“You’re supposed to wait for me by your car or your locker in the morning,” I informed her.
Her blue eyes started blinking. “I am?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “That’s what girlfriends do.”
Shock exploded all over her face. “How in the hell would you know what a girlfriend is supposed to do? You’ve never had one.”
“Styx and Grace,” I answered.
Her shoulder dropped against her locker like she’d just run out of steam. “Sterling, do you realize you sound like a lunatic?” she asked.
I crowded her until her back was flat up against the lockers. “Yes,” I bit out. “I’m fully aware how crazy I sound. But that doesn’t change shit.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you just send me a text, telling me to wait for you?”
Good question.
“Are you coming home with me after school?” I asked, ignoring my obvious descend into madness.
The girl shook her head at me, which wasn’t a good thing since I was already irritated. “I can’t, Sterling,” she said before shouldering me, so she could turn around and open her locker.
“Why not?”
“Because, even as self-absorbed as Bernice is, she’s not going to just let me spend every night at your house,” she replied sardonically.
“You’re eighteen,” I pointed out “You don’t need her permission for shit.”
She exchanged her textbooks and turned back towards me. “Sterling, you need to get it together,” she hissed, her eyes darting around. “I don’t enjoy being internet entertainment.”
Of course, she was right. I was just having trouble with this entire arrangement. As arrogant as it sounded, I wasn’t used to not being obeyed. And as conceited as it sounded, I was used to girls throwing themselves at me. London neither felt the need to obey me or chase after me. Granted, she shouldn’t have to chase after me since she already had me, but still.
This fucking shit was…uncharted.
I wrapped my arm around her waist while my head dipped near her ear. “I missed you last night,” I finally told her.
Her tone softened. “Sterling…”
I kissed her neck. “It’s true.” She let out a deep sigh, and the action caused her tits to rub against my rib cage. “How about every other night and weekends.”
She let out a choked laugh. “Sterling!”
I pulled back to look down at her. “What?”
“That puts me at home only two days a week,” she pointed out.
I grinned. “Sounds about right to me,” I replied.
She laughed up at me, and I was pretty sure it was worth losing my mind to hear that sound every day. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“In case you weren’t aware, I’m new to this sort of thing.”
Her eyes darted around, and I knew it was because we still had an audience. “Me, too,” she whispered softly.
I knew that.
Having known this girl all my life, I knew she hasn’t done serious before. She’s dated and messed around, or so I’ve heard, but I’ve never known her to have a boyfriend. I knew we were going to have to stop and take some deep breaths every now and again.
“Okay. I’ll make you a deal.” She arched a brow and held her book tighter to her chest. “I get you Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but only if you put in the effort at school.”
She smirked. “Like wait for you by my car in the mornings?”
“You’re a dick, Addison.”
“And you’re an asshole, Hale,” she volleyed.
“Good thing no one else will have us, then, huh?”
She shook her head as the first warning bell rang above us. “Come on. Walk me to class like a good boyfriend,” she grumbled.
I grabbed her hand, and ignoring our audience, we made our way to second period. We didn’t have class together, and that would probably make me late to my class, but what were they going to do to me?
I was Sterling Hale.
Chapter 15
London~
Sterling was turning out to be a complete nutjob. I mean, I knew the guy was unstable and power could turn someone maddening, but he was really exceeding all imagination lately.
I had come super close to strangling him with my bare hands after fifth period when his caveman had come out again, and he questioned why I hadn’t changed all my social media status to being in a relationship. But Grace had sweetly reminded me that he was new to all this and begged me to go easy on the lunatic.
I had never imagined Sterling Hale to be a jealous, insecure psychopath, but here we were.
Walking to my car, I didn’t bother to hold in the groan as I saw Cash leaning up against my vehicle. What in the fuck was he doing here?
“London,” he greeted.
“What the fuck do you want, Cash?” Sterling had been trying me all goddamn day, and I just had no patience for the fool standing before me.
“Avoiding me isn’t going to work,” he replied, and I had no idea what the hell he was referring to.
“Meaning?”
“I’m done playing games with you, London,” he said, further confusing the shit out of me.
“Who’s playing games?” I asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Here’s the deal,” he said, straightening to his full height. “Your mom’s broke.”
“What?” He had to be lying. My dad had given her plenty of money when they had divorced, and she still got child support.
“You’re so fucking stupid,” he spat.
“Excuse me?”
“Did you really think that I wouldn’t have investigated your mother once my father had told me he was going to marry her?”
My eyes popped. “Wow,” I smirked. “You’re a real piece of work.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I wouldn’t look after my inheritance,” he fired back.
“What’s your point, Cash?”
“Your mother is broke, London,” he repeated. “The only thing keeping her above water right now are her child support payments.” His lip curled. “And we both know those will be coming to an end real soon, now.”
“I’m still not seeing the point of all this, Cash,” I said. I refused to let him rattle me. No matter what came out of his mouth next, I was not going to let this tool rattle me.
“It’s simple, London. You’re going to spread those sweet, creamy thighs for me, or else I’m going to tell my dad Bernice tried to hit on me. Or better yet, that we slept together.” He leaned in closer. “You ready for your mother to be homeless, London? You really to be out on the street?”
I scoffed. “Even if all that were true, Cash, my father’s not going to let me be homeless. Try again,” I replied, secretly wondering if it were true that Bernice was broke.
“Maybe not,” he conceded. “But you don’t care about your mother?”
It was true that Bernice and I didn’t have the best relationship, but I couldn’t imagine what she’d do if all this were true, and she lost Mark and his unlimited amount of credit. Did I want her homeless? Not necessarily. But would I screw Cash to save her? Hell, no.
“You are out of your mind if you seriously think I’d sleep with you just to keep Bernice in Wakefield,” I told him, proud that my voice sounded strong and not worried or confused.
“One time, London,” he said, trying to negotiate. “Just give me one night, and no one will be the wiser.”
What a fucking pig.
“Really? Is that what it’s come down to, Cash?” I asked scathingly. “Are you such a loser that you have to resort to rape to get laid.”
His back snapped, and he bristled a bit. “If you willingly agree, it’s hardly rape, London.”
God, was he really that stupid? “Extorting a woman to sleep with you, when she otherwise would never, is rape, Cash,” I told him. “You can try to convince yourself otherwise all you want, but that doesn’t change the facts.”
Completely ignoring
me, he said, “I’m giving you until the end of the week to decide, London. After that, the truth all comes out.”
“You mean the truth of how you’re a rapist?”
He stepped to me until I was almost forced to take a step back. His hand came up, and he pushed a wayward lock of hair behind my ear. I jerked away and he chuckled. “It’ll be the best night of your life, London.” But before I could knee him in the nuts, he turned and walked back towards his car.
I stood there watching him get in his car and drive away, and I wondered if it were all true. It wouldn’t be that hard to hire someone to dig into Bernice’s finances, but I wasn’t really concerned with that. My concern was the fallout. I wasn’t sure how far Bernice would go for money.
“Who in the fuck was that? And why in the fuck was he touching you?” I whirled around at the sound of a very pissed off Sterling Hale.
Goddamn it.
Not that I wanted to lie, but I knew I couldn’t. Sterling was big on honesty, so there was no way I’d even white lie him. “That was Cash,” I answered truthfully.
His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. “Cash?” I nodded, and I watched as Sterling Hale did his best to get himself under control.
Pretty sure I was dating a psychopath.
“Sterling-”
“What did he want, London?” he asked in a voice that sounded like he was in control, but I knew better.
My head dropped back, and I closed my eyes, praying to The Good Lord for some patience. I wasn’t used to answering to anyone in any real sense. I’ve always had the freedom to do what I wanted within reason. Bernice cared very much about appearances, so I did have boundaries, albeit wide ones, but boundaries, nonetheless. However, Sterling was not making this relationship crap easy, and we haven’t even been dating a full week yet.
“London?” he snapped.
I looked over at him, and I knew I was going to have to tell him. He was my boyfriend after all, and another guy just tried to blackmail me into sleeping with him. It was a no-brainer. Besides, I’ve always hated those stupid girls in the movies who could have avoided a major disaster had they’d just told the truth to begin with, but decided against it, and only made things worse.
“You have to promise me you won’t flip out,” I told him, knowing he was going to, no matter what he promised.
“That’d be a fuck no, London,” he bit out. “Now tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“You’re driving me insane, Hale,” I groaned. “And it’s only been five damn days.”
He stepped to me and showed me no mercy. “Get fucking used to it, Addison,” he growled. “I plan on driving you crazy for the next seventy years, or so. Sucks for you if you don’t like it.”
My heart thumped.
I wasn’t sure what I felt for Sterling just yet, but I knew it was stronger than lust, deeper than like, and a whole lot of confused as hell. But I couldn’t deny that my heart skipped a beat every time he spoke about us like we were forever.
Just then, Styx and Grace walked up, and one would think their presence would save my ass, but it wouldn’t. Sterling and Grace were too close for him to clam up around her. He didn’t care if she knew his business or not.
Or, I guess, our business.
“What’s up?” Grace asked as soon as she sensed the tension radiating off her brother. Or maybe it was a twin thing, and she just automatically knew he was upset.
“Not sure yet,” Sterling spat. “But London was just about to fill me in.”
I scanned the faces of the Hale twins and Styx Reinhart, and there was a fifty/fifty chance Grace could help me tame Sterling or Styx would fire him up worse. But the more I’ve come to know Styx these past few weeks, my bet was on him encouraging Sterling in whatever madness might take up residence in that stubborn head of his.
Screw it.
“Cash was here earlier, waiting for me by my car, to tell me that Bernice is broke,” I told them.
“And?” Grace asked warily because she knew details about Cash that Sterling and Styx didn’t.
“Mark’s her only shot at keep up appearances before her money runs out. And in exchange for Cash not sabotaging their engagement, he wants me to sleep with him.”
Five…four…three…two…one…
Chapter 16
Sterling~
“What?” I seethed, not able to say much else as Grace gasped and Styx remained silent.
London let out a deep sigh, and I knew I was trying her last nerve, but this wasn’t like her not waiting for me by her locker. Some motherfucker just tried to blackmail her for sex. She couldn’t fault me for losing my shit on this.
“As Grace and Styx already know, Cash has been acting…creepy lately. Doing stupid shit like coming into my room uninvited, or just making stupid comments,” she said, explaining. “I brushed him off because…well, he’s a fucking tool. And it’s not like I’m worried about my safety. I don’t think he’s that…brave. Super stupid, sure. But I seriously doubt he’d go so far as attack me. A-”
“London, blackmailing you into sleeping with him is an attack as far as I’m concerned,” Styx remarked, and you could hear the tightness in his voice.
She glanced over at him. “You know what I mean, Styx.”
“What did he say, London?” I snapped, ready to fucking break.
“He had a background check done on Bernice when Mark had announced their engagement.” She rolled her eyes. “He was worried about his inheritance.” She shook her head. “Anyway, he found out Bernice is broke, and she’s surviving off my dad’s child support payments. And since those come to an end when I graduate, if she doesn’t marry Mark in June like planned, then she’ll lose everything.”
“And…he thinks you care?” Grace asked.
“Apparently. He said in exchange for one night with me, he’ll let them go on to live their perfect little lives together. If not, he’s going to tell Mark that Bernice came on to him or whatever, in an attempt to make Mark break up with her.”
I was going to fucking kill Cash Manson.
Fucking.
Kill.
Him.
“And what was your answer?” I asked, and I knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left my mouth. Her blue eyes flashed, and my stomach dropped like a stone.
London straightened her back, and she looked me right in the eye as she said, “That I’ll be waiting on my bed this weekend, with my legs spread, of course.” I knew she was lying, but her words were damaging, nonetheless. “I mean, what else would my answer be?”
“Lond-”
I grabbed her by her arm, and had her up against her car, cutting Grace off. “Don’t play with me, London,” I snarled down at her, even though I knew she was lying, and I shouldn’t have asked that question. “This isn’t a fucking joke.”
London yanked her arm out of my hold, her eyes blazing. “Fuck you, Silver, for even asking me that.”
“Don’t fucking call me that,” I spat. It was a stupid nickname given to me early on, and even though I knew why, considering my name, it was a reminder to one and all that I was untouchable. I had so much money and power in this place that I couldn’t be tarnished.
Sterling Silver.
And while lots of people called me that, and I didn’t care that they did, London’s never called me that before. And her calling me that now was her way of demoting me from her boyfriend to the Sterling Hale who walks the hallways of Blackstone Prep.
“Then stay the hell out of my business, Hale,” she fired back.
“Anything that has anything to do with you is my business,” I informed her. “We’ve already had this discussion.”
She arched a brow. “Yeah…well, that was before you made it clear that you thought I was the type of girl who would fuck some guy for something as crass as money.” She let out a dark laugh “Not even money for me. Money for someone else.”
“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” I replied, but still pissed about this whole
situation.
Her blue eyes searched my green ones, and I didn’t like what I saw in them. “No. Actually, I don’t know that.”
“Lond-”
“Hey, you guys are drawing another crowd,” Styx warned. “Maybe take it somewhere else?”
If it were up to me, I’d keep arguing, but London’s already made it clear that she didn’t appreciate being internet entertainment, and we’ve been giving people pieces of us all day long. I also knew it was my fault. I was having trouble adjusting to caring about someone beside Grace. This was new, and for once in my life, I didn’t have a handle on something.
It also didn’t help that London wasn’t like everyone else. Money and power didn’t entice her. She was her own person, and she’s always done her own thing. London couldn’t be controlled, and that was one the things that fascinated me about her.
It was also the most dangerous thing about her.
Since she wasn’t a slave to money, status, power, or people, London was the type of person who will walk when something isn’t working for her.
Like now.
So, when she made the comment that she didn’t appreciate being internet entertainment, I knew I had to take that shit seriously. While I really didn’t give a fuck what people thought, I did care about London. I cared about her more than I ever thought I would, even if I had never seen this thing between us coming.
“Let’s go to my place,” I said. “We ca-”
She laughed. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Sterling.”
“If you don’t want a scene, you are,” I threatened, my resolve to respect her wishes about being entertainment fodder gone.
I watched as London straightened her back and stood tall and goddamn magnificent. “And if you want to stand here and make a fool of yourself, then, by all means, have at it. I’m not the one who’s going to look like a pussy-whipped idiot.”
“A pussy-whipped idiot? For fighting with my girlfriend?”
And then, she dropped the fucking hammer.
“For causing a scene over a girl who’s going to be spreading her legs for another guy this weekend,” she said viciously, and I almost killed her.
The Blackstone Prep Academy Duet Page 18
