Deviant King (Royal Elite #1) by Rina Kent

He’s wearing Elites’ royal blue jacket over a white T-shirt and dark jeans.

“It’s you.” He grins. “Frozen.”

“Elsa is fine, thanks,” I say with sarcasm.

He laughs. “Elsa, right. I didn’t know your real name.”

Of course, he didn’t. Kings don’t know all their peasants, do they?

“What are you doing at Ronan’s party?” he asks. “Wait. Did Aiden drag you here?”

I’m honestly not surprised that he thinks that.

“He did, didn’t he?” He searches me up and down as if Aiden will materialise from underneath my skin. “And where is he now?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

“Huh. He must be playing a chess game against himself like a freak.”

“Wait. He does that?” That’s so weird. I thought I was the only one who does that.

“Stage five freak. I’m telling you.” He winks.

Well, Levi isn’t exactly like the image I painted in my head. After everything I had heard about screwing the teacher and being Elites’ captain, and the king of RES, I expected an older, more bastard version than Aiden.

Instead, he’s more… welcoming?

Would I appear like a creep if I ask for his autograph? Uncle Jaxon would be so happy.

Just when I’m contemplating the idea, the music comes to an abrupt halt. Ronan jumps to the top of a table in the middle of the lounge area where the football team surrounds him.

“Listen up, bitches.” He uses a beer bottle as a microphone. “We’re here today to celebrate our win against New Castle. One to nil. Championship, here we fucking come.”

Everyone hoots and cheers, “Go Elites!”

Even Levi smiles, shaking his head.

“It hasn’t been easy to win without our two strikers.” Ronan’s tone and expression turn to sorrowful before he grins. “But yours truly can transform into a striker any day, bitches! King and Knight, who?”

“Fuck you, Astor,” Xander mumbles from beside him and everyone else laughs.

“La ferme, Knight. Don’t kill my vibe.” Ronan goes back to grinning. “Anyway, let’s ignore Knight’s bitter arse. We have a special guest tonight. Our own Premier League star. Let’s welcome our previous captain, Levi King!”

“He had to do it,” Levi mutters under his breath. “Fucker.”

The rest of the football team cheers and hits the table like crazy.

Ronan points at Levi and shouts. “Come here, Captain!”

“Captain, captain, captain…” The rest chant, led by Ronan and Cole.

Levi grunts and starts to leave, but stops and looks down at me. “Remember what I told you about Aiden being a stage five freak?”

I nod once.

“He’s also a stage five creeper. It’s better if you stay away from him.” He winks. “For your sake, not his.”

And then he’s gone.

I stare at his back, incredulous, as the football team members clasp him in bro hugs.

What on earth does he mean by ‘for your sake, not his’?

“First of all,” Levi says in a joking tone, glaring down at Ronan. “I’m only here to get my dickhead cousin, so fuck you for the speech setup, Astor.”

“Come on, Captain.” Ronan waves him off. “Some encouraging words for the championship.”

“If you don’t get it again this year…” Levi trails off. “You’ll be punished, captain style.”

They all grunt, except for Ronan who jumps up. “Nah, you’re not our captain anymore.” He grins, clasping Cole by the shoulder. “Nash is.”

Levi raises an eyebrow. “And who do you think gave Nash that captain position.”

They all break out in a dispute, except for Cole who watches them with a smile, shaking his head.

Levi put Cole as captain? It’s weird that he didn’t pick Aiden, considering that he’s his cousin.

“Ellie!”

I rip my attention from the football team to Kim who’s grinning as she holds onto a brunette’s elbow.

“This is Astrid.” Kim beams. “Astrid Clifford, you know, the one I told you I sat with during last year’s games.”

I smile at Astrid and her glowing aura. She’s rocking simple overall shorts and fishnet stockings. It’s cute in a girly kind of way.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen her. Her rocky relationship with Levi had been the talk of RES last year. I even caught Aiden hanging out around her.

Actually, Astrid and Silver are the only two girls Aiden has associated himself with.

Not that I’ve been watching him or anything.

“Astrid, this is my best friend, Elsa.”

“Elsa.” Astrid rolls my name off her tongue with a discreet smile.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.” She laughs, waving her hand. “I just heard so much about you and the only names I got were Frozen and Ice Princess. I’m glad to know your real name.”

I wince.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” She clasps my hand. “I’m really glad to finally meet Aiden’s obsession.”

“Wait. What?” My lips part open.

“He used to watch you all the time.”