Looking to Damien, I said, “Take her home. She’s not welcome here. Neither of you are.”
“Come on.” Grabbing her arm Damien attempted to pull her from me.
“Wait.” She attempted to free herself from Damien, but he refused to allow her to reach me.
If Damien couldn’t get her out of the club, then I knew who certainly could. Looking at the security guard, I gave him a nod. “Get her out of here.”
“No problem.” The security stepped forward, bent and tossed her over his shoulder, proceeding to remove her from my sight despite her protests and struggling against his tight grip.
All I could do was shake my head as I watched her go. Girlfriend or not, I was entitled to some privacy. I was planning on telling her about my extracurricular activity when I was ready—and I hadn’t been ready. She’d forced my hand.
My jaw clenched as she disappeared through the doorway.
~*~ TT ~*~
Keira
“This place is so cool, Damien.” I took a drink from the wine cooler that Damien had ordered me. It was strawberry flavored and very good, the added bonus was that it was helping to relieve some of the upset I’d been feeling over what had happened.
I looked down at the screen of my phone. Nothing. Damien had given me my phone back on the strict instructions that I wasn’t allowed to text or call Jaxson. When he was ready to talk he’d contact me, but it was damned hard. I wanted to fix things so badly so we could get back to being the perfect couple.
“Olivia and Gabriel are on their way,” Damien announced.
Smiling, I nodded. They’d help with the distraction. “Sounds good. How long has your father owned this place?”
“Don’t know. I’m honestly not sure, a few years I think.”
“And he has no problem with you coming here with your friends to drink?”
Damien grinned giving me the “oh girl please” look of his when he was about to get condescending. “You’ve got so much to learn about life here honey. So much. My parents are always away for work and as long as I don’t cause too many problems for them in the media then they couldn’t care less what I do. They don’t want to be those parents who have the rebellious teenager who demands attention from the press to make up for their lack of love.”
I cocked a brow up at him. “Are you?”
He laughed. “Maybe, but just a little.”
“I bet the press would love your plan for the weekend.”
“Yeah, that’s the beauty of drag. You never know who is under those layers of make-up and over-the-top clothing, you can be your true self.”
A part of me felt really bad for him. I had something many of the kids at Greisbach Academy didn’t have, and that was a loving mother who would sacrifice anything for me. Many of the students had parents that were so busy building their empires that they didn’t have time for their families. I knew deep down that she didn’t want to live in Manhattan—she was doing it for me. Even though she enjoyed many aspects of living this life, she would be just as happy in a medium-sized condo in Miami.
“There are a lot of phoneys at Greisbach. At least at home people are honest about who they are.”
“The thing about Trina that you have to understand is—”
“You are not going to fucking defend Trina right now, are you?” I motioned for the server to bring me another cooler.
Damien put his hand up, “Hear me out. Geez. What I was getting at is that Trina’s mom is a bitch, she expects Trina to be perfect at all times and her father is some sort of investor and spends more time overseas than home. Rumor has it her father has at least two mistresses.”
The server placed another bottle in front of me and I took a long drink. A third of the bottle disappeared. “How do you know this?”
“Olivia was best friends with her in elementary school. Trina’s older brother is an investor like his dad and was always the golden child. Trina was always an afterthought. Doubt that has changed. I think that’s part of the reason why she’s such a bitch.”
Made sense. “Still, an upbringing isn’t a reason to treat people like shit. She’s not a psychopath, she does know right from wrong, Damien.”
I finished off the cooler and motioned for my third. My head was starting to get a little cloudy and I welcomed the feeling. With a cloudy mind came less pain and anxiety over what had happened with Jaxson. He’d never looked at me with such anger and distaste before. It had been horrible, and I just wanted the image to disappear from my mind.
I was just finishing of my third cooler when Olivia and Gabriel showed up, sliding into the booth with us, which looked out on the main floor of the club. The booth was away from the speakers, allowing everyone to talk, while being blocked off from the main area by velvet ropes and its own private bouncer to keep undesirables away, giving the people sitting there a sense of superiority.
“Hey girl.” Olivia took a seat next to me and gave me a hug, leaving the boys to be sitting in either end of the booth. “What’s going on? Damien sent us an SOS.”
Her question made me feel sad all over again. “I found out what Jaxson’s been up to and now he’s angry with me,” I groaned, lowering my forehead to the wooden table.
“Whoa. What do you mean?” Gabriel asked, reaching out and touching my arm. “Found out what?”
Lifting my head, I brushed my hair from my eyes and huffed. “You know damned well what I mean. I’m sure you know his secret hobby.”
Gabriel’s expression went blank making me roll my eyes at him. “You know, the MMA fighting in some Brooklyn bar backroom. Ring a bell?”
“You were there?”
At least he didn’t try to undermine my intelligence by pretending he knew nothing of it. “How else do you think I found out Gabriel?” I snapped. It wasn’t his fault, I knew I shouldn’t have been so cross with him, but I wasn’t in the best state of mind.
“I see.” Gabriel motioned for the server and ordered for Olivia and himself. “What’s the problem?”
“He’s pissed at me! That’s the problem.”
“How did you find out?” Gabriel asked.
I grimaced. “I sorta followed him.” I motioned to Damien. “We followed him.”
“Whoa.” Damien bucked back in the seat and put his hands up. “We’re going to keep Damien out of this. Damien doesn’t want his ass kicked by your MMA boyfriend. A face this pretty needs to stay the way it is—intact.”
“Jaxson wasn’t mad at you, he’s mad at me.”
Gabriel clucked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. “Following him probably wasn’t the best thing to do.”
“You think. Thanks for that by the way.”
“I only suggested it. No one twisted your arm,” he protested.
Grabbing my fresh bottle, I brought it to my lips. Screw it, I’d get loaded tonight and then deal with the consequences tomorrow. I was with friends. They’d take care of me.
Gabriel pulled his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and began typing a response to whoever texted him.
My eyes narrowed at him. “You’re talking to Jaxson, aren’t you?” I strained to see what was on the glowing screen, but I was too intoxicated at this point to see much of anything with clarity.
Finished with the text message, he tucked the phone back into his jacket pocket. “It was nothing.”
“You’re lying.” I was hurt. Jaxson hadn’t texted me, but was texting Gabriel? Were they discussing me? I’d snuck a text to Jaxson in when Damien wasn’t looking, apologizing and asking to talk about it, but got no response. “What is he saying about me? I have a right to know.”
“We can’t get in the middle of this. We’re all friends with both of you and it’s not fair to put us in the middle.”
Looking over at Damien, I caught his gaze and he shrugged. “Do you really want to talk to him when he’s angry? Nothing good will come of it.”
I knew he was right. A reasonable conversation couldn’t be had when there were escalat
ed emotions at play, but I had a hard time dealing with unresolved issues and this was one huge unresolved issue.
Suddenly a surge of anger flowed through me. How could he just leave it like this? He wouldn’t tell me the truth, what did he expect!
“You know what. Screw this and screw him.” Standing, I shuffled my way over Damien and got out from the booth. There was little voice in the back of my mind that told me to sit my ass down, but I ignored it. As I stood, I felt a little wobble and thanked God that I was wearing flats right now.
“Girl, what are you doing?” Damien attempted to grab my wrist, but I snatched my arm away too quickly for him.
“I’m going to have some fun. We’re at a nightclub, aren’t we?” Brushing my hair back, I surveyed the crowd and spotted a group of guys at a table not too far from us that appeared to be of college age. Good enough for my purposes.
Not looking back, I made my way slowly to the guys—not to be seductive, but because I had to really concentrate on where I was placing my feet with each step. I smiled widely as I approached the table. There were five of them. None of them had the appeal that Jaxson did to me, but they’d do.
“Hey boys, would any of you be interested in a dance?”
They all exchanged looks before the blonde at the end nodded. “Would love to.” He stood and extended his hand to me. “I’m Alex.”
Pulling my lower lip between my teeth, I responded accepting his hand. “Keira, nice to meet you.” Keeping his hand in mine, I led him to the dance floor. The music switched up to a seductive R&B song. Couples on the floor grew closer, limbs becoming entangled.
Alex pulled me to him. He had a nice body. It wasn’t Jaxson’s, but it would have to do. Besides, why was I the one that had to be sorry? He’d been lying to me. Omission of the truth and keeping secrets were very much the same as lying—weren’t they?
“You’re very beautiful. I kept trying to decide whether I should go introduce myself or not,” Alex stated, running his hand down my back and up again. I had to force myself from recoiling at his touch. This didn’t feel right.
Giving my head a shake, I let the music and alcohol take control of my body and mind. I just had to escape the feelings for now. Just until things got settled between us. “Guess I beat you to it.”
We were on our second song, when Alex’s body was torn from my grip, being pulled backward. Opening my eyes, I gasped as I watched Jaxson draw a large fist back and it collided with Alex’s jaw.
Chapter 9
Alex took a couple staggered steps backward, but didn’t fall, though he didn’t stand a chance to remain standing for a second blow.
“No! Jaxson!” I rushed the several feet to them and grabbed at Jaxson’s fist as he pulled it back, clearly intent on taking the poor unsuspecting bastard down.
There was so much power in him; it took all my strength to hold his arm back. “It’s me you’re angry at, not him!” I screamed. Suddenly I was fully alert, the intoxicated feeling disappearing, sobering me immediately.
Jaxson’s gaze turned to me. “Oh, I’ll deal with you after I finish this fucker off!” he snarled.
“Please stop.” I’d barely gotten the words from my lips when security was onto both men, holding them back.
“What the fuck’s your problem, pal!” Alex yelled, spitting blood onto the floor and swiping at his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand.
Jaxson fought against the guards attempting to hold him back. It took three of them to fully restrain him. “Touch my girl again and I’ll finish you off!”
“Please stop.” I jumped between the men, pushing against Jaxson’s chest. He was already dealing with one assault charge; he didn’t need a second on top of it.
Jaxson took several deep breaths in and released them, the tension in his body beginning to fade. “I’m fine,” he assured the skeptical guards. “Let go.”
I went to Jaxson once he was freed. “What are you doing here?”
The anger flared up in Jaxson’s eyes again. “I’d ask you the same question. What in the hell do you think you’re doing with that douche! I tell you to go and wait for me and here I find you grinding against some asshole!”
“It’s not what you think.” Planting my hands on my hips, it occurred to me that this was a two-way street. “And I’m not the only one at fault here.”
His jaw clenched, “Are you drunk?” I didn’t get a chance to respond as he grabbed my arm and steered me away from the prying eyes of the onlookers.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, stumbling to keep up with him. His grip on my arm was so tight that it was hurting, no doubt it would leave a bruise, but he wasn’t allowing me to get away.
“Out of here. You want to talk, by God we’re going to have a good one right this very instant.”
“Jaxson, you’re hurting me!” I attempted to stop him and retrieve my arm, but it only resulted in me being dragged. He didn’t stop walking until we burst through the back door and into the cold night air.
Once outside he spun to face me, releasing my arm.
Snatching my arm to my chest I immediately began to rub the sore area just above the elbow that he’d been holding onto. “You hurt me.”
His eyes left mine for just a split second to look at my arm. “You’ll live. What in the hell did you think you were doing?”
“I was dancing. You don’t own me, Jaxson, and apparently lying is what we do to each other.”
“When the fuck did I lie to you?”
Planting my hands on my hips, I met his stare. “About the fighting. I’ve asked you how you’ve gotten hurt in the past and you’ve always given me some lame-ass excuse. Now I know: you’ve been fighting. Do your parents know?”
“What do you think? Of course, they don’t know,” he snapped making me flinch, “They’d lose their damned minds. Underground fighting isn’t exactly the type of thing people like them want their child associated with. The society pages would have a fucking field day with that.”
“Why would you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie, exactly. Regardless, where do you get off just following me? That’s crossing the line.”
“If you hadn’t been lying to me then I wouldn’t have had to follow you. We’re supposed to tell each other things. No secrets.”
“We’re not married. I can have a life outside of you.”
That stung. Was I overbearing and smothering him? I didn’t think so, no more than any other couple at our school. We both had our own hobbies and interests. “I never said you couldn’t. And if I recall correctly it’s normally you that comes to me not the other way around.”
“Maybe we need to change that.”
“What do you mean?”
His jaw clenched, anger blazing in his eyes and his nostrils flaring. “Maybe things got too intense too quickly. Perhaps we need to back off and take a break?”
Anger flared within me, matching his. How dare he threaten me with a break! “Fine. Maybe that’s a good idea. King of Greisbach Academy or not, you’re not the only game in town, Jaxson Weiss!” Spinning on my heel, I grabbed the door handle of the steel back door of the club and yanked it open, leaving him staring at my back as I disappeared into the club.
I heard him yell out behind me, “Sure, go back to that chump, Keira!” but I ignored him, I had to stay strong.
“We’re so fucking done.”
If that was the way he wanted it—then fine. Tears threatened to make an appearance, but I refused to let them. Not tonight. I’d have plenty of time to bawl my eyes out in the privacy of my own bedroom.
~*~ TT ~*~
“Isn’t this exciting!” my mother gushed, barging into my bedroom. “It’s the big day!”
I groaned, pulling the spare pillow over my head as I attempted to get my bearings. “Mom, what are you doing in here?” My head throbbed and my mouth tasted like ass. I couldn’t remember much past re-entering the club and sitting back down at the table. I had told Damien I wanted the alcoho
l to flow until I couldn’t remember any longer and he obliged.
I was now regretting that decision. Hangovers sucked ass.
“It’s time to do a final viewing of the restaurant space and sign the papers. We’re about to become restaurant owners.” There was a pause and then a hurt tone in her voice when she continued, “I thought you were as excited as I was about this. You’re not interested in doing it anymore?”
Ahh shit! I groaned inwardly, removing the pillow from my face and tossing it aside. “Sorry. I had a long night.”
“When did you get home? I didn’t hear you come in.”
The fuck if I knew. “Not sure, Mom. Guess I kinda lost track of time.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Are you well? You don’t look too good…”
I knew what she really meant; I could see it in her eyes. She knew what I was up to last night, she wasn’t stupid. “Were you with Jaxson?”
“No.” I sighed, sitting up and wiping the sleep from my eyes. “I think we broke up.”
The surprise on my mother’s face was priceless. If I wasn’t so heartbroken right now, I would have laughed. Coming to sit beside me on the bed, she draped an arm over my shoulders. “Are you okay? What happened?”
I wished I could tell her the truth. Maybe she was right; this place was changing me and our relationship. But what was I supposed to tell her: That I went to an illegal MMA fight that Jaxson was participating in and then to Damien’s night club and got loaded? I couldn’t say that, she’d murder me. Perhaps not murder but ground my ass. The look of disappointment would be the worst though. I’d seen that look way too many times since moving here as it was.
“I’d rather not talk about it, Mom. Let’s just go and check out our spot. We have a lot to do.” I forced a smile to my lips. “The restaurant is the most important thing right now and I have to get ready for my campaign to start running for school president tomorrow.”
“You’re really going to give it a run, huh?”
Getting up from the bed, I nodded. “Yup.” Though as I made my way to my dresser and began grabbing clothing to put on it occurred to me that tomorrow was going to be a rough one. From the first day of term I’d driven with Jaxson to school and sat with him at morning assembly. Where did I go now? Who was I in that school now? I had no idea.
Power Play: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #2) Page 6