SWNOVELS Cruel King: Chapter 41
You didn’t kill me, you destroyed me.
I come out from my session with Dr Edmonds feeling lightheaded.
Everything that I thought I figured out is smoke and mirrors now.
Mum’s accident. My accident.
Since Mum’s death, I thought that no amount of therapy would bring back my mum or make me move on. So I’ve been ghosting my shrink.
Dad forced me to see Dr Edmonds at the beginning, but when I started throwing fits and woke up screaming in the middle of the night, he left me alone.
He only made me see Dr Edmonds again after the summer accident.
“Are you all right?” Dan stands up from the seat in the waiting area. “Why did you want to see your shrink?”
“Because…” I look up at him with my heart squeezing in my chest. “I think I’ve been running away.”
He clutches my arm, helping me to sit at the bench as the assistant calls in another patient.
“Did the doctor say that?”
“No. He told me that I quit visiting him for a reason and I also returned for a reason.” I grip his arm tighter. “He’s right, Dan. I had a flashback.”
His brows furrow. “A flashback?”
“From my accident with Mum. Dad said someone else died that day and I think … I think he or she asked me for help.” My eyes fill with tears. “What if… what if… they died because I couldn’t help them?”
“No. No. Look at me, Astrid.” He clutches my shoulder. “You had a concussion and couldn’t even save yourself, let alone someone else. Okay?”
I nod, slowly, more to myself than anything else. “That’s not the problem, Dan. The problem is that I wanted to remember for the wrong reasons. I want to recall what happened on my hit-and-run accident because I’m so mad at Levi right now. It’s so messed up, isn’t?”
“It’s human.” He grins. “Let’s egg his car and slash his tires. That Jaguar pisses me off.”
I snicker. Only Dan would turn an intense situation into a joke.
“So did the doctor say you can remember?” he asks.
“Yeah, but the whole thing is entirely up to me. Apparently, I’ve been blocking memories.”
“Are you scared?”
“No… maybe. I don’t know.”
“I’m here. You’ve got this, you little bugger.”
“God. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if I didn’t have you, bug.”
“Probably lots of shit.” He twists his mouth. “Buy me lunch?”
“Cheeseburgers,” Both of us say at the same time.
“How about we skip?” He waggles his eyebrows.
“I know what you’re doing, Dan, and no, I’m not running away from school anymore.”
I’m done bowing. It’s time I stand tall.
In school, no one looks in my direction and when they do, everyone bows their heads.
Everyone except for Nicole and her wingman, Chloe. They glare at me, but they keep their vapid mouths shut.
Dan walks by my side, throwing winks at his harem of girls.
Me?
I’m counting my steps so I don’t trip and fall.
Good or bad, I hate being put under the spotlight.
The only thing I want is to disappear into my art studio and never come out until it’s time to go home.
Dan has a meeting before practice with their coach.
As soon as he disappears down the hall, I quicken my pace to the art studio.
Someone cuts in front of me and I come to a screeching halt.
Aiden.
He’s wearing his football blazer and the uniform’s trousers. For a star player, he’s in no rush to meet their coach.
“What do you want?” I ask as coolly as I can manage.
I hate how much I want to search around him for the other King or how much I want to see his cousin in him.
He leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Something changed.”
“And I’m supposed to know about it?”
He remains as blank as a board. “Have you heard what my father and Lev talked about yesterday?”
I shake my head. “Dad and I left first.”
Aiden continues looking me up and down as if he’s searching for something. Then, he pushes off the wall, about to leave.
“Wait. Do you know why your father and mine have an animosity?”
He appears lost in thoughts for a second. “Hmm. It might have to do with that.”
“With what?”
“Lev is acting strange.”
“Is that why Levi threw a party out of nowhere yesterday?”
“Perhaps.” He pauses. “He ignored you, didn’t he?”
I thin my lips in a line, refusing to admit how much that hurts.
Aiden’s gaze gets lost in the opposite direction. It’s the first time I see his gunmetal eyes project anything but the deadly indifference.
As if a demon possessed him, his eyes darken until they become frighteningly black.
I glance behind me to see who’s the victim of the young King’s wrath.
My lips part when I make out Kimberly. The same chubby girl who educated me on football during the other game. We came to sit together in most home games.
She glances at me and smiles tentatively, waving. I wave back. Kimberly interlinks her arm in a taller blonde’s.
Aiden is glaring at the blonde girl, and she’s glaring right back without blinking.
Being tiny, the first thing I notice about her is the long legs that go for miles — okay, that was a bit overdramatic. But they’re so toned like she’s an athlete.
Kimberly’s friend has light skin and electric blue eyes that shine with malice the more she throws daggers in Aiden’s direction.
She has some balls to glare at Aiden this openly. He’s a scary little shit that always gives me serial killers vibe.
“Do you want to try something?” he asks without breaking eye contact from the blonde.
“Try what?” I ask, confused.
“About Lev.”
“What is it?”
He flings an arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his side. “You’ll find out.”
The blonde breaks eye contact and takes the first turn around the corner with Kimberly.
Aiden continues watching her even after she completely disappears.
His lips curve in a sadistic smirk before he faces me. “Let me test something about Lev.”
I point at his arm. “Does that include you holding my shoulder.”
He nods. “I would say trust me, but I know you won’t.”
At least he knows that.
A few minutes later, I’m sitting on the bench, watching the practice with Aiden by my side.
I think about shoving his arm away, but his theory about a test stops me.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in practice?” I ask.
“I need rest after a minor injury.” He tips his head at a passing player.
Me, on the other hand? I keep watching for Levi to come out of the locker room.
Everyone is on the field — including Dan. He furrows his eyebrows at me as if asking ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ I don’t know myself, but if anyone will force Levi’s hand then it can only be Aiden.
Ronan and Cole stare at us with stupefaction just like the rest of the team. Only Xander laughs and shouts “A hundred that a King will kill a King today.”
I think he even got a few bets from the other team members, Ronan and Dan included.
My breath hitches when Levi steps out with Coach Larson.
Something inside me ignites at seeing him again after the time we spent all tangled around each other.
I should be mad at him, but I can’t help noticing how his athletic body looks in the royal blue jersey and shorts. How his tousled blond hair falls on his forehead and how his pale blue eyes glint under the sun.
Damn how irresistible he is.
He pulls his legs back, stretching while listening to the coach.
He switches to stretching his arm behind his head and turns around. His gaze meets mine.
I swallow, the urge to remove Aiden consumes me, but I resist it.
I want to see Levi’s reaction. I want to see him lose it like he did with Jerry and at the party.
At least that proves it isn’t a game for him.
Levi pauses mid-stretching and my heart thumps so loud, I can’t hear anything past it.
As if a robot took over his body, Levi turns around and continues walking with the coach towards the other players.
Something breaks in my chest.
If he hadn’t meet my gaze, I would assume I’m invisible.
Am I invisible?
“Huh.” Aiden drops his arm. “That failed.”
A sob catches in my throat.
Was everything that happened between us a stupid game?
How… could he?
I stand up and stride to the railings. My temper boils, and I know the moment I clutch the metal railings that I’ll say something stupid.
“Levi!” I call.
He doesn’t turn around or acknowledge me, but the entire team’s attention is on me. Dan shakes his head and Xander elbows Levi.
“King!” I shout. “If you don’t turn around this second, we’re over. Completely over, do you hear me?”
I wish I never said that. I wish he doesn’t turn around.
When he does, his eyes are completely washed out. I don’t recognise this Levi. Not at all.
It’s like an alien sucked his soul and left this person behind.
He smirks in that cruel, sadistic way. His next words undo me.
“We were never something to be over.”