole disappeared. “I’m not.”
“But didn’t she… assault you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. Nicole is over.”
But something tells me that’s not the case.
I sit at my desk in my room and stare at the sketchbook. I’m supposed to find a few sketches that speak of me and my style so I can send them to colleges, but I got lost somewhere.
For the past hour, I’ve been staring at multiple sketches of Levi. There are a few of him scoring, running, or just standing over the team with crossed arms.
I can’t get him out of my head.
Since that day he walked out on, I keep replaying the last look in his eyes. The hurt. The defeat.
I broke his wings, but I’m the one who’s bleeding.
I’ve been dreaming that he’d come back to knock on my door or sneak from my window.
But that’s all they were. Dreams.
Even if he came, it’d only make it harder to push him away again.
Because I said the truth. He’ll only see me as the daughter of the woman who killed his father. And while Mum had nothing to do with it, his father died that day.
I can’t live having him look at me that way.
That doesn’t mean I can stop thinking about him, though.
That doesn’t mean I can stop my muse from sketching him.
A few months.
It’ll be less than a few months before we go our separate paths.
Dan mentioned that Jonathan King allowed Levi to play professionally.
He’ll pick either Manchester or Liverpool and live at the other half of the country while I continue studying in London.
My heart aches and bleeds at the thought of never seeing him again.
“Those are really pretty.”
I startle and meet Dad’s gaze. I fumble with the notepad, slamming it shut and fight the embarrassment creeping up my cheeks.
Thank God Dad didn’t see the half-naked sketches.
“I knocked,” he says. “Three times.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” He pulls a chair and sits beside me. “I mean it. You have a special talent that’s different from your mother’s.”
I smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Are you returning to school?”
I wince. “It’s time, I guess. I can’t run away forever.”
No matter how much I want to.
“I know it’s been crazy around here recently, but you’re strong and I trust that you’ll get through this.”
“I know, Dad, it’s just…”
“That King boy?”
I swallow. “It’s over between us, don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried. My feud with Jonathan isn’t something you two should worry about.”
“Dad… are you approving of Levi right now?”
“He had the balls to meet me head on and even risked his future to process evidence about your accident. That grants him some points.” He scrunches his nose. “He still has that loathsome King pride, but it can be wrenched out of him.”
“But… but how about Mum and his father?”
“They both died, Astrid. It was an accident. Neither you or Levi had anything to do with it.” He holds my hand in his. “All this guilt is coming from inside you and you’re the only one who can fight it.”
“I don’t know how.” My voice breaks.
“Ask yourself. Are you living for the past or for the future?”
I’m speechless, not knowing how to respond to that.
Dad stands up and pats my hand. “For what it’s worth, that boy seemed infuriatingly set on the future.”
54
Levi
It isn’t over until it’s over.
* * *
The sound of the spectators is deafening.
We’re on our way to the championship.
Coach Larson looks at me like a hawk and points at his watch. Five. We only have five minutes left.
I motion at Ronan and Cole to push back to defence. I know they want to go out with a bang, but it’s been a bitch to defend our two to one against Manchester even though we’re playing on our ground.
I scored the first goal and Aiden scored the second.
The prick’s Daniel’s words from the other time stayed with me. For the last few games, I’ve been giving the team more leeway