Stranded

•.• Jaxon •.•

“Lily is having her birthday party tonight. You’ll be there, yeah?” Andy said, giving me a quick glance before taking a puff from the cigarette stick in his hand.

The smoke filled the air, and I sagged deeper into my seat, swiveling softly. I tapped my fingers on the desk and hummed.

“Of course,” I muttered, and he raised a brow at me.

“You know she’s into you, right? If you play your cards well, you’d be able to get into her pants tonight,” he chuckled, and a smirk tugged at my lips.

“She’s not the kinda bitch I’d go for, but well, a pussy is a pussy,” I said, and he grinned. Nothing excited Andy more than women, sex, and parties.

After seeing Skylar to her dorm, I’d returned to my apartment, and apparently, Andy had gotten in. He really shouldn’t have access to my keys.

“That’s the spirit, man. By the way…” he perked up, discarding the rest of his cigarette into the ashtray. I pushed my hair back with my fingers and stared at him.

Whatever he had to say next wouldn’t be good. I knew him pretty well.

“I ran into Daisy while returning from that—” he gestured with his hand. “Whatever. She said you left her for some girl she’s never seen around before.”

“Are you going after freshmen now?” He smirked, a glint in his eyes. I huffed. Yup, I was right. Nothing good.

“You know I don’t do freshers. Why would she even talk to you about that?” I asked, curious, and he rolled his eyes.

“Freda was a freshman,” he stated dryly before leaning forward, clasping both his hands together and holding my gaze. I had no idea if he intentionally ignored my question or just didn’t care.

“You seen someone you like? I won’t judge you.” The wide smile and expression on his face said otherwise.

“Drop it, man,” I muttered, grabbing my phone and pretending to go through it—until I saw the couple of texts that sat unread.

“My mum’s friend asked me to help her daughter settle in. And since we’ve known each other since we were babies, I decided to do just that.”

Andy cleared his throat.

“Just that?” he asked, and I glanced up from my phone.

“Just that,” I said flatly, and he groaned.

“Come on. I thought this was a new plot or something exciting.” The disappointment in his voice was a little amusing. He was being ridiculous.

“She’s the daughter of my family friends,” I pointed out, and he mumbled something under his breath.

“So, in other words, nothing could happen between the both of you?” he asked, and I paused for a second, my fingers hovering over the screen of my phone.

Blue eyes. Blonde hair that was too loud for my liking. And yeah, really blue eyes.

I nodded and pursed my lips. Actually, yeah—nothing could happen between Skylar and me. I didn’t even want to think about it.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “She’s not my type.” I stated before getting up. Andy’s gaze followed me across the room as I poured a glass of water and leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Great!” he grinned. “Can you introduce us then? I’d—”

“No. Not happening.” I dropped the glass and ran my fingers through my hair. Speaking about Skylar had a way of unsettling me.

“Come on, it’s not that—”

“Can you drop it?” I asked, a little chill creeping into my voice. I believed he got the message because he put up his hands in mock surrender.

After that, the conversation steered in another direction, and I visibly relaxed until I was laughing with him again.

The next few hours went by fast—too fast—and all of a sudden, we were getting ready to grace Lily’s birthday party with our presence.

And of course, I could count on the fact that our attending would have people—if not girls—flooded at Lily’s.

Well, Andy and I had a reputation that preceded us. And aside from being the captain and defenseman of one of the best hockey teams the school had ever had in a long while, our looks kind of pulled numbers for us.

While Andy was the 6’0” brown-eyed, dirty-blond-haired, talented defenseman and jovial guy every girl wanted to get with, I was a little different.

I stood by the sides and kind of commanded attention. I moved silently, but that didn’t stop the girls from flocking around me. And I took advantage.

In short, we were the school hoes—the kind parents warned their girls about. But the same girls were ready to lose their pants in a second if asked.

“We’re running late, dude. All the good pussies will be gone by the time we get there,” Andy complained, grabbing one of my caps from the wardrobe.

I chuckled. “You know that’s not true.”

I wore my wristwatch, making sure it was properly positioned. I definitely wouldn’t want my Rolex falling off my wrist in the middle of nowhere without my attention.

Andy was saying something, but my attention broke when I heard my phone ring.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Andy called out, and I nodded as he walked out, shutting the door behind him. I walked toward the kitchen counter where I’d dropped my phone earlier.

I wasn’t expecting a call from anyone. My parents knew not to call at this time unless it was an emergency. So who was it?

I picked up my phone and stared at the screen just as it stopped ringing—but it started again a second later.

Ms. Astrid. Wow.

My mood fell. Whatever would warrant a call from her at this time couldn’t be good.

I picked it up and put it on speaker.

“Hey,” I greeted and cleared my throat, crossing my arms and leaning on the counter.

“Hey, Jax. I’m really sorry for calling at this time, but I really need your help,” she said, and my mood sank deeper and deeper. And I was right…again.

“Okay?”

“I just got a call from Skylar. Apparently, her dorm was given out to someone else. They promised to get another dorm space for her, but they haven’t been able to find one since all the rooms are filled up.” I could hear the exhaustion in her voice. She sighed.

“Can you please get her from the dorm and let her spend the night in your apartment? We’ll find a solution in the morning,” she said, and I glanced at my wristwatch.

It was nine p.m. Nine fucking p.m. And I knew damn well Skylar had my number but had decided not to call me—intentionally.

Did she even have any idea how dangerous it was at night? Especially since she was a girl and a freshman.

“I—” I trailed off, running my fingers through my hair. Jesus.

“Jax, please. There’s nowhere for her to stay the night, and I know she’s already saddened by all of this but…” she exhaled. “Please, honey.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.

“I’ll go pick her up,” I said, and I could feel her relief through the phone.

“Thank you so much. And I’m sorry if I ruined whatever plans you had,” her voice softened, and I could hear the sincerity in those words. I pinched my brow.

“All good,” I mumbled before she hung up. A muscle twitched in my jaw, and I drew in a deep breath.

I grabbed my phone and walked out of the house. Andy was leaning on the car, waiting for me. He perked up the moment he saw me.

Whatever he had to say died when he saw my expression.

“What’s up?” he asked, and I bit my bottom lip, trying to contain the annoyance I was feeling.

“I have to pick someone up. You can go without me—I’ll catch up with you,” I said, unlocking the car and getting in while dialing Skylar’s number. Yeah, I had her contact.

Andy stood there, confused. “What’s going on?”

I ignited the engine and rolled down the window. “You know the daughter of that family friend?”

He nodded.

“I have to pick her up because she has no dorm room,” I bit out, glancing down at the phone as the call disconnected with no answer.

I called again. It rang.

“I’ll meet you at the party,” I said, and Andy nodded.

“Yeah.”

The call disconnected again—no response. I stepped on the brakes and pulled out of the neighborhood.

Why does she have to be so fucking stubborn? And worse still, why isn’t she picking up her damn phone?

I willed myself to take quick, deep breaths.

It was too early to get this worked up—something only Skylar could make possible, just on her first day here.

Yeah. We were totally off to a rough start.