Maybe it was my imagination, but I could feel eyes on me. The queen bee and her drones were out there laughing to themselves I bet.
“Thanks for leaving me the towel, bitches!” I yelled out as I began to walk briskly down the front steps and onto the cold cobblestone walkway. I was certain I heard giggles, but I couldn’t see anyone. Talk about juvenile pranks. I must really threaten her if she had to stoop to such a level to get satisfaction.
“Ouch!” I winced as I stepped onto a particularly sharp rock. It was a fifteen-minute walk home from the school. It would take longer than that for me to stop someone to use their phone and call my mother or Jaxson and for them to come and pick me up. A cab would be awesome, but without any money I’d be screwed, even if I could get a cabbie crazy enough to pick up a chick in a towel.
Why in the hell did I have to choose the Simpsons towel? Why couldn’t it have been a classy gray or black one? I snorted at the silliness of my thoughts. Cause…. Yeah…. That would make all the world of difference in this situation.
You know what, to hell with this, I thought. I will walk home, and I’ll do it with my head held high. Those bitches won’t get the best of me in this situation. As I approached the gate that led to the main sidewalk, goosebumps had already begun to emerge on my skin.
I refused to allow myself to think of the spit, urine and God only knows what else would be on the New York sidewalks. New York streets and sidewalks weren’t exactly known for their cleanliness.
Work this towel like you’re on the runway, baby! I told myself, not hesitating when I exited the premises of the school and turned left. I got stares, I kid you not, there were lots of stares and whispers. I could have easily asked someone for their phone, but I didn’t. I was strong dammit and I refused to allow this to break me.
You won this round Trina…
I kept my hand tight to the top of my towel, making sure it didn’t come loose. My hair towel turban bounced with every step, but I was a pro at folding a towel onto my head, so it stayed secure block after block as I walked.
There were pictures being taken as well as videos. Several people had their phones out to get a shot at the crazy girl in a towel. This is the new couture assholes, didn’t ya know! Throughout the whole journey, I tried my best to hold tight to the frayed strands of my dignity and walked with purpose as if I wasn’t the craziest sight, onlookers had seen all day.
By the time I turned onto my street, I was colder than I think I’ve ever felt in my life. My feet were sore and no doubt cut with rocks embedded in the soles that I didn’t bother to stop to pull out, instead opting to soldier on. I picked up the pace until I was at a near run, the end of my towel flopping in the wind as I came close to my home. When I finally reached the front door of my house tears had begun to flow down my cheeks from relief, I’d made it. Thank freakin’ God, I’d made it!
My hand shook as I attempted to press in the numbers to the security lock. Our doors were fully automated now with no need for a key. Thank God for small miracles was all I could say on that.
“Keira! Hey Keira!” I heard Jaxson calling from behind me, but I didn’t turn to look at him, instead I focused on getting the numbers right the third time around. My hands were so cold they couldn’t seem to plug in the numbers correctly and it was royally pissing me off. I didn’t come this far to be stymied by an effin’ door lock.
Eureka! Finally! The keypad turned green, beeped and there was a click sound as the lock disengaged. For a moment I forgot I was freezing.
“Where’s your clothes? What in the hell is going on?”
I continued to not respond, there would be time for answers when I was in the house and toasty warm. Grabbing the door handle, I twisted it and opened it up stumbling inside, anxious to close the door behind me and block out the cold.
Jaxson came in after me and closed the door. Grabbing my shoulders, he turned me to face him. “What in the hell is going on? Why are you in a Simpsons towel and where’s your shoes?”
I couldn’t answer because my teeth were chattering too hard. I didn’t have any words, instead I broke down. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I stepped into him and buried my face against his chest. His body felt like heaven. Normally he felt like heaven because his body was on par with that of a Greek God it was so perfect, but today it was because of the warmth radiating from him. That sweet, glorious heat that I doubt I’d be able to get enough of. Surely, I was frozen through and through.
Jaxson got the hint and gave me a few minutes to warm up before questioning me, while running his warm hands up and down my upper arms. Once my body stopped trembling against him, he finally asked, “This was Trina, wasn’t it?”
I nodded, my fingers gripping tighter to his shirt.
“How did this happen? Why didn’t you call me?”
With great reluctance, I pulled back from him and wiped the tears with the back of my hands then looked up into his dark eyes. “I was given the team captain spot on the volleyball team.”
He smiled, his thumb wiping the wetness from under my blue eyes. “That’s great babes! Doesn’t explain the towel, but great.”
“I’m supposed to meet Mom to check out a restaurant space and so I was just going to shower and get dressed at the school.”
“She fuckin’ took your stuff…”
I nodded. “I left my shampoo and stuff at the school in the shower. My phone was in my backpack. I decided to just walk back. I think they were watching me when I came out of the school. Wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not all over YouTube tomorrow morning. ‘Crazy girl walks the streets of Manhattan in a towel.’” As I said the words it hit me how ludicrous the whole thing was, and I began to laugh.
Jaxson started at me in bewilderment as I took a step from him and my laughter intensified. “I’m not getting why this is funny.”
“Of all things that I may end up going viral for, it’s just my luck that it would be for walking around the Upper East Side barefoot in a Simpsons towel,” I pointed to the towel still secure on my head, “with a towel turban sitting on top of my head. Can you imagine?”
“I…I certainly can’t. I’ll be honest with you babes.” He stepped forward and unwrapped the towel from my hair. It wasn’t frozen, but it was pretty stiff, making a crunching noise as my cold hair dropped against my back, sending a chill down my spine.
“I need to borrow your phone to call my mom and tell her I’m going to be late.”
Jaxson reached into the back pocket of his jeans and passed his phone to me. I knew his code so immediately tapped in the combination and unlocked it. Luckily for me I wasn’t one of those people who didn’t take the care to memorize important phone numbers or I’d have been screwed.
Dialing her number, I put the phone up to my ear and listened to the ringing until she picked up on the third ring. “Hello?” There was clear confusion in her voice, not recognizing the phone number. When we were poor back in Florida we never answered the phone if we didn’t recognize the number, because nine times out of ten it would be a bill collector, but when you have nearly a billion dollars in the bank the fear of bill collectors go away ricky tick.
“Hey Mom. I don’t think I’m going to make it to see the place with you.” I cringed saying that to her; this was supposed to be something we were to do together to make up for me being such a little shit since moving here. And here I was disappointing her—yet again.
There was a silence on the other end.
“Mom?” Had she hung up?
“What’s your excuse this time?” There was clear annoyance in her voice, and I’d admit that she had every right to be angry. My track record hadn’t been the best.
“I got the spot as captain of the volleyball team and we had a late practice. I’m home now and about to get changed.”
“Where is your phone? Whose phone are you on?” By the tone in her voice, I could tell she was trying hard not to lose her shit on me. She’d no doubt reserve that for when she got home.
“It’s Jaxson’s phone. I lost my backpack…. Or it got stolen, I’m not sure which.”
“Oh Keira, Jesus. Are you serious? You’ve never been foolhardy with your stuff before. Just because we have money in the bank doesn’t mean you can be careless.”
Looking up at Jaxson I rolled my eyes. “I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again. Can we re-book the appointment so we can see it together, maybe tomorrow?”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. “No. It’s too late and I’m here. I’ll look at it and if it’s suitable then I’ll have you come take a look as well.”
I was a little let down, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I really, honestly had wanted to see it with her. “Okay, Mom. See you when you get home.”
“Yes, see you in a bit.” She hung up without saying goodbye. She never hung up like that. If we had been still using those old fashioned phones that you could slam down onto the cradle, my ears would no doubt be ringing.
Shit…
I passed Jaxson the phone and he stuffed it back into his jeans pocket. “Why didn’t you tell her what happened?”
I sighed. “Because she doesn’t know all the shit I’ve been dealing with at Greisbach Academy and if she knew then there’s a chance she’d make me switch schools. What can she do anyhow other than worry?”
“Fair enough, I guess.”
I looked down at myself. “I think it’s time that I got some clothes on.” Now that I was warm, I couldn’t help but grin. “Does The Simpsons suit me? Do you think this could be a whole new trend?” I took a step back and twirled in front of him to give him the full effect of how the makeshift garment looked.
He laughed as he took a step over to the elevator and pressed the call button. “I think that it’s quite the look you’ve got going on.”
The elevator dinged and door slid open. While I normally took the stairs up all five floors, considering the bottoms of my feet felt like they were torn apart I gladly took the elevator and pressed the number five.
Jaxson’s jaw clenched as the elevator shot upward. “Tomorrow I’m going to have a little chat with Trina. This has gone too far.”
“It wasn’t too far when she brought Kevin here to make me look like a whore, knowing you’d beat the shit out of him? I’m sure it was one of her flunkies that called the cops.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll settle out of court and it’ll be over.”
The whole thing angered me. It didn’t seem right that Jaxson would have to pay some con artist from my past off to keep from going to jail. He had already been told by his lawyer that if he didn’t settle and it went to trial he would be tried as an adult since his birthday was in just a few weeks.
Jaxson shrugged. “It’s money Keira. Not a big deal. That chump wouldn’t know what real money is anyhow. My lawyer thinks he won’t press charges as long as we buy him off with maybe twenty grand.”
Back in the trailer park twenty grand was a lot of money, especially for a seventeen-year-old. “Still. It’s the principle of the matter.”
The doors of the elevator slid open and we made our way to my bedroom. “Sometimes you just have to fight back on principle and just do what needs to be done. My father has been telling me that for as long as I can remember. Besides, beating the shit out of that asshole was worth twenty grand to me.”
I immediately went to my dresser and found myself underwear, jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy tonight. After that chilled walk I was tempted to just pull on a pair of fleece pajama bottoms instead of jeans. On second thoughts.... Putting the jeans back, I opened the drawer under them and pulled out a pair of fleece Snoopy pajama bottoms—perfect.
“So how long is your mother going to be?” Jaxson asked as he stepped up behind me. He slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against him.
“I’m not sure. A little bit, I imagine. She was waiting on the realtor.”
“That a fact.” He leaned down and brushed his lips along the side of my neck, sending a delicious shiver through my body. I moaned softly, my heart rate accelerating as my body trembled against him.
His fingers played with the top of the towel and with a flick of the wrist he undid the tuck that was keeping it tight to my body. The towel fell away and puddled at my feet, leaving me completely naked.
Spinning around in his arms, I slid my hands up his thick, wonderfully sculpted abs and chest, covered by his cotton t-shirt. He’d fractured a rib a few weeks ago, but it seemed to have healed up well enough, though I was still a little uncertain as to how he got hurt; he always seemed to sidestep the questions or say he’d tell me in due time. It was odd.
But that was a problem for another day. As his lips came crashing down onto mine with wild abandon, I pushed up against him, feeling the evidence of his desire pressing up against me. My lips parted, allowing his tongue to seek out mine.
One of his hands slipped into my still damp hair to grasp the back of my head. The soft tug of my hair felt amazing and it increased my desire for him. He slowly began to back me up and over to the super-soft king-sized canopy bed. The head of the bed was sitting against the wall, keeping the bed perfectly centered in the room. As our bodies tumbled onto the bed and I began to claw at his clothing, anxious to feel our bodies uniting, the events of the day became a distant memory.
Chapter 3
“You’ve got to go before Mom gets home or she’ll think I ditched her to spend time with you,” I said, throwing his clothes at him. He caught them effortlessly and tossed them beside him on the comforter. Jaxson didn’t seem to be in any big hurry to get out of my bed and I’ll admit he was a drool-worthy sight to behold, his muscular six-foot-four body reclined on my bed, his hands laced behind his head.
Planting my hands on my hips, I hit him with the dirtiest glare I could muster. I was already dressed. He needed to put on some clothes and get the fuck out of my bed!
“Look, you might be the king of Greisbach Academy, but you sure as hell aren’t the king of this bedroom. You need to get up and out of here ASAP. I’m already in enough trouble!”
Our gazes locked and finally he groaned, sat up and slid from the bed. “Fine. I’ll get dressed. Maybe I should forgo the jeans and t-shirt for a Simpsons towel. You think?”
“You’re an asshole.” Despite my words a grin broke out on my lips. “There’s no way I’m going to get out of that clean. How much do you want to bet by tomorrow everyone will have seen pictures and/or video?”
Jaxson got dressed in record speed. “You should tell your mother. Do you want her to hear it from you or Instagram?”
“Mom doesn’t really do the whole technology or social media thing. I’m not too concerned about that.”
“If you say so.” He came over to me, leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. It was funny how much difference the foot of difference in our heights made. He towered over me, and I have to say that I really liked that about him; he made me feel safe and secure. Like nothing could hurt me as long as he was by my side.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” I escorted Jaxson down the stairs and to the front door. I had enough problems to deal with already, including how I was going to retaliate.
“All right, babes.” He stopped in front of the door and turned to face me. “See you tomorrow.” Slipping a hand into my hair he leaned in for another kiss. My entire body tingled as our lips brushed against each other. If I had my way, I’d grab him and take him back upstairs, but I didn’t.
Mustering up all of the resolve I had in me, I pulled away and stepped past him, opening the front door and ushering him out. “Out. Out. Out.” I pointed toward the open doorway. “Time to beat the feet, partner.”
He laughed as he shook his head and sauntered on past me taking his good old time. I watched him walking down the front stairs across the street and then disappearing into his house across the way. With a sigh, I closed the door and fell back against it.
After taking a few deep b
reaths, I pushed myself off the door. I started to grab my cell phone from my back pocket when I remembered I no longer had a phone. “Son of a…” I growled out loud to an empty house.
I was still deciding how to proceed when the door opened behind me and my mother entered. I spun around and immediately went to her, giving her a hug, relief pouring through me. It was still early enough to get me set back up. “Thank God you’re home. I’ve got no ID, no wallet, no phone. Everything that was in my backpack and my bag itself is gone.”
“How in the hell did you lose your entire backpack? That’s so irresponsible, Keira. Just when I think we’re making progress and you’re finally starting to get back to the responsible young woman you used to be you do something like this. I’ve a good mind to make you use your old backpack.”
I cringed, thinking of the backpack I’d used for several years that had been bought at Walmart. “It wasn’t my fault. Please, Mom. If I used that old pack, I’d be a laughingstock. You don’t know those girls at Greisbach Academy, Mom. They’re ruthless. They stole my backpack from the change room. It wasn’t my fault, I swear.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “If there’s girls so hard up at that school that they need to steal other girls’ things then maybe it’s time you switched schools. It’s still September, you could swap without missing a beat.”
God, I didn’t need this from my mom after what I’d already had to deal with today. Tears began to fill my eyes. “Mom, be reasonable. I can’t leave Greisbach Academy. I’m going to run for student president, and I think I have a shot at winning. I just have to make sure I fit in.”
“Which means flaunting your money. Do you hear what you’re saying? You realize that Louis Vuitton backpack you insisted on having cost as much as I made in a month back home at the diner? A month, Keira!”
“I didn’t say that though.” This was getting way more complex and heated then I’d expected. I was just about to throw in her face that it was only because of me and my lottery ticket that we were no longer living like paupers, but thankfully caught myself. Our relationship was already on shaky ground since we’d moved here; I didn’t want to make it worse.
Power Play: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #2) Page 2