The Blackstone Prep Academy Duet Read online

  Styx’s eyes flashed with realization. “The scratches.”

  I gave him a simple nod. “The scratches,” I confirmed.

  “So…what? You guys have been messing around this entire time?”

  I shook my head. “No. She snuck out while I was asleep, most likely embarrassed. And when she went on to act like nothing had happened, I did the same.”

  “What changed?”

  I let out a dark laugh. “We were at Tucker’s party last night and I saw Zach Wainwright all over her, and I didn’t like it.”

  Styx grimaced. “I know the feeling. It’s not a fun place to be.”

  “Yeah, well, I learned rather quickly that jealously wasn’t an emotion I was prepared to entertain,” I replied. “So, I did something about it.”

  Styx laughed. “Yeah, I suppose you would.”

  I knew the girls were going to come down soon, and I knew I had to get breakfast going, but having finally been on the receiving end of jealousy, I needed to tell Styx what was going on. Our relationship was a good one, and I knew the only way I could make sure Grace was being taken care of was to make sure Styx and I were on the same team.

  “Look, Grace doesn’t know the details, and you’re the only other person I’ve spoken to about this, but…that shit with Seth?” Styx nodded. “I’m funding that.”

  His brows drew downward. “What do you mean?”

  “I knew Grace was torn up about how Seth was seemingly walking away from that mess with Leah, and I couldn’t have her…drowning like that,” I explained. “So, I did some digging, which wasn’t all that hard. I gotta tell you, with social media, nothing’s a secret these days.”

  Styx huffed. “No shit.”

  “Anyway, I found a girl who had made a couple of cryptic posts about him and Blackstone, and when I dug deeper, that’s when she told me her story. She hadn’t gone after him because she didn’t have the money to fight such a powerful family, so I hooked her up with a lawyer and sexual assault advocate, and I’m footing the bill for it all.”

  “There are rumors of other girls,” he replied. “And with as entitled as he is, it’s probably true.”

  “And if there are, I’ll foot those bills, too,” I told him. “But I see him putting a bullet in his head before surrendering to a life in prison.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, and I can honestly say, I don’t feel bad about it.”

  I shrugged a shoulder. “What’s there to feel bad about? He’s a piece of shit.”

  Styx face looked sour as he said, “Yeah…uh, speaking of pieces of shit…”

  I arched a brow. “Yeah?”

  “Are you and London an item now? I mean, is she your girlfriend, or is it casual?”

  “She’s my girlfriend,” I told him, not caring how onboard London was with that plan.

  “Then you should probably ask her about Cash,” he grumbled, like he hated being the bearer of bad news.

  I remember the name from the day London had stormed out of the house, telling us to mind our own business. “Who’s Cash?”

  “Her soon-to-be stepbrother,” he informed me.

  I’ve known London all my life, so I was aware of her family dynamics. I knew her parents had divorced when she was very young, and I knew her father had taken London’s older brother, Jason Addison, with him to Texas. I knew she wasn’t super close to either her father or her brother, but that she kept in touch and her relationships with them were as good as could be, considering the distance.

  I also knew her mother was a piece of work, who dated men for their money. Bernice was your quintessential gold-digger. Unfortunately, she wasn’t rare, and it was almost a social norm among the rich to seek out rich men and marry them. I’d also known that Bernice was engaged to some guy and was planning on marrying him this summer. London and Grace always spoke freely around me, and I had always cared enough about London to be interested in what was going on with her.

  However, I hadn’t heard anything about this new stepbrother of hers.

  “Stepbrother?”

  Styx nodded. “Yeah, Cash Manson.” Styx leaned his arms on the countertop. “All I know is that he goes to Stanford and is Mark’s son by his first wife.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s the deal with London?”

  Styx let out a deep sigh. “I’m not sure,” he replied. “All I know is he…bothers her, in some way. London comes over and vents whenever he’s in town, and…it’s made me not like the guy.”

  I could feel my molars grinding. “Has he done something to her?”

  Styx shook his head. “No. It’s just…he gives her creeper vibes. And that, in turn, gives me protective vibes, you know.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” I told him, and turned back around to start making breakfast for everyone. I needed to do something constructive before I went upstairs and demanded answers.

  After a couple of minutes of silence, Styx asked, “Do you need any help?”

  “Killing that motherfucker?”

  “Uh…with…uh, breakfast,” he replied hesitantly.

  “Oh. Breakfast. Yeah, sure.”

  Chapter 13

  London~

  Breakfast had been…awkward.

  While Grace had assured me that she was happy for me and Sterling, as long as our relationship didn’t lead to our untimely deaths, with a strangling each other to death sort of scenario, breakfast had felt a bit stifling. Styx had done his best to defuse the tension, but he had finally given up and just sat there, stuffing his mouth with a rather fabulous breakfast, truth be told.

  Now, while I knew there was going to be a fair amount of uneasiness once the sun came up, I hadn’t expected Sterling to be so grouchy. Hell, the guy had just spent the entire night getting laid. You’d think he’d be all mellowed out and too relaxed to be annoyed.

  But nope.

  The dude had been annoyed as shit over something, and he hadn’t curbed his attitude to try to make the rest of us comfortable. He ate his breakfast like a man starved, and he grunted a lot of his answers whenever any of us had tried to draw him into conversation.

  It wasn’t until I almost got up, fed up with his shitty attitude, and was ready to leave before I realized Grace was probably right about us strangling each other to death. Plus, it was also a big eye-opener in realizing that I had no idea how to be someone’s girlfriend. I’d never been someone’s girlfriend before. I’ve dated guys and have messed around a few times, but be in an actual committed relationship? Nah. Haven’t done that one before.

  So, I stayed seated and enjoyed my uncomfortable breakfast because I wanted to give this thing with Sterling a fair chance. Even if this was all coming out of left field, I couldn’t deny that last night had been phenomenal, much like our first night together had been. We might not have planned for this, but I still wanted to give it a shot.

  Me and Styx had cleaned up breakfast while Grace had showered and gotten ready for the day, and Sterling had…well, I wasn’t sure what he had been about. When Styx and I had gotten to cleaning up breakfast, Sterling had taken off to somewhere in the house, and I hadn’t been about to go hunt him down. Grace had told me that she and Styx had plans to spend the day with him family, so I figured I’d wait until they were gone before asking Sterling what his fucking problem was.

  Once Styx and Grace had left, I ended up finding him in the gym, and he looked like he was in the zone. From a female perspective, I could appreciate the effort. Every muscle in the boy’s body was dancing with exertion, and he looked sexy as hell all sweaty and physical. But from a newly appointed girlfriend perspective, I was annoyed.

  “Want to tell me what the hell your problem is,” I asked, walking further into the room.

  “I have a lot of problems,” he panted, not stopping his assault on the punching bag. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

  I snorted as I leaned up against the mirrored wall in front of him. “What problems could you possibly have?” I asked. “Yo
u’re Sterling Hale.”

  He stopped punching on the bag, and the boy looked good even if I was annoyed with him. “Oh, I can name one right now,” he said coolly. “Cash Manson.”

  Goddamn, Styx.

  I dropped my arms. “I see you and Styx had a nice little gossip session.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” he denied. “And even if it was, what does it matter? Why didn’t you tell me about Cash?”

  The dude was insane. “Are you off your nut?” I asked, and he growled. “And when would I have told you, Hale? In between taking my virginity and the shower that night? During all of Grace and Styx’s drama? During winter break when I hardly saw you? Or how about last night, in between all our fucking?”

  He stormed towards me, his workout forgotten. “You could have said something that morning at breakfast instead of taking off in a huff when I asked about him.”

  “It wasn’t any of your business then,” I reminded him. “Nothing about me has been your business before last night, truth be told.”

  His lip curled, and he looked pissed. “No matter what’s happened between since that first night together up until now or all the years before, you’ve always been my sister’s best friend, Addison. If you’re having problems with someone, you should have told me.”

  Well, Hale, up until we got drunk that night, it wasn’t like we were super close or anything. You were Grace’s brother,” I reminded him. “A drunken one-night stand doesn’t equate obligation.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he argued. “We’ve always been friends, London.”

  My head reared back. “Yeah? And how many times have you ever come to me for help or just to vent your bad day?”

  He straightened to his full height. “Seeing as how I’m the one with the dick, never.”

  I shook my head. “Look, I get that you’re used to running interference for Grace and protecting her, but I’m not your sister.”

  Sterling crowded me until my back was pressed up against the mirror. “No, London, you’re not my sister. You’re my girlfriend,” he snarled. “And from now on, everything about you is my fucking business.”

  Christ.

  What was it about a guy who got all growly and possessive that was just such a turn on? At this rate, he was bound to win all our arguments if he was always going to be going all alpha-male on me every time we fought.

  “Even if that’s the case, Sterling, I’m not some simpering, weak female,” I pointed out. “If I have a problem, I’m a big girl. I can handle it myself.”

  You would have thought I spit in his face.

  He looked murderous.

  One second, I was proclaiming my strength as an independent woman, the next, Sterling had one hand wrapped around my neck and the other one shoved down my pajama pants. Sterling had left me so sore after last night, I had opted for loose clothing after I had gotten out of the shower.

  His finger sliding inside my body, he asked, “Is this pussy mine?” The way my body clenched around his finger should have been answer enough, but he wanted the words. “Well?”

  “Sterling-”

  He slid another finger inside my tight channel. “Is this fucking pussy mine or not, London?”

  My hands wrapped around the forearm of the hand that was down my pants. “Yes,” I hissed.

  Sterling leaned down and bit my bottom lip. “How about this mouth?” he asked as he finger fucked me slowly, methodically.

  I could barely speak. “Yes…” I whispered.

  The hand that had been wrapped around my neck snaked its way over my right breast. “And these tits?”

  I was beginning to drown in all the pleasurable sensations he was creating, but I managed to answer him anyway. “Yes.”

  And then, he threw me off when the sweet seduction of his words turned into my chin being caught in the grip of his fingers. My eyes flashed as his green gaze bore into mine. “You belong to me, London. From the hair on the top of your head to the nail polish on your motherfucking toes, it’s all mine.” His fingers sunk in deeper as he staked his claim. “And that means I give two fucks if you can run this entire goddamn country by yourself. As your boyfriend, just like every inch of you belongs to me, all your problems belong to me, too.”

  The problem with being a latchkey kid? You’re not used to people sticking up for you. You’re not used to having help. With Bernice being so self-absorbed, I was used to doing shit for myself. Like most kids of Wakefield, I pretty much raised myself. If you were an only child, you really did do it all yourself. So, Sterling’s possessive claims had me cumming all over his fingers.

  “Sterling…” I moaned as my hands tightened around his forearm, and my body vibrated with my release.

  “Fuck,” he hissed. “I’m never going to get tired of you cumming for me, baby.” And anger morphed into desire as Sterling pulled me towards the weight bench and had me bent over it, my knees on the hard floor.

  “How sore are you?” he asked as he tugged my pants down around my thighs.

  “Not that sore,” I moaned like a slut, practically begging him for it.

  “Good,” came his only reply before he slammed his entire length into my dripping hole.

  “Oh, God…”

  “Mine, London,” he grunted behind me. “You’re fucking mine.” He’d made the same declarations last night, and I was starting to believe this was really real for him. I could only hope since this was beginning to feel really real to me, too.

  “Yours,” I agreed again, but this time, in the light of day. No alcohol or distractions.

  “Mine.”

  Chapter 14

  Sterling~

  Okay.

  I could totally admit that, having never been a boyfriend before, I wasn’t sure what the rules were or how to go about all this stupid shit. But I was fairly sure that I was supposed to walk London to class and sit with her at lunch and all that other ridiculous crap. I wasn’t sure if she knew that, though.

  I bullied her into staying with me all weekend, and since her mother was just as crappy as my parents, there hadn’t been any issues with her staying with me through Sunday. Now, letting her go back home last night had been a challenge. I was never one for cuddling or spending the night with a girl after the deed was done, but having London in my bed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night had been something I had gotten used to if my sour disposition this morning was any indication.

  It fucking sucked sleeping in my bed alone last night.

  And then, this morning, she wasn’t waiting for me in the parking lot, she wasn’t waiting for me by her locker, nor was she fucking waiting for me by mine.

  London had come to school, and had gone about her business per usual, as if she’d forgotten she had a motherfucking boyfriend. And I was very well aware that I was sounding like a pussy, thank you, very much.

  But what the fuck?

  Not to mention, I was still feeling unsettled over that shit with that asshole Cash. After I had fucked her in the gym, we had made our way back to the bedroom where I had fucked her two more times. I hadn’t been quite convinced that she was hearing me about our relationship, so I had done my best to make sure she was getting the picture. And I spent the entire weekend doing my best to make sure she got the picture.

  Looks like it hadn’t worked, though.

  So, now, I was standing by her locker, after first period, like a certified pussy, because London had dared to go about her business like nothing’s changed.

  Staring down the hallway, I saw her walking my way, and wouldn’t you believe it? Zach motherfucking Wainwright was walking with her.

  Why did people have to test me?

  I mean, Jesus, fuck.

  I headed their way, not giving a good goddamn if it made me look like a lunatic. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked as soon as they noticed me.

  Zach threw his hands up. “Oh, Silver…hold on, man-”

  I ignored him. Looking at London, I asked, “Do you want me to kick
his ass? Is that it?”

  Her pretty blue eyes rounded. “Quit being ridiculous,” she hissed. “He was only apologizing for any misunderstandings at Tucker’s.”

  I turned my attention to Zach. “Look, Wainwright, before Tucker’s party, I had no issues with you,” I told him. “But considering that you had your hands all over my girlfriend that night, I’m sure you can understand why I might be uncomfortable with you two being friendly.”

  Zach’s hands were still up. “That’s why I wanted to talk to her-”

  I stepped to him, and I really, really wanted to bash his face in. “If you have any questions or motherfucking concerns regarding London, then you bring them to me.” Was I acting like a caveman? Yes. Did I care? Not a fucking bit. “If I catch you anywhere near London again, I will fuck you up.”

  “Got it,” he rushed out before sending her an apologetic wince and walking away. Phones were out and people were gathering around, but I was pretty sure we were going to have to get used to this shit as we ironed this thing out.

  London slapped my arm. “Are you crazy? What is the matter with you?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re what’s the matter with me,” I spat. “Where the fuck have you been all morning?”

  Her head reared back. “What?”

  I grabbed her by the arm and drug her to her locker. We weren’t going to have much privacy there either, but I knew she needed to get her stuff. “I asked, where have you been all morning?”

  She didn’t bother with her locker. “In class,” she answered like I was an imbecile.