Tested Patience

NESSA'S POV

My jaw dropped for a second time, and I honestly could not believe how rude these douchebags were. The first one had called me a call girl the moment he laid eyes on me, the second had stared at me like I was something beneath him even while he asked his little questions, and now the third one, the quiet one who had barely moved since he came down the stairs, had just told me to get out of their sight like I was nothing more than trash that had wandered into their house by mistake. 

The whole situation was so hilarious, so embarrassing, and so frustrating all at once that I could not help the dry laugh that slipped out of my mouth. It started small, just a short burst of sound that did not sound like real laughter at all, but once it started I could not stop it. I stood there in the middle of their living room with eight pairs of eyes on me and kept laughing for a few long seconds, the sound filling the space while my shoulders shook a little from the force of it. 

Part of me knew it was the wrong reaction, that I should have been angry or cold or something more composed, but the sheer nerve of these boys had pushed me past the point of caring what they thought. When I finally snapped out of it and the last of the dry laughter faded, I turned back to face them fully, and the anger that had been building underneath the strange pull I still felt toward those three came pouring out without any attempt to hide it.

“Who the fuck do you think you are to decide where I can and cannot be?” I asked, my voice sharp and clear enough that every single one of them could hear it. 

I did not bother softening my tone or pretending I was not furious. The coach had hired me. He had looked at my qualifications, watched me put a full training and nutrition plan together, and given me the job along with a place to live. These boys did not get to erase that just because they did not like the idea of a girl living under the same roof as them. 

“If any of you have a problem with me being your trainer, you can take it up with your coach,” I continued, letting my eyes move across the whole group so none of them could pretend they were not included. “But as far as I am concerned, I was hired and I have been granted access to this house. Whether you like it or not, I am here to stay. So you can either deal with it, or you can go ahead and cry like little bitches to your coach just because a girl is moving in with you. The choice is yours.”

The stupid blonde rolled his eyes at me like I was the most exhausting person he had ever been forced to listen to. He still stood with his arms crossed, that same arrogant look fixed on his face, and when he spoke again, his voice carried the same edge it had before. “Why bother calling us all down here if you had already decided that you were going to stay whether we wanted you to or not?” he asked, as if the simple act of gathering them had been some kind of waste of his valuable time.

I threw him a look of pure disdain and did not even try to hide how little respect I had for the question. “It is not my fault that you cannot understand basic courtesy,” I told him, keeping my voice steady even though the strange warmth in my chest kept trying to distract me every time my eyes landed on him or the other two. “I called you all down here not to ask for your permission to stay, but to simply let you know that I am here. So you had better get used to it.”

Before the blonde could fire something else back at me, another one of the players outside of the three who had gotten my attention so strongly spoke up. He was a lanky guy with jet black hair who looked a little younger than the others, and the way he blurted out his words made it clear he had been holding the thought in for a while. “Even if you stay, you cannot exactly force us to train with you or follow whatever plan you have for us,” he said, his voice carrying across the room. “So would you not only be making things harder for yourself if you insisted on staying?”

I sighed and turned my attention to him, deciding that at least this one was trying to make some kind of actual point instead of just insulting me. “What is your name?” I asked, because if I was going to be stuck living with these people, I might as well start learning who was who. 

He opened his mouth like he was about to answer, but the blonde turned toward him with a stern look that shut him up immediately. The younger boy’s words died in his throat, and he glanced down at the floor like he had just been scolded by a parent, and I could not believe the juvenile act I was witnessing. These were supposed to be grown men who played competitive football and lived in a house full of championship trophies, yet one look from the blonde was enough to make another player go silent like a child who had spoken out of turn. 

I shook my head in pure disbelief at the whole display before answering the question the lanky one had asked.

“Unless your coach tells me that I am fired and that I should leave, I will not be leaving,” I said, making sure the words were loud enough for every single person in the room to hear. “So if the rest of you decide to give me the cold shoulder and pretend I do not exist, it will be your loss at the end of the day. Not mine.”

The third one, the quiet one I was starting to suspect was the real big boss of the whole bunch, spoke up again. This time he did not tell me to leave. Instead, he looked at me with that same still, controlled expression he had worn since the beginning and said something that made the air in the room feel even more suffocating. “Stay if that is what you want to do so badly,” he told me, his voice low and even.

I frowned immediately because I knew for sure that he was not telling me to stay out of the goodness of his heart. Nothing about the way these three looked at me felt kind or welcoming. The strange pull between us was still there, humming under my skin and making it hard to look away from him for too long, but I could see the challenge sitting behind his words even before he added the rest. 

“I would like to see how long you last,” he continued, that air of arrogance wrapping around every word. The smirk that followed was not too obvious, just a small shift at the corner of his mouth, but it was enough to make it clear he expected me to somehow fail and give up and was already looking forward to watching it happen. “So go ahead and stay for as long as you can, Ms. Wilder.”

As soon as the last word left his mouth, he turned around without waiting for any response from me and headed back toward the stairs. The brunette followed right behind him, and as he passed, he simply smiled at me like he was having an amusing time watching the whole thing unfold. The rude blonde came last, and he did not even bother with a smile. He downright sneered at me as he walked past, the look on his face making it clear he still thought I was a joke that would not last long. Once the three of them started up the stairs, the rest of the players began to clear out as well. Some of them glanced at me one last time before disappearing, others just left without another word, and within less than a minute the living room that had been full of staring boys was empty again.

I stood there alone with my suitcase still near the entrance and a not so good feeling settling deep in my chest, the seriousness of their challenge and the strange pull I still felt toward those three mixing together in a way that made the house feel much larger and much less welcoming than it had when I first walked through the door.