Greyson Blackstone

I DIDN'T GO HOME LAST NIGHT

Call it running away or being weak, I just didn't want to see her. The dynamics of our relationship don't include intense encounters like the one we had yesterday. I shouldn't get this riled up about her and she shouldn't have such a painful reaction directed at me. Sage looked at me like I literally ripped her heart out of her chest, like I offended her deeply in some type of way.

"Leaving?" Brynn scoffs. "I'm surprised you stayed this long, it's been an entire night, usually you leave right after sex."

Brynn Grant is the only sex partner I've ever had a long lasting friendship with, almost five years. We both understand each other's needs and there are no feelings involved between us. Both her and I are busy people, she's a professional model and travels overseas most of the time. The only time she ever comes back to New York is either when she's on a vacation to visit her family or for New York Fashion Week.

I shrug into my coat. "Didn't feel like going home for the night, I have someone staying there who doesn't want to see me." I'm sure Sage enjoyed the day without me since I of course am only believable when I'm mean to her, which I do not feel like being at the moment. All I can do is worry about her, even now I'm getting hourly updates from the security in my building on behavior in the room.

"Sounds like a wife but we both know that's impossible." Brynn laughs, then lights a cigarette. "Who is it? Dawn? She can be a tad chit chatty sometimes but I wouldn't think you two ever had a falling out where you stayed the night at a sex friends hotel room."

I shoved my shoes on then said. "How long are you staying?"

"Ignoring the subject, sketchy, but whatever." One of the reasons I enjoy Brynn is also for her lack of prying and caring. "The agency gave me two weeks to do whatever because they have a shit load lined up for me. Aren't you doing GQ in a few days? I think they asked me to be the female for the shoot but I denied. Didn't think you wanted me to."

"I don't care." I inform her. "Money does not affect sex, I'm only doing the bloody shoot because my Father wants me to." It's true, before opening the next few hotels my Father wants to add as much publicity to it by using me. In the Blackstone family I'm considered to be the favorite look wise and charm wise. Other than that they don't anything to do with me unless it gets them money.

"Richard Blackstone is quite the scrooge." Brynn blows smoke out of her mouth. "Well you know how to reach me if you want to hide away from your problems."

"Yes, I do." Then I walked out of the room.

→←

I decided not to go to the condo and instead went to my loft uptown. The only place I have solitude in really. A small chunk of people know I even own this place and that doesn't include my family.

It's ridiculous that I have more than one place to sleep, I have the condo, this loft, a mansion upstate that is currently being built from the ground that I bought for when Sage and I are settled because we'll both need somewhere to live, and an apartment in Los Angeles for when I need to stay for a while to check on one of the Blackstone hotels for a while.

The loft is my favorite out of all and that's because of the secludedness of it. No one expects the son of the Richard Blackstone to be staying at such a place, the entire family is known for being extravagant people. I, however, am a bachelor and have no need to be such a way anytime soon. Most people would refer to a space like this as a man cave of sorts.

It was five in the morning which meant that I'd have to leave within an hour. Dawn has requested that I show up to the school earlier due to some sketchy behavior that's been going on. We also have several meetings to go to and I have an appointment with a few students. My day was going to be busy and that meant another day filled with endless amounts of coffee.

So I prepared an outfit, I didn't have my usual work suits which meant I had to settle for a more casual formal ensemble. A white button down and slacks worked to my benefit, so I placed it on my bed then headed to the shower.

→←

"Alright so I finally found you an assistant who qualifies to be your assistant without having to do extra curricular activities for you." Dawn informs me as we walk out of the meeting room and head towards my office. "She's thirty-five and a single mother, however, she isn't interested in men...anymore. She swings towards the female side and well, that means she'll focus on her work and not you."

"Fine." I say, stoically.

"Fine?" She repeats and frowns. "I was expected more of a protest from you, one that included her not being interested in men." I'm not sure how to tell my sister that I could care less about some stupid assistant, that I'm sleep deprived and currently crashing. That I've got two more meetings today and four appointments with students.

So I settled on stopping and looking her, then saying. "Dawn, I'm going to say this nicely because you are my sister, but I need you to shut up."

"That wasn't nice." She says.

"Don't bloody care." I retort back then start walking away. "Just tell the assistant she starts on Monday and I expect an entire coffee pot on my desk at exactly seven in the morning sharp." Dawn continued to speak but it all sounded like a blur. Every word she said went through one ear and came out the other.

I walk into my office and rub my face, exhaustedly.

Note to self, don't spend the night with Brynn ever again. That woman can talk hours on end and has the libido of a bunny in heat. Not that I'm complaining but when it affects my work day it seems rather stupid and annoying.

When I sit down I look at the time, it was eleven in the morning, that meant Sage was out of class by now. She's probably on her way to see her father, the poor guy's been on bed rest since he's unstable for the moment. The man doesn't have the heart to tell his daughter that he's in worse condition then he lets on, otherwise he'd be out by now.

Or he's enjoying the vacation since working for my Father is brutal, given the workload you're given. Either way, he's not leaving that bed for a while.

I open a few folders up of the students who had appointments with me. One of them has a Father who donates generously to the school, which meant whatever this particular student wanted he'd most likely get it otherwise his father's donations might come up dry.

Without warning, the door swings open, then quickly slams closed. "You're ignoring me."

My eyes instantly meet Sage's, her brows were snapped together and she wore an angry frown. "Slade, you do know where we are right now." I respond, calmly. She just crosses her arms and shakes her head. "Typical answer." She scoffs.

"Do you need something?" I ask, leaning back into the reclining leather chair.

Sage purses her lips then looks up at the ceiling. "You didn't call last night to tell me you'd be out all night, you didn't call to check up on me, Grey you didn't call." She was cross with me because I didn't call her? If anything you'd think she'd have blast without me given that she hates my very existence nevertheless my calls.

"You hate when I call." I inform her of what she already knows.

Sage's gaze slices back to mine. "The only reason I'm staying in that condo is because you forced me too, I could have been with my Grandfather where there's hundreds of people at everyday than be at a stupid condo alone." She places her hand over her face and drags it down. "How could you...Why would you...Greyson why wouldn't you at least call?"

"Miss Slade, you're not—"

"Sage." She says. "You call me Sage."

What the hell is wrong with her? Yesterday she was pouring her heart out to me about how much she bloody hated me. Now she's telling me to call her by her first name and asking me about why I didn't call. None of this is making sense and it's getting more aggravating to listen to second by second, I literally cannot take anymore.

"Greyson, I call you by your first name, you call me by mine." Sage continues. "And you call everyday, sometimes thirty times straight, but yesterday you didn't even leave a note. I knew what you were doing but that doesn't mean you can't call to warn me so I can stay over at Grandfather's house. All night I waited for you to open the door."

"Why the hell would you wait for me? I would think me not being around would be Heaven on Earth for you." I frown.

"Because..." Her eyes drifted away.

"Because?" I push.

"Because..." She snapped. "Because even if it's you I'd rather have around me than no one. Your condo is deadly quiet and that means I can hear every sound. Sounds that aren't even there. I can see things that aren't there. I can imagine things that aren't there. And last night I couldn't...I couldn't even close my eyes without thinking that the sicko who attacked me would come back and finish what he started."

Immediately the fury dissolved. I was now looking at a girl who wasn't scared of being attack but scared of being weak. Showing weakness to me. She was terrified last night and I didn't want to deal with her to stay the night. I went to a sex friends house and stayed the night and I never do that. While she was as home probably wide awake all night hoping that the sounds she's hearing weren't coming from a person who would harm her.

Fuck

I'm truly an ass

"If you don't want to be around me, no one's asking you to be, just let me leave the condo because I cannot stay alone another night." She swallows hard and wraps her arms around her.

My body started moving on it's own, I walked towards her then wrapped my arms around her tightly—securely. There was something about seeing her like this that made me feel protective of her. She's still a young girl, she hasn't even finished High School yet, and she was attacked a few days ago. Not even the strongest of women could get over that.

"That won't happen again." I tell her, stroking her head. "I'll be home, I'll make sure you're never scared again." I'm natural with words that women want to hear and I'm aware of that. However, when I say things like this it catches even me off guard. The amount of protectiveness I feel towards Sage is unbelievable, a guy like me was never capable of this.

"I know I told you to stop being nice..." She whispers. "...but...don't stop." There was something painful in her words. I'm the one who's slowly hurting her, I know what I'm capable of and I'm not stopping it. Sooner or later she'll come to hate me for the guy I am, I'm neither good or bad, I just do what I feel like doing.

Yet even I know that's not enough for anyone.