Outsider: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #1)

by Trinity Towers

  “Ohmygod! What happened? Did you get hit by a bus!” I restrained myself, giving him a gentle hug before sitting down next to him on the bed.

  He laughed and then groaned, his hands grabbing his side. “Don’t make me laugh.”

  “Sorry,” I replied with a cringe.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  “Really? ’Cause it looks pretty fucking bad. What happened?”

  He gave me a wink and a tight grin touched his lips. “You should have seen the other guy.”

  “Did you get mugged?”

  “Fuck no! It was just an accident. Not a big deal. How was your day? I’m sorry I haven’t texted today, I’m on painkillers and been sleeping most of the day.”

  Frowning, I really wanted to continue trying to find out what had happened, but he didn’t seem inclined to let me in on the information. Maybe if I was his real girlfriend, but I wasn’t. Currently, I was just a girl he was blackmailing and getting to know—and maybe like?

  “My day was dull,” I said. “Mom is working today, otherwise she’d be pissed to find out that I took off over here. I had a visitor yesterday though.”

  “Oh.” His eyebrows raised as he pinned me with a stare. “Who was that?”

  “Damien Cain.”

  He shrugged. “Name doesn’t ring a bell. What does he look like?” Before I could answer he continued, “Better question yet, what in the hell is some guy doing showing up my girl’s place?”

  I held my hand up in front of his face, frowning. “Whoa. Hold up a minute now. Are you saying that I can’t have friends over?”

  “You can have all the chicks you want over, but guys are a different story. I can’t have a bunch of random jerks showing up at my girl’s place and disrespecting me.”

  My spine stiffened as I looked at him. “Controlling much? I’ll have you know that my fake boyfriend has no right to say who I will or will not be hanging out with—male or female. What are we living in, the 1960s? And are we in the mafia?”

  He groaned, sitting up straighter in the bed. “No, it’s not that.” He frowned. “I don’t think there’s any way I can explain without it just sounding bad.”

  “Well you’re the big strong king of the school. If you’re all that, then why are you concerned? No one would dare make a move on me.”

  “You don’t understand how things work here yet?”

  “I’m starting to get it.” I huffed and rolled my eyes. “It’s all about reputation and appearances.”

  “Babes, you’re the one who wanted to live here and live this life. I’m telling you how things are here.”

  “You know, if I can’t even have the friends I want, then maybe this whole big plan of yours isn’t going to work.” I stood, deciding that this whole conversation was pissing me off. No one had ever told me who I could or couldn’t not be friends with in the past and I’d be damned if they would start now. “Maybe this whole place with all its phony people won’t work.”

  Turning, I only got a couple steps away before my wrist was grabbed, pulling me back down onto the bed with Jaxson. I attempted to squirm back off the bed, but his grip was surprisingly strong. In one swift movement, I found myself under him, my body pinned by his.

  His dark eyes bore deep into mine, penetrating straight through to my soul. “You are mine. Until I say otherwise. And I don’t want other men sniffing around my girl.” His voice was raspy and his words, while they should have made me furious, only made my body tremble with need.

  This was some serious 50 Shades Christian Grey possessiveness going on, but being in a situation like this, I could understand why Anastasia kept coming back for more. There was something thrilling about being with a man that was so passionate.

  His lips came crashing down onto mine, with a fierceness I’d never felt from anyone before. I moaned against his lips as he deepened the kiss, lighting my body on fire.

  I slid my arms around his waist, pulling him down to me.

  The kiss immediately stopped and Jaxson rolled over and off me, grabbing his side. “Damn woman! Are you trying to kill me?” he groaned.

  My eyes widened in fear as I sat up and stared down at him, and the pain in his expression, despite his blatant attempt to cover it. “What in the hell happened to you?”

  “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. A couple days and I’ll be back in school and it’ll be all good.” He grimaced as he pulled himself back up into a sitting position.

  I didn’t like it. Why in the hell he couldn’t tell me was beyond me. What was he hiding? “If I’m going to be your girl, then we shouldn’t be keeping secrets from each other.”

  “In due time all shall be revealed babes, in due time.” He gave me a wink in an attempt to lighten the mood, but I wasn’t going to fall for it. No way.

  What is he up to?

  I opened my mouth to press him a little more, but he raised his hand, stopping me in my tracks. “No point in trying to get any more info out of me, or my crew for that matter. It won’t happen so you’re wasting your breath.” Lowering his hand, he rested his head against the black leather headboard and closed his eyes. “I’m exhausted so I’m going to sleep. You can either cuddle up next to me—gently. Or you can leave. Your choice.” He lifted his arm and waved me to come closer to him, already knowing which one of the two I’d choose.

  Chapter 14

  My eyes sprang open to the sound of my phone ringing. There was a moment of disorientation as I attempted to recall how I’d gotten here and why I was snuggled up to Jaxson. Then it hit me. I’d come over and had fallen asleep next to him.

  Ohmygod! I was grounded. Pulling my phone from my back pocket I looked at the display and cursed under my breath. It was almost midnight! There was a series of messages and a few missed calls from my mother.

  My ass was toast. Shit. Shit. Shit. I rejected the call and looked down at Jaxson. He was snoring like a madman. How I’d managed to sleep through that was beyond me. Maybe because it felt so comfortable being close to him.

  I was about to shake him awake, but immediately changed my mind, not wanting to disturb him. The moment I attempted to inch my way away from him, an arm came crashing down on me and pulled me back into him. Even injured he was strong.

  Damn. How was I going to do this?

  There was also another problem. It was midnight. Did they have alarms set by now? What if I went out the front door and woke the entire house? Doing the walk of shame is one thing. Doing the walk of shame in front of your kinda boyfriend’s parents after waking them was certainly another.

  What choice did I have? As much as I would have loved to just shut off my phone and lie snuggled tight to Jaxson, I had to leave. With a sigh, I gave his shoulder a nudge. “Jaxson.”

  He grumbled and instead of waking, tightened his hold on me.

  Damn. That didn’t work.

  “Jaxson,” I said a little louder, giving his shoulder a harder shove. “I need to go.”

  “Then go,” he grumbled, while not releasing me.

  “Jaxson!” I said a louder than full voice, adding another shove. “I need you to walk me out.”

  His eyes fluttered open and it took him a moment to register that I was lying beside him. “Hey babes, what are you doing here?”

  “Ugh. Jaxson. How many pain meds are you on?”

  He gave me a lopsided grin. “All of them. I’m tired. Lay down and go back to sleep.”

  Finally, I was able to get out from under his arm. “I can’t. My mother is going to murder me, and she has all the reason to; I’m worth a lot of money now!”

  He chuckled and with a grunt sat up. “Okay. You gotta go?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  “And you want me to walk you out?”

  “Yes.” I shook my head at him then slipped from the bed. “I can’t wander around your house at midnight by myself. I haven’t even met your parents yet.”

  “They won’t mind. Don’t worry about it.”
He closed his eyes.

  Planting my hands on my hips I glared down at him. “How many women have you had roaming the house at midnight? That happens often?” I demanded, not caring who heard. I shouldn’t care. His past relationships weren’t my business, just as mine weren’t his, but damn, if my mother found some guy come stumbling out of my room at midnight she’d have something to say about it. I’d be grounded for the rest of my life. Chances are I would be anyhow by the time I got home.

  “Jaxson. Pleeeease. I need you to let me out.”

  His dark eyes opened again, and he seemed to be more coherent. “Okay. It took him a full minute to begin moving, but he eased himself out of the bed, grimacing as he moved. When he finally got to his feet, the blanket fell away and he was left standing before me, bruised and the whole nine yards, in a pair of black boxer briefs and a large rock-hard erection.

  “Ohmygod!” I gasped looking away, heat rising to my cheeks.

  “What?” Jaxson asked yawning.

  When I looked back at him, I had to force myself from taking another glance at him down under.

  He began to laugh, rocking his hips. “Is there something you’re not trying to look at?”

  “Asshole. You know there is.” I couldn’t even look him in the eye. Instead I fixed my stare on the adjacent wall where there was a shelf of trophies. That was when it dawned on me. “You play football! That’s why you’re bruised up.”

  “I do play football. You are correct. The coach had practices throughout July and August. Team isn’t that great though. The school is too small to compete with the massive high schools, but we do have top notch coaches though—all former NFL all-stars.”

  “Very cool.” There were more than just football awards on the shelf. Maybe one day I’d get a better look at all his achievements. My phone buzzed in my pocket again reminding me of the trouble that awaited me back at home. “Shit. Can you walk me down now?”

  “Yeah. Let me get some bottoms on first.” Going to his dresser, he pulled the second drawer from the top open and grabbed a pair of red plaid flannel pajama bottoms and with effort managed to get them on. He huffed once done. The entire process looked painful and I felt a pang of guilt for making him get up. “Follow me.”

  I followed him out of his room and to the elevator and we rode down to the main floor in silence. I chanced a glance at myself in the mirror and cringed, I looked like I’d been royally fucked. The little bit of make-up I’d been wearing was smudged and my hair was a knotted mess. With any luck I could sneak out without anyone seeing, though I did attempt to use my fingers to get rid of some of the knots in my otherwise-straight hair.

  The doors slid open and before I had a chance to step off, I heard an older woman’s voice. “Jaxson, honey. How are you feeling?”

  Oh, fuck my life. Closing my eyes, I did a silent prayer before revealing he wasn’t alone.

  “Oh, you have company…” As I focused on the woman who was at the other end of the hallway, my mouth dropped open. “Miss Rigby. What an unexpected surprise at past midnight.”

  The mystery as to why Jaxson knew I was a lottery winner came to me in in a flash. The real estate agent that sold us the house was standing there staring at me. Eyes narrowing, I glared at Jaxson, who seemed unperturbed by the situation or the fact that he’d been busted. Though in his defense, there’s a good chance he was too groggy to even realize I was upset.

  “She’s just leaving. We fell asleep,” he explained.

  “I see.” She gave me a once-over that made me feel like I was a piece of crap on the sidewalk. Funny how just a week ago she was kissing my and my mother’s ass. “Good night, Miss Rigby.” She turned and disappeared into one of the rooms down the hallway.

  “I think she likes me,” I whispered sarcasm dripping in my tone.

  “She doesn’t like most people, but she pretends really well when she wants to.” Placing a hand at the small of my back, he led me to the door, punched a code in the keypad and deactivated the door alarm.

  “Okay, time to face the music.”

  “You think your mom is still up?” He opened the door and stepped aside.

  I laughed. “I know she is. She just texted me.”

  “Then you better hit it.” Stepping to me, he slipped his hand into my hair to grasp the back of my head and lowered his lips to mine. I melted against him, moaning as our lips touched and taking care not to press myself too tight to him as our tongues danced. Damn, he was a good kisser, making my entire body tingle from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

  When he broke off the kiss, I was left panting and flushed. “Okay, I’m gonna go.” I was about to step onto the step when I noticed I wasn’t wearing shoes. “Shit. I—” I motioned to my feet, making him grin.

  Going to the closet, he opened it up and grabbed my sneakers, then passed them to me.

  “I feel like an idiot right now.”

  His grin widened, but he said nothing just watched me with amusement as I struggled to pull the sneakers on without taking the time to untie them. Once done, I straightened and gave him a hesitant wave.

  “Goodnight.”

  He raised a brow and waved back. “Sweet dreams.”

  Without another word, I escaped from the house and stood on his step a moment, looking at my house. My house was illuminated with virtually every light on, shining out into the darkened street. It wasn’t as welcoming as it normally was.

  Sucking up my hesitation, I decided I might as well just get it over with. Waiting for the traffic to stop, I ran across the street and punched in the code to the door. The door beeped and I turned the knob, entering.

  “Mom?” I called out, closing the door being me and activating the alarm. “Where are you?”

  “In here,” she called back from the living room, which was becoming her favorite place to lounge in the house. There was an odd tone to her voice that made me frown.

  Slipping off my sneakers, I kicked them to the side and walked down the hall, coming to a stop at the living room entryway. My mother was still in her uniform with an open bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table, which was nearly halfway gone. My mother never drank. This was bad; very, very bad.

  “When did you get off work?” I cautiously made my way into the living room and took a seat across from her.

  “A few hours ago.” She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees and staring at me, with identical blue eyes to mine. She was beyond pissed. “Imagine my surprise when I came home to find that my grounded daughter was nowhere to be found.”

  “Mom, I can explain.”

  “And then to top it off, she wasn’t answering her phone. Imagine that? Couldn’t be my child, because my kid wouldn’t be so irresponsible.”

  My heart sank. “Mom, it’s not like that.”

  She tilted her head to the side and stared at me. “Then tell me—what is it like? Because my kid wouldn’t take off when she was already grounded.”

  “I hadn’t heard from Jaxson all day and so I was worried and so I went next door to check on him.”

  “How nice of you.” She took another drink from her glass of red wine.

  I cringed at her tone but continued, hoping the rest of the story would by some miracle change things and let her see I wasn’t trying to be some irresponsible asshole. “He got hurt and so we talked. And he was on pain killers. He fractured his rib and then we fell asleep and then I woke up and it was now.” I threw my hands out at my sides. “I swear Mom, I didn’t mean to disobey. I was only planning on being a minute.”

  She sighed. “Fights. Suspension. Taking off until all hours of the night without so much as a note. What’s next Keira, planning a bank heist? Oh, wait, you have more money than most people in the country so you can do what you want when you want, is that it? Is that where we’re at Keira?”

  I sat stunned, unsure of how to respond. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  She shook her head, disappointment in her eyes. “I can’t te
ll you what do to anymore Keira. You’re almost eighteen and you have so much money that you’re set for your life as long as you’re not stupid about it. All I can so is hope you don’t let it all go to your head and ruin your life.”

  Grabbing the bottle of wine, she stood and on shaky legs stumbled from the living room. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched her walk away. It was an honest mistake. I was tempted to run after her and help her to her bedroom, but I was a coward, scared that the only person in the world who loved me unconditionally was second guessing me and would turn me away. So instead I lowered my face to my hands and began to weep. I’d make it up to her and show her that I wasn’t changing; I’d prove it to her no matter what it took.

  Chapter 15

  The rest of the week I did everything I could to prove to my mother that I was the same person that she knew. My nose only left the textbooks long enough to grab something to eat, drink or use the washroom. I did have a few periodic text exchanges between Jaxson and Damien, but I told them both to please stay away until we started back to school. To my surprise, Jaxson went along with my wishes—I guessed his fractured rib was slowing him down somewhat. We did get into the fun little routine of sitting in our windows that faced each other’s houses and chatting with each other on the phone. It was as close as we were going to get to being together. It reminded me of that “You Belong With Me” video by Taylor Swift.

  But the day arrived that it was time to go back to school and face the music. Luckily for me, Jaxson was at my side. Damien had informed me that Trina had come back to school the previous Friday and she had been on a rampage—everyone was a target for her wrath—even her inner circle. Someone had stood up to her and made her look bad: me. So she now had something to prove to everyone, that she was still the baddest bitch on the block.

  “So, you ready for this, babes?” Jaxson asked as the car pulled up to the curb of our school.

  I nodded. “As I’ll ever be, I guess.”

  “Remember part of the secret to owning the school is acting as if that’s the case. You left on a high note; you can’t be meek or they’ll eat you alive.”