“Then tell her what he did.”
“I did,” I yell, getting frustrated with him. “She didn’t believe me. What do you think the whole fight was about in the first place? She said I was jealous and didn’t want her to be happy.”
“Fuck,” he groans, starting to pace. I watch him which is when I realize we’ve been arguing in front of everyone. We usually keep our more heated arguments to ourselves, but right now, every single eye in the group is on us, wondering if their king and queen are about to take a trip back to Splitsville.
I ignore them as best I can as I watch Nate pace. He stops abruptly and turns back to me without even a hint of emotion on his face. “I’m moving in with you.”
I pull back. “No,” I snap at him.
“Why the hell not?” he demands.
“Because when you move in with me, it’s going to be because you love me not because you want to keep some scumbag from trying to get in my pants.”
“Tora,” he groans again, getting increasingly frustrated with the situation. He steps into me and grabs my waist, forcing me into him. I brace myself against his hard chest to avoid smacking my head into it. “I do fucking love you and I’m practically living with you now anyway. What’s the difference if I keep all my fucking clothes there?”
“The difference is that you didn’t want to move all your fucking clothes before you found out about Lukas.”
“Babe,” he says a little softer as he forces me backward. We walk, squished up against one another until he has me leaning back against the door of his Camaro and right away from the greedy ears listening in. His eyes soften as he leans down and gently presses his lips to mine. “I am telling you that I love you and whether or not this Lukas bullshit was happening, I would have moved in with you anyway.”
“Are you just trying to butter me up to get your way?”
A grin splits across his handsome face. “Is it working?”
“Keep going and find out.”
“Whether it’s about keeping you safe or not, I’m going to be waking up next to you every fucking morning and sinking into you just the way you like it because I want to be there, starting a fucking life with you. You’re it for me, Tora Roberts and I’m not taking ‘no’ as an answer.”
I keep my eyes trained on his dark ones. “You mean it? It’s got nothing to do with the Lukas stuff?”
“No, babe. That’s just a bonus.”
“But what about your mom and Jesse?”
“They’ll be fine,” he tells me. “Mom is getting pretty serious with John and Jesse is always with Kaylah. I’m hardly there as it is. They wouldn’t even notice I was gone.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, babe. Besides, Jesse is at your place all the time anyway.”
I study him for a moment and start thinking about just how amazing it would be spending every single day with the guy I’m disgustingly in love with. I mean, it’s bound to happen sooner or later, I even pre-warned my parents about it. I let out a sigh and let him have it. “Ok.”
“Ok?” he straightens a little and looks down at me with every ounce of concentration he possesses, making sure he hears me correctly.
“Yeah, ok, but it better include breakfast in bed every Sunday morning.”
His face lights up like the Fourth of July as he grabs me even tighter and crushes his lips down on mine. “Fuck yeah,” he cheers between kisses and I swear, I’ve never seen him look so giddy in my life. Not even as kids when he got his first kiss. “I assure you, babe. You’re going to be getting so much more than breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings.”
Oh, hell. Everything below the waist clenches.
Nate’s lips linger on mine as his hold on my body softens. Our kisses turn from the excited, celebratory ones to more of a deep, 'I’m so damn in love with you' type of kiss and has me excited about spending the rest of my life with him.
“Any more secrets you feel like spilling tonight?”
My mind instantly takes me to Josh, but I can’t… not tonight. “No,” I smile up at him.
“Come on,” he tells me, pulling back slightly and rolling his eyes. “I’m racing next and I want you with me.”
“Nate,” I sigh. I mean, he knows how I feel about being in the car when he’s racing. It’s hot, but holy hell, it scares the shit out of me. I swear, my heart races faster than when we’re in bed together.
Nate’s fingers come up and run down the side of my face. “Please?” he murmurs. “This one’s important. It’s my last race here.”
My brows come down as I study his face. “What?” I question.
He ignores my question as he reaches around me and opens the door. “Come on,” he says again. “Get in.”
I let out a breath and search deep within me for the balls I know I’m hiding somewhere. “Fine,” I say. His face lightens up with excitement as he helps me in and closes the door behind me. I watch him hurry around the front of the car and the next thing I know, he’s starting it up and pushing his way through the crowd to get down to the track.
What the hell did he mean it was his last race here?
We get down to the track and when a black Charger with Elle in the passenger’s seat pulls up beside him, every thought wipes from my mind. “You’re racing Jackson?” I shriek.
“Yep,” Nate grins proudly. “Finally get to prove to the fucker who’s a better racer.”
“But-”
“Don’t stress,” he tells me. “I don’t know how or when it happened, but I think I trust the guy, and besides, he’s not going to pull any stupid shit with Elle in the car.”
I groan and skip straight past the whole ‘Nate possibly trusting Jackson’ thing as that’s too big of a conversation to be having right now and focus my attention on the girl walking up between the two cars. “Fine, but I swear, Nathaniel Ryder, if this douchebag tries to kill you with me in the car, I’m going to kill you myself.”
Nate barks out a sharp laugh. “Deal.”
I glance across at Jackson sitting behind the steering wheel and distantly notice that Elle looks like she’s about to hurl. I can’t help but smile. This whole racing thing scares me, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked that bad.
Jackson notices me watching and grins. He winks as though we have some sort of secret, and turns his attention back to the track, just in time for the skank wearing a black string bikini to drop her handkerchief.
Nate hits the gas and shoots forward with his big hand expertly working the stick and doing all sorts of things to me.
I look across to see Jackson right beside us, keeping up with Nate’s confidence and speed, challenging him like no one else before.
Nate pushes on as we approach the first corner.
I grip the handle on the door and clench my eyes closed as he speeds around the corner with such grace that I hardly even feel the dirt track beneath the tires. Hearing Nate’s chuckle and feeling the corner is done, I risk opening my eyes.
I look across at the smug asshole while I work on calming myself. I mean, we’re not dead yet and Jackson seems to be keeping to his own side of the track. “It’s not funny.”
“Believe me, babe. It is.”
With that, he drifts right around the next corner, not even giving me a second warning to grip the handlebar again. My body flies to the side with the momentum before the seatbelt catches me. “Hold on, Tora,” Nate says, all traces of humor gone from his voice.
I do as I’m told and instead of focusing on the blurry road before me, I turn and watch Nate. I watch how he shifts through the gears like a professional. I watch his cool, calm, and collected vibe as he attempts one of the most dangerous corners of the track and eases through it. I watch the corners of his lips lift as he loves my eyes on him. I watch the fire in his eyes, telling me how much he loves this.
Jackson pushes up beside us and I watch Nate back off just a bit when it occurs to me what the hell he’s doing. “You’re going to let him win.”
“No
way in hell,” he says, hitting the next corner. “I’m going to let him think he has a chance before leaving him in a cloud of dust.”
Ahhhh. That’s more like the Nate I know and love. I roll my eyes and get ready for the show.
The hundreds of people standing around the track start scrambling and taking off in all different directions and I sit up straighter in my seat wondering what the hell is going on when I see blue and red flashing lights pouring in through the dirt entrance. “Fuck,” I curse, wide-eyed. “The police are here.”
Nate doesn’t even lift his eyes from the track. “Yep.”
I blanch for a second. He said it so damn casual, almost as though he knew about it. But then I recall his comments before the race. He said this was his last race on this track. “Did you know about this?” I question as he continues racing around the track, still with Jackson right beside him.
“Of course, I knew about it,” he scoffs. “I know everything that goes down in Broken Hill.”
“Shouldn’t we be leaving?” I question, watching as the cops continue pouring in and start spreading out. I mean, it looks like a freaking mess. There are cops everywhere. Boys are grabbing their girlfriends and hauling ass to their cars. Engines are starting up and cars are spitting up dirt behind their tires in their desperate need to get out of here.
“Hell, no,” Nate laughs. “I’m going to finish this.”
I look across at Jackson to see him still pushing forward, just as determined as Nate. Elle looks frantic and panicked in the front seat and I wish there was something I could do to help calm her, but it’s all up to Jackson now.
We sail through the final corner as I watch Jesse’s Range Rover disappear and hope that everyone is in there with him, though I shouldn’t doubt him. Jesse wouldn’t leave anyone behind. It’s simply not in his nature.
Knowing they’re safe, I focus on the ending of this race. We complete the final corner and I realize I have one hand on the door and the other latching onto the center console with my nails digging in. I retract the claws, hoping Nate doesn’t pick up on it, but who am I kidding, he notices everything. He’s just choosing not to pick me up on it right now.
We reach the final straight and Nate is just slightly in front on Jackson, but from the curl in his lips, he’s still got a lot more to give.
Nate hits the gas and not a second later, his Camaro shoots forward and leaves Jackson behind in a cloud of dust, just as Nate had said.
I laugh as we cross the finish line where he would usually slam on the brakes with dust spilling up behind him, but not today. Nate shoots off the track, hardly bothering to slow down with Jackson right on his tail. Cops are everywhere and we desperately need to get out of here. If the cops are going to aim for anyone, it’s going to be the two they would have seen actually participating in illegal racing.
Nate cuts across and slips behind a row of bushes to a different exit, one that I didn’t even know existed and shoots forward, getting us the hell out of here.
Ten minutes later, we’re safe out on the highway where we find Jesse’s Range Rover pulled off to the side of the road. We pass and in the blink of an eye, he’s right there behind us, barging his way in front of Jackson’s Charger and all I can say is – Holy shit.
Chapter 11
Nate slips his hand into mine and we walk back from the Chinese restaurant that sits just beside the college campus. We both had an early class this morning and then he took me out to lunch like the gentleman we both know he isn’t. He’s got to work the rest of the day and probably well into the night, but at least we got a chance to spend part of the day together.
I absolutely love these little stolen moments we have with each other. It’s the little things that complete my heart and remind me how damn lucky I am to have him in my life. I mean, those two months where we were apart sucked and missing out on these little moments with him tore me to shreds. I’m so glad that we were able to move past that. I like to think it’s made us stronger, both as individuals and as a couple, no matter how bad it sucked at the time.
He’s officially been living with me for about three days and they have been absolutely perfect. Well, more than perfect if you consider the fact that he kept his promise about Sunday mornings.
It’s nothing short of incredible. Just the way I had always imagined it would be. Apart from the fact that we had Brooke glaring at us and Lukas walking through the door as though he owned the place. We’re just lucky that with Nate here, Lukas just kept walking as though he didn’t even notice we were there. Hopefully, the news of Nate living with us would help him keep his distance.
I hate that Brooke still isn’t talking to me. It’s been just over two weeks. We’ve never gone this long without talking before. Well, there was that one time in freshman year, but that doesn’t count. This is real. We’re adults now, not children fighting over clothes and parties.
Nate’s thumb runs over the top of my knuckles, drawing my attention. “What’s going on?” he questions. “You’re lost inside that head of yours.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Sorry, I was just thinking about Brooke.”
“She’ll come around,” he promises. “It doesn’t take long for dickheads like that to fuck up a good thing.”
“You mean like Maxen did?”
“Exactly,” he says. “He’ll do or say something wrong and when she sees it, she’ll come back to you. She’ll probably be embarrassed and hurting because she didn’t believe you, but she’ll need you more than anything.”
“I know,” I say, falling into his side as he wraps his arm around me.
“Just give me a little warning when it happens because I don’t want to be there when she’s a sobbing mess.”
“You have to be,” I laugh. “I’ll need someone to go out and buy trashy magazines, chocolate, and ice cream.”
“I’m your boyfriend, not your errand boy. If you wanted a bitch then you should have dated Jesse instead.”
“Hey,” I laugh, swatting his arm. “Leave Jesse alone. Only I’m allowed to make fun of him.”
“No way,” he grins. “He’s my brother.”
“Yeah, well, he’s my… I don’t actually know what to call him, but whatever it is, he’s mine.”
Nate rolls his eyes and leads me towards his Camaro and just when I think he’s about to open the door for me, he grabs me by the waist and slams me up against the door, blocking me in with his large body. “Skip your afternoon class,” he tells me.
I shake my head as a smile begins to spread across my face. “Can’t,” I tell him. “I have a test. One that I should be studying for right now instead of going out to lunch with the sexiest man in Broken Hill.”
“Really?” he questions, pressing his body more firmly up against mine and touching me in all the right places. “Just the sexiest?”
“Mmmm,” I groan as his lips touch down on my neck. “Sexiest. Roughest. Baddest… Biggest.”
“That’s more like it.”
I smile against his lips as they touch down on mine, giving me exactly what I need. I close my eyes and melt into him, fearing he’s got exactly what it takes to convince me to go home and spend the day between the sheets than return later for my test. Nate just has it, whatever it is, he’s got it in spades and I absolutely love it.
Nate pulls down and grins at me as he reaches for my door handle, but someone walking on the sidewalk behind us has my attention snapping back. My body tenses as Josh Henderson walks up the path with his head buried in his phone and a cap pulled down low, covering his eyes.
Nate notices my tense body first before looking up with his brows pulled down in concern. My eyes flick away from Josh, hoping Nate doesn’t feel the need to follow my gaze, but I should have known better. When Nate feels something is wrong, he’s going to pick at it until he gets his answers, and right now, he’s looking for whatever has me so wound up.
His eyes land on Josh a second later and I watch as the familiarity hits, the same way it had wi
th me those few weeks ago. With that same cap pulled down low on his face, it takes Nate a second to work it out, and when he does, the fury radiates out of him.
His eyes flick back to mine in alarm before it dawns on him. I already knew. That alarm quickly morphs into rage as we silently stand here staring at one another, hoping Josh doesn’t take a moment to look up from his phone.
Nate reaches around me and opens the door of his Camaro before raising a brow at me, telling me to hurry the fuck up and get my ass in the car. I do just that, preferring to have it out with Nate than Josh and get my ass down into the car, pulling the door closed behind me and making sure to hit the lock.
Nate hurries around and drops into the driver’s seat before slamming the key into the ignition and giving it a swift flick of his wrist. The Camaro comes to life and I cringe at the deafening sound as I keep my eyes locked on Josh.
His head snaps up at the sound and in an instant is taking in the matte black Camaro parked on the side of the street. I mean, there’s no denying whose car this is. His eyes widen as a few different emotions flick through his eyes. Surprise. Fear. Hatred. Revenge.
Not even a second must pass before he’s searching out my eyes through the passenger window, trying to see who’s sitting inside. He makes out my features and I get that same look of hatred before a grin starts lifting the side of his lips, making me want to slide down in the seat and hide.
“Fuck,” Nate growls as he shoots off the side of the street and into the traffic, desperate to keep me away. Once he’s got the Camaro far enough away from Josh’s lingering eyes, he turns on me. “What the fuck was that? You knew he went here.”
I cringe, absolutely hating this. “I…” I let out a sigh. There’s no point lying, he can see straight through me. “Yes, I knew.”
“What the fuck, Tora? Did you forget what that fucker did to you because I sure as hell didn’t.”
Broken Hill Havoc: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 5) Page 10