Broken Hill Halo (Broken Hill High #2)

by Sheridan Anne

  “Shit,” I curse. “Are you sure? I could have sworn I turned them on. I always make sure they’re on.”

  He walks forward and squeezes my shoulder. “Sorry, love. They were definitely off,” he says. “We’ll have to find another way to catch the bastard. Was anything missing upstairs?”

  “No,” I sigh, wishing there were something that could give me even a hint as to who this person was.

  “We’ll get the guy,” Nate murmurs, trying to keep my spirits up.

  “Why don’t you check through your father’s papers,” Jesse suggests. “Maybe it’s got something to do with his business.”

  “I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “Even if it does, I wouldn’t know what I was looking at or be able to tell if something was missing from it.”

  “That’s alright,” Cade says. “Your parents will be home in a few days, they can look through it all. Why don’t we get you home? I can call Mick from the car.”

  I nod my head as I lean back against Nate. “Alright,” I say through a killer yawn.

  “Careful,” Jesse grins. “Every time you yawn without covering your mouth, a ghost sticks his dick in it.”

  “Ugh, Jess,” I groan. “That’s disgusting.”

  He shrugs his shoulders, not caring one little bit before leading the way back outside. I hurry around the house before double and triple checking that the surveillance cameras are turned on, before setting the alarm.

  We head out to the car and pile in. Nate sits in the backseat with me and we’re barely even making our way back through the front gate when I start falling asleep on his big shoulder.

  We pull up at their place ten minutes later and meet Trish at the front door. Cade rattles off the story and all the ins and outs of what happened while Nate scoops me up into his arms and starts making his way up the stairs. “Are you ok?” he questions.

  I nod my head. “Little sore,” I admit.

  A scowl sits heavy on his face and I don’t doubt that he’s trying his hardest not to tell me ‘I told you so’. He pushes through the door of my room and sets me down on the bed before rummaging through my drawer to find the painkillers. He gets two out for me and hands them to me with a bottle of water. “Thanks,” I say.

  “We’re going to find this guy,” he promises me.

  “I know,” I tell him, not doubting him for one second.

  “You know I love you right, and the second this fucker decided to mess with you, he decided to mess with me too,” Nate says as he drops down in the bed beside me.

  I curl into his side and close my eyes once again. “I wouldn’t want to be that person right about now.”

  “Wise,” he tells me. “Now go back to sleep. I want you to get better so I can really show you how much I love you.”

  “You mean; you want me to get better so you can show me what it’s like to have a man screw me to within an inch of my life?”

  His whole body shakes with silent laughter. “Fuck yeah,” he says. “I want to bend you over the hood of my car.”

  “I should be disgusted with your crass nature,” I murmur. “But I can’t fucking wait.”

  Chapter 12

  A knock sounds at my door and I put my Kindle down on my lap as my eyebrows pull down in confusion. I mean, apart from Trish and Cade, no one knocks around here and Trish was only here ten minutes ago and not once had Cade actually come to my door.

  The boys are at school, though they should be home in the next twenty minutes and if it was Brooke, she’d come barging her way through, not caring if anyone was in her way.

  I look over towards the door as the handle begins to turn and wait patiently for whoever it is to make their presence know. The door is pushed the whole way open and my eyes widen in surprise before they instantly fill with tears.

  “Oh, baby,” Mom chuckles as she races through the door and drops down beside me. She pulls me into her arms and I do my best to wipe the tears. “I missed you too.”

  “What are you doing here?” I cry. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

  “I know,” she says as she pulls back and wipes a stray tear off my cheek. “I just couldn’t stay away. Too much has been going on here. I mean, you had emergency surgery without me and had to deal with a break in. No child should have to do that.”

  I hate to admit it, but her words make me crumble. I’ve missed my parents so damn much. I throw my arms around her and hold on for dear life.

  “Come on,” she laughs. “Are you feeling ok? We can pack your things while you tell me all about the past few months.”

  I throw the blanket back and cringe as my Kindle flies off my bed and clatters to the ground. “Shit,” I grunt. I forgot I’d put that there.

  Mom hurries after the Kindle and double checks that I haven’t smashed the screen like I’ve managed to do five other times over the past two years. “Oh, honey,” she says, trying to be serious but failing to remove the happiness from her eyes. “You really should be more careful.”

  “I know,” I groan. “I’m just really happy to see you.”

  “Good,” she says with a firm tone. “So you should be. After all, I did house you in my guts for nine months before pushing you out and let me tell you, that was no easy feat… it was also very messy.”

  “Ewwwwww,” I groan as I roll my eyes. I mean, I heard about it a few hundred times but it still manages to gross me out. “I don’t know how they ever let you into that fancy pants country club.”

  “I know,” she laughs. “I wonder about it every time I walk through the door. Now, where’s your bag?”

  I walk over to the closet, trying my hardest not to let on that I’m still in a little bit of pain. I mean, this moment is special and I want to be able to physically spend time with my mom, not just sit in bed and watch her slave around after me. I mean, it’s only been a few days since the break in so I’m mostly fine but there’s still just that last bit of pain that’s there to remind me that I’m human.

  Generally, though, I’m feeling pretty good. I have another doctor’s appointment in a few days and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll clear me to go back to school. I mean, it’s been over two weeks since I last stepped foot into that school and it’s not like I’m getting behind in any of my school work. I’ve had nothing but time to keep up to date with it all. Brooke has been stopping by every day after school and dropping it off so I’ve been getting straight to it. You know, after I finish whatever book I was reading and whatever TV show I was catching up on.

  “How have you been going living with two teenage boys?” Mom asks as she piles up all my school textbooks while I pack all my clothes into my bag. “Was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?”

  “No,” I grin. “Nate and Jesse have been great. We’ve all become really close again. Like it was when we were kids.”

  Mom puts a hand to her heart and gives me one of those ‘I’m so happy for you’ motherly looks. “Do you have any idea how happy that makes me? I hated when you and Nate would be at each other’s throats.”

  “I know,” I laugh. “We made up, so you’re good to come over and have your wine nights with Trish again. I won’t even complain about it, in fact, I’d encourage it.”

  She narrows her eyes on me as she tries to work something out. “Good,” she finally says with a beaming smile. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

  I’m going to have to tell her about my relationship with Nate at some point, but I think it can wait. I’m not ready to sleep in a lonely bed yet and I have a feeling mom will be enforcing that rule. So, for that fact alone, I might keep that information to myself for a while.

  I crouch down beside my bed and dive under it to unplug my array of chargers. I lean forward and hear the familiar crinkle of foil wrapping and look down to find a torn condom wrapper. My eyes widen as I flick my head around, double checking that Mom hasn’t seen a thing.

  I grab the wrapper and desperately look around for somewhere to stash
it and realize that anywhere I put it is going to be found by Trish. With nothing left to do, I slip it down my bra and cringe at the way the wrapper scrapes along my skin. I hope I don’t forget that one later.

  We’re just about finished packing when the sound of the front door opening and closing followed by a crapload of teenage boys’ sounds loudly throughout the house. A smile rips over my face knowing that my boys are home.

  I hear someone running up the stairs, taking it two at a time before Nate appears in the doorway. “Hey, Mrs. Roberts,” he says as charming as ever as he waltzes straight in and wraps my mom in a warm hug.

  “Nathaniel, how many times have I told you to call me Kate?” she smiles, fond of the boy who used to torment me. “How are you, dear?” Mom asks as she releases him from the hug.

  “Good,” he smiles with that boyish charm that has my insides clenching. He looks around the packed room before nodding in my direction. “Are you finally taking this hot mess off my hands?”

  “Hey,” I gasp as I knock his shoulder.

  He turns and gives me a panty dropping wink that has me turning away so my mother doesn’t see the reaction my body has to him.

  “Yeah,” mom says with a teasing smile. “She has been a bit of a hot mess lately, huh? I guess the right thing to do would be to take responsibility for it.”

  “Yeah,” Nate agrees. “We’ll send you a bill for all the ice cream she’s demolished. You know, she can really pack that shit away.”

  “Ice cream?” Mom laughs. “Have you seen how many books she reads? I stupidly allowed her to use my credit card on her Kindle account. She’s been going nuts being stuck in bed the past few weeks. Her reading habit is going to send me broke.”

  “Hey,” I demand. “You insisted. I told you I was more than happy to pay for my own books and you refused. You can’t complain about it, you knew what you were getting into.”

  “I know,” she groans as her eyes narrow on me yet again. “You haven’t gotten behind in your school work with all this reading, have you?”

  “No,” I say. “I’m completely up to date. I’m still you’re good little girl.” Nate turns so mom can’t see him and raises a smug eyebrow at me. Again, I try not to flush and do my best to change the topic. “So,” I say. “Are you going to be the perfect gentleman and carry all this stuff down to my car?”

  “Your car?” Mom says. “Don’t tell me you pulled up your big girl panties and you’re finally driving that thing?”

  “Geez,” I groan. “What is this? Pick on Tora day?”

  Mom wraps her arm around and pulls me into her side. “I’m sorry, sweetie. It’s just that I’ve missed you so much. I have a lot of teasing to catch up on.”

  “Super,” I say with sarcasm. “Just remember; whatever you dish out, I’ll be giving straight back.”

  “Look forward to it,” Mom grins.

  I roll my eyes and grab a bag before moving towards the door. Nate grabs another and walks out before me. “Oi, fuckers,” he calls down the stairs to the noise coming from the den. “Get your asses up here and help get Tora’s shit out of here.”

  Nate carries on down the stairs as though he didn’t just assault my mother’s ears with every curse word possible. “Geez, he really has a mouth on him, doesn’t he?” she murmurs beside me even though Nate can hear her perfectly well.

  “Oh yeah,” I grin, not mentioning exactly what it is that he can do with his mouth.

  As we get to the bottom of the stairs, a heard of boys come barreling up them and heads towards my room, ready and prepared to help me move my life back home. “We need this kind of service at home,” mom murmurs as Maxen comes out with a stack of textbooks.

  “I know,” I laugh. “It’s great. You should see when Trish does the groceries. It takes about three seconds, though, the majority of it disappears before it has a chance to hit the shelves.”

  “I bet,” mom smirks.

  After ten minutes, my car is packed and mom is chatting away to Trish in the kitchen. Nate and Jesse wait behind at my car and I can’t help the pang of sadness that settles within my heart. “Going to miss having you around here,” Jesse says as he wraps his arms tightly around me and squishes me nearly to death.

  “Jesus,” I groan. “I’m not moving to another country. I’m just going to be down the street and it’s not like I won’t be here all the time anyway.”

  “I know,” he says. “I’m just that irresistible.”

  “Knock it off,” Nate says as he peels his brother off me. Jesse laughs to himself and heads back inside to Maxen, Parker, and Tyson, probably so they can work out who’s going to be screwing which cheerleader tonight so they don’t end up at the same door. Though that doesn’t apply to Maxen, he’s been a good boyfriend to Brooke, and is so far, surprising the crap out of me.

  “I’ll be sneaking through your window tonight,” Nate tells me.

  I grin up at him as he winds his arms around my waist. “You remember it’s on the second story, right?” I laugh.

  “You think that’s going to stop me?”

  “I hope not,” I say as I tilt my chin up towards him. He meets my lips with his own and absolutely devours them, making me wish mom could have caught a later flight. The second the thought enters my mind, I instantly feel guilty. I haven’t seen mom and dad in nearly three months.

  Nate pulls back and studies me for a moment. “Everything ok?” he asks.

  “Yeah,” I tell him. “I think I should probably spend the night with my parents.”

  “Sooooo?” he questions. “You don’t want me to come over?”

  “No, no. I do,” I quickly say. “But maybe late? Give me a chance to let mom and dad fuss all over me first.”

  A grin rips across his face as he dips his head back to mine. He kisses me gently once before threading his fingers through mine. “You got it, babe. Just remember to unlock your window, I don’t want to spend the night stuck on the roof.”

  “Ok,” I laugh.

  Nate releases my hand and leans around me to open my car door. “Do you remember how to drive this thing?” he questions with a knowing sparkle in his deep eyes.

  I can’t help but grin. I haven’t exactly had a need to drive lately as Nate insists on driving me around. I mean, it makes sense. We go to the same school, leave from the same house, and finish for the day at the same time. Of course, he’d drive me around. Now, though, I have to actually drive the car that I haven’t had enough practice with, you know, as the bastard is a stick. “I’ll manage,” I tell him, feigning confidence when in reality, my pulse is picking up and my mind is whirling with reminders of how to actually shift.

  “Uh huh,” he grins.

  Nate helps me down into my car as mom comes strolling out the front door with Trish on her heels. “Good news, honey,” mom grins as she hurries down the stairs. “I went ahead and booked my wine night.”

  “Oh, geez,” I laugh. “I think I’m busy.”

  “Nope. No way. You and me. Here. Friday night.”

  I look up at Nate with a grin. “Friday night, huh?” I say as the pieces of my little puzzle fall into place. We’ll get the moms a few drinks, they’ll get carried away chatting, and I’ll be able to sneak out with the boys. Perfect.

  I say goodbye to my grinning boyfriend and he closes the door behind me as mom climbs into her BMW. I mentally go through all the ins and outs of the car while I bring the engine to life and let out a breath as I work it all out.

  I slowly take off and it’s as rough as shit. I cringe to myself and refuse to look at Nate in my rear view mirror knowing the smug bastard would be grinning to himself, probably with his arms crossed over his wide chest.

  I’m going to hear about this when he comes over tonight.

  Ten minutes later, I pull into my driveway with mom right behind me. I look around for dad’s car as he usually parks in the driveway, especially after he’s been away so he can easily get his bags from the car, only it’s not here. It must be in t
he garage already.

  Mom parks beside me and I grab a bag only to have her hurry around and demand that I put it down. “Don’t even think about it,” she tells me. “Trish gave me the real story. I know you’ve been putting away those painkillers like jelly beans. So, you’re not lifting anything until you get the all clear from the doctor.”

  “Damn it,” I groan under my breath. Why do I have to have such great people in my life who desperately want to look out for my well being?

  “Come on,” she says, tugging on my arm. “I’ll get your things in a bit. I just want to get inside and relax for a while. It was a long flight, you know?”

  “Oh, I know,” I say, having done it a handful of times myself. I mean, it’s not great. It’s long and boring and if you forget your Kindle, it’s even worse.

  We get inside and mom dumps her handbag on the hallway table as she walks straight past and out towards the den. “So,” she says. “When are you going to spill the beans on Nate?” she grins at my wide eyes. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I saw the way he was looking at you.”

  “Ahhhhhhh….”

  “You’re together now?”

  I look around for anything else to talk about. “Ahhhhhhhh……”

  Mom grins. “Give it up, chickpea. Trish told me weeks ago, but even if she didn’t, I would have worked it out pretty damn fast. You’re in love, aren’t you?”

  My face instantly flushes as mom drops down onto the couch and pats the empty spot beside her. I can’t resist and flop down into her open arms. “Yes,” I say with a grin the size of Texas.

  “I always knew you two would get together.”

  “How’d you know that?” I scoff. “I’ve absolutely hated him for the past five years.”

  “I know,” she grins. “And that makes it so much better.”

  “Answer the question,” I tell her.

  “Oh, fine,” she groans as she relaxes back into the couch, pulling me right along with her. “He’d watch you like you were the sun in the sky. I’d catch him all the time and it was always when you weren’t watching. It was the sweetest thing.”