“Keep going, babes,” Jaxson said, leaning down to whisper the words in my ear. “You have them.”
I opened my mouth to say my final words when people began to pull out their cell phones and hundreds of lights began to illuminate the room. Looking over my shoulder, I glanced questioningly at Jaxson. He shrugged and motioned for me to finish.
The final words of what I had to say seemed to be lost on everyone as they became increasingly distracted with their phones, the chitter chatter becoming loud with no music playing to compete.
“Thank you everyone,” I concluded, and with confusion no doubt evident on my face, I left the stage, Jaxson beside me. Damien, Olivia, Selena, Preston and Gabriel were all waiting for us at the base of the stage stairs.
“What’s going on?” I asked our friends as we approached. They all exchanged nervous looks, and then Damien stepped forward passing me his phone.
My heart stopped as I groaned out loud, shaking my head. “She did it.”
Looking down at the video, I watched myself walking through the courtyard barefoot and wrapped in a Simpsons towel.
“Fucking bitch, I’m sorry babes.” Jaxson hugged me from behind and planted a kiss on the top on my head.
“Fucking bitch is right,” I growled. She had balls; I’d give her that. Looking over to where I’d previously seen her, I cursed, seeing that she’d disappeared. The damage was done; she’d seen the initial wave of surprise, so of course she’d leave. She came to see the crowd and their reaction to the video, that was all.
“How am I going to fix this?” I asked everyone and yet no one in particular.
Damien stepped forward and grasped my shoulders in his hands. “Honey, the only thing you can do is own it. You’re the motherfucking queen of Greisbach Academy now. If anyone can make walking through the streets of the Upper East Side in a Simpsons towel chic, it’s you.”
Chapter 17
“How am I going to deal with this, Jaxson?” I asked as I held onto him, swaying to the music. It was past midnight and the party was finally winding down. I’d had to deal with so many questions my head was hurting.
“You did amazing owning the whole towel thing, babes. I don’t think it will do as much damage as you’re scared it will.” Jaxson brushed a lock of hair out of my face, before leaning down and ghosting his lips across mine. Just the feel of his lips against mine immediately began to soothe me. Thank God I had him here with me today, I needed him.
“Thank you for being here with me tonight.” I smiled up at him, the look in my eyes telling him how grateful I was.
“Where else would I be, babes? Believe it or not I missed you as much as you missed me, you know.”
“Then why didn’t you get hold of me sooner?”
“Pride. I guess. The other day when I saw you looking hot and getting into Damien’s car, I knew I couldn’t handle the separation a moment longer.”
I released my breath in a loud huff, smiling, my heart growing warm in my chest. “So no more of this silliness. From now on we talk it out right away.”
“And no more of these breaks. It was a stupid thing to say.”
Leaning forward, I gave him a light kiss on the base of his neck. “I’m glad you’ve recognized that the great king Jaxson can be wrong.” Looking back up and into his eyes, I was happy to see him grinning.
“Shh. Don’t say that too loudly, it might get out.”
“Yes, I apologize.” I was about to lay my head upon his shoulder again when something struck me like a ton of bricks. I stopped swaying and my entire body froze. “Oh no.”
“What’s going on?” He took a step back and looked down at me, concern etched in his gaze.
“Trina has my phone.”
“And? This isn’t new news.”
“Ohmygod!” Heat began to rush to my cheeks; I didn’t even want to admit to him what I’d forgotten about on my phone. Taking his hand, I led him to a quiet corner of the club. “They have our messages.”
“Yes, already know this.”
“Right, but what I didn’t tell you was that I’d bought a very revealing negligée and was planning on sending you some…. Ummm...” I cringed, not able to look him in the eye. “...Provocative photos, but then chickened out. I think the pictures may still on that phone. I can’t remember if I deleted them or not. The more I think about it, the more I’m terrified I didn’t.” Dread filled me and I suddenly became light-headed. First today everyone seeing me walking through the Upper East Side with a towel around me and tomorrow everyone including the teachers seeing more than they ever needed to. I seemed to be feeling short of breath, having to take short quick breaths in order to get oxygen into my lungs.
“We don’t even know if she’s hacked the phone yet, babes.” Pulling me back into his arms, he kissed the top of my head. “Just calm down. It’ll be fine.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not going to be your business all over the internet.”
“She won’t. I promise you.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Jaxson
Enough was a fucking nuff.
“I can’t stay the night tonight, Keira. I’m sorry.” I looked down into her stunning blue eyes with regret filling me. She needed me now more than ever. As much as I wanted to be here with her tonight, I had more pressing matters to attend to. I just had to take a moment to kiss her goodnight at her doorstep and then I had to take off.
“Why?” She looked up at me with sadness in her gaze.
I fucking hated seeing her upset like this and I had to fix the problem before it got worse. Staying with her tonight, as much as my dick would love the idea, wasn’t a possibility. “Besides,” I took her hand and placed it at my groin, showing her just how much my body didn’t want me to go. “We both need sleep tonight and me being here means the chances of sleep would be slim.”
She groaned and gave her head a shake. “Okay. Fine. I understand.”
“Good, I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow to get you.” I ran my index finger along her jawline. “Sleep well.” Leaning down, I gave her another deep and frenzied kiss, a kiss that would keep her thinking of me until she drifted off to sleep.
Regretfully, I pulled away from her and down the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, I looked back at her and watched her press in the combination of her door lock and enter the house. Our gazes met once more before I turned and walked across the street.
Entering through the front door of my house, I didn’t take my shoes off. Instead, I walked through the house and out the back door. Making my way through to the alleyway, I emerged onto the next street. At this time of night it wasn’t all that hectic on the street so it didn’t take too much time to hail a cab.
Giving the driver the address, I sat back into the seat of the car and closed my eyes a moment. Drama, drama, drama. All Trina seemed to do was bring about drama. Why in the hell I ever got together with her in the first place was beyond me.
Just a little over five minutes later, the cab was pulling up to the curb of a large townhouse. Paying the cabbie, I got out of the car and looked at the house that I’d spent a fair amount of time in several months ago.
Climbing the stairs, I rang the buzzer not in the least bit concerned that it was nearly 2am. The person I was looking for would be up and her parents wouldn’t be home—because they never were. My eyes caught sight of the doorbell camera staring at me. My arrival would be recorded and saved, no doubt about that, giving her potential blackmail material.
It took several rounds of ringing before the door swung open to reveal a surprised-looking Trina. “Jaxson, what are you doing here?”
Not waiting for an invitation, I brushed past her and into the house, attempting to ignore the fact that she’d answered the door in a skimpy little red teddy that left little to the imagination. I’d had sex with the woman; I knew what she looked like under the sheer material, so no imagination was needed—but I forced myself to keep images of her from my mind. I was no way attracted to
her on any level anymore.
“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing just forcing your way into my house!” Despite her words, she closed the door behind me.
“You and I need to have ourselves a little discussion.” I spun to face her.
Trina planted her hands on her hips and shrugged. “Talk about what?”
“I want Keira’s stuff and I want it now.”
She scoffed. “I don’t have your little bitch’s crap. What would make you think I did?”
Lacing my fingers behind my neck, I attempted to keep my cool. Losing my shit on Trina wasn’t going to do either of us any good. “Look, I know you have her phone. And I know you’ve either already broken into it or you’re having crack it now. So, let’s stop beating around the bush and you just give it to me now.”
A saucy smirk spread across her lips as she sauntered over to me and ran her index finger along my collarbone. “Come on, Jaxson. If you really want to protect her, I’m sure we can come up with an arrangement.” She took another step closer, the smell of her perfume drifting up to my nose. I had no idea what she wore, no doubt some high-end perfume, but I was never a fan of it. It was too strong and demanded too much attention.
I looked down at her. As much as I didn’t want to pull out the ace up my sleeve, I knew I had to. “Look, Trina. It just so happens I know a little something about your mother. Now, I wasn’t going to say anything because it isn’t my business and I really don’t want to be someone to break up a happy family.” I nearly choked on the word happy. Her family was anything but happy. They put on a good show, but to those closest to them, the kinks in the armor were evident.
She snatched her hand from my chest, her eyes narrowing at me. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the affair your mother is having with a certain rival investor of your father’s.”
Jerking back as if she’d been slapped, she crinkled her nose up at me. “What are you talking about? What affair?”
I searched her eyes, wondering if she really was unaware or if this was some amazing acting on her part. The more I searched her eyes for answers, the more I realized she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about, which made me feel like a prick. But it had to be done. The games she was playing with Keira had to stop once and for all.
“Yes, your mother is having an affair. As far as I know she’s kept it quite a secret.”
“You’re lying!” she snarled. “How dare you bring my mother into this.”
Leaning forward my jaw clenched. “How dare you take your petty jealousy and insecurities out on Keira. I have proof, and since you tend to like making things public, I’ll tell you right now, if anything else surfaces to defame Keira, I swear to God it’s all coming to light and this little charade of a family you have will dissolve faster than you could ever imagine, are we clear? I have proof, Trina. Pictures of her and Roland Ackers in Milan together—intimate pictures.”
She inhaled sharply, but I placed my index finger onto her lips, stopping her from speaking. “Unless you’re about to say you’re going to go and get me her backpack and phone, I don’t want to hear you.”
There was flash of anger and possibly even hatred in her eyes as she batted my hand away from her face. “Fine. Stay here.” I could practically feel the fury coming off her as she marched to the elevator and disappeared inside.
Close to ten minutes later the elevator dinged again and she reappeared, the backpack in hand. Her eyes appeared to be brimming with tears, but I had to stand strong. I didn’t want it to come to this, I knew how much she idolized her mother, but she’d forced my hand.
“Fucking take it! And get the fuck out of my house Jaxson.” She threw it at my chest and I effortlessly caught it.
“Thanks, as long as you don’t do anything stupid it’ll stay between us. I promise.”
Walking past me she opened the front door and stepped aside. “I said get out, and if you ever release those pictures, I’ll destroy you!” While she attempted to seem like she was in control I knew she was anything but. She was holding on by a string.
Nodding, I stopped a moment in front of her before disappearing outside. “Try it Trina and see who wins. You’re best to quit while ahead. The last thing you want is to go to war with me.”
She didn’t respond, though her eyes said it all, and I had nothing more to say. Stepping out into the cool night air, I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t doubt she’d already gotten into Keira’s phone, but hopefully it wouldn’t matter. Hopefully her desire to keep her family together was stronger than her desire to humiliate Keira even further.
Chapter 18
Keira
I was a ball of nerves and found it impossible to sleep throughout the night. Instead of sleeping, I scoured the internet, attempting to find anything else about me online. I didn’t. I’d watched the video of me strutting my stuff down the sidewalk in the cold. I didn’t look regal, I looked bat-shit crazy. Fuck my life. The only thing I could hope was that the party was enough to tip the scales in my favor.
My alarm rang to wake me up. Haha, the joke was on my alarm because I hadn’t been sleeping. Placing my laptop on the nightstand next to my bed, I closed the cover and immediately felt tired. No time for that. Pop some caffeine in me and I’d be as good as new—at least I hoped.
Sliding from the bed, I walked into the washroom and looked into the mirror, immediately regretting my decision. I looked about as good as I felt: tired and hungover.
With a sigh, I stripped out of my clothing and took a long shower, hoping to wake myself a bit. It kinda worked. It took three times longer than normal to get dressed, but I managed and ended up making myself look somewhat presentable. By the time I made it downstairs it was too late to get a decent breakfast, so I had to opt for grabbing a thermos of coffee and a chocolate chip muffin. Good enough.
Munching on my muffin, I slipped into a pair of shoes and pulled open the front door. As per our previous arrangement before Damian and Olivia started picking me up, Jaxson’s car was already outside and waiting for me. His driver opened the back door as I approached, and I gave him an appreciative smile as I slipped inside.
“Hey, babes, you…” His voice trailed off as he eyed me.
“Do I seriously look that bad?”
“Of course not.”
“Liar.”
Sliding an arm over my shoulders, he pulled me tight to him and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “You look wonderful and you’ll look even better when you’re the new president.”
“I hope so.” I looked out the side window, watching the buildings pass by as we drove. “Last night was brutal.”
“It was only brutal because of that video; it was going really good up until then. If you don’t win because of that then maybe it’s for the best if you don’t represent the student body.”
“Yeah, I suppose. It’ll be a major kick in the teeth if I lose. I can only imagine how much she’ll gloat and hold it over me.”
He gave me a little squeeze. “You can’t obsess over that. It is what it is in the end. Truthfully, if you don’t get it will it be such a big deal? You still have the volleyball team, and the restaurant will be opening up soon. You’ve got a lot on your plate and this might be just too much anyhow. Remember you have to keep your grades up for college as well, above all else that’s the main thing.”
Looking up at him, I smiled. “I hate when you’re right.”
Wiggling his eyebrows at me, he returned my smile. “It may be rare but it happens from time to time.”
Leaning my head back against his shoulder, I smiled. I suppose it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t win. I did have a lot on my plate and if I were to be honest with myself a good chunk of the reason I wanted it was to stick it to Trina.
The car slowed and came to a stop.
“Are you ready?” Jaxson asked as I opened my eyes and looked up at him.
“As I’ll ever be. I’m glad that you’re with
me for this.”
The car door opposite us opened up and we slid out. As we walked through the courtyard, with Jaxson’s arm slung over my shoulders, I could feel eyes on us. Having the students of Greisbach Academy staring at me was the norm at this point.
“My pleasure. But just so you know, if you don’t win I’ll be forced to dump you.”
Rolling my eyes, I gave him a nudge in the ribs with my elbow. “I see.”
Just outside the main doors we were confronted with a massive group of students just to the left of the doors. It only took a moment to realize that at the center of the group of Trina. She was yelling out what I assumed to be a last-minute speech.
“Do you really want a president who roams around Manhattan in a Simpsons towel?” she yelled out.
“Oh my God!” The color drained from my face when I noticed a huge poster with a photo of me in the towel, held up on a stick. Pretty much everyone had seen me in the video by now no doubt, but to see myself in a near life-sized photo was shocking. I looked effing crazy.
“Wow. That’s quite the poster.”
I looked at him. “You think? What am I going to do?”
His jaw clenched as he glared through the crowd, at Trina I assumed. I was too short to see over everyone’s heads, but his six-foot-four frame made the large crowd before us a non-issue. Steering me away from the group, he led me into the school. “There’s nothing that can be done at this point. Polls take place after the morning assembly.”
“She’s humiliating me.”
“It’s war, babes. Have faith people will do the right thing.” Reaching our lockers, he turned to face me, leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips. “I can guarantee you’ll get at least two votes.”
I groaned, but a smile spread across my lips despite myself. “Thank you, I appreciate your support.”
Giving me a wink, he turned from me and began inputting his combination in the lock.
Power Play: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #2) Page 12