Broken Hill Halo (Broken Hill High #2)

by Sheridan Anne

  A second later, we hear him running up the stairs and turn to face the door. It’s thrown open and we find a very confused and pissed off Jesse standing before us. “What the fuck was that?” he demands of his brother. “What’s going on?”

  “Jess,” Nate starts with a sigh.

  Rage flashes over Jesse’s face and he storms forward. “No,” he demands, getting right up in Nate’s face. “Don’t give me that bullshit. Be fucking real with me for once. I’m not a kid you need to protect anymore. What the fuck is going on?”

  Nate looks across at me, but I stay silent. This has nothing to do with me. This is completely his call. “Nate,” Jesse demands when Nate doesn’t respond fast enough. “The second you left, Mom lost it. She was screaming at dad saying it was all his fault and it’s time to come clean. It’s like they forgot I was even in the room.”

  “Shit,” Nate grunts. “I’m sorry.” He walks back and sits on the edge of my bed, looking down at the floor as Jesse tries his hardest to calm himself down. Nate lets out another breath and looks up at his brother. “Tora and I overheard mom talking the other day,” he starts. “She was telling Kate that she and dad have been having issues for the past year. There’s some big secret that she found out and it’s destroying their marriage. They’ve been going to therapy every Monday night.”

  “What?” Jesse grunts. “No. They go on their stupid date night.”

  “Yeah,” Nate scoffs. “They’ve been lying about that. There is no date night. Mom’s been trying to keep things cordial for us, but she’s hurting.”

  “Shit,” Jess groans as he falls back against the wall with his eyes cast down, looking absolutely torn and lost. “Are you sure? Maybe you misheard.”

  Nate shakes his head. “Nah, man. I’m sure.”

  “Well,” Jesse says, looking around, deep in thought. “What’s this big secret? What did dad do?”

  I watch both the boys, absolutely hating this. I mean, both of them are always so strong, but right now, they both look lost and they’re hurting in a way I never thought possible for these two. They’re larger than life. Superhuman. Nothing is supposed to bring them down, yet here they are and all I can think about is how much I hate Cade Ryder for bringing this upon them.

  A brief thought hits me that maybe my dad knows something about this. I mean, they have been best friends for over twenty years, surely he might know bits and pieces if not the whole story, but then, he’s in London and probably wouldn’t tell me anyway.

  Nate shakes his head. “I honestly don’t know,” he tells his brother. “I wish I knew just so I had some answers, but I got nothing. I spent Saturday night going through dad’s office. It’s squeaky clean.”

  Jess leans back against the wall and slides down until he’s sitting with his arms resting on his knees. Both boys remain quiet for a while and I wonder what kinds of things are going through their minds right now. “He’s not going to tell us,” Jesse finally says.

  “No,” Nate agrees. “Mom wouldn’t either. We have to find out for ourselves.”

  “How? We wouldn’t even know where to start,” Jesse says. “And your usual techniques of getting information probably isn’t the best way to go,” he adds, referring to how Nate likes to skip the whole talking things through part and skip right to beating the information out of people.

  Nate goes silent again and presses his lips together. “I’d dare say he’s right,” I tell him, trying to lighten the mood. “Why don’t we wait until he’s gone to work tomorrow? Your mom will probably be at the Country Club with mine. We can come home early from school and do some digging.”

  Nate raises his eyes to mine, still very deep in thought. “I guess,” he says. “But I’m not sure we’ll find anything. I tore his office apart. If he had something at home, it would have been in there.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to look again,” Jesse says.

  “Fine,” Nate groans. “But you’re not coming,” he tells me. “You’ve had too much time off school.”

  “What?” I scoff. “No way. We are not having this argument again.”

  “Exactly,” he says. “I won the last one and I’ll win this one. You are not risking your future on this shit.”

  “I’d hardly call it risking my future,” I grumble.

  “I would,” he scoffs. “I doubt you’ll be studying law with a shitty attendance record.” My eyes widen for a fraction of a second. I’ve never told him I wanted to be a lawyer. In fact, I hardly know it myself. I’ve been umming and ahhing over it for the past year. Either become a criminal lawyer or study marine biology. I still haven’t made up my mind, but lately, I’ve been leaning more towards being a hotshot lawyer. A smugness seeps into his voice. “That’s right,” he says. “Don’t act like I don’t know.”

  “How’d you know?” I question, narrowing my eyes on him.

  He raises an eyebrow, adding another whole level to his smug asshole look before he leans forward and feels around under my bed, a moment later, he pulls out the textbook I’ve been studying for the past three months. I gasp as I look at it. “How’d you know that was there?”

  “Good guess,” he grunts. “I saw it under your bed at my place, figured you’d hide it in the same place.” I swallow as I look at the law book in his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to study law.”

  “Shit,” Jesse scoffs with a horrified expression. “That’s like five years of study.”

  “More like seven,” I tell him, making his eyes widen even further.

  “Fuck that,” he grunts to himself.

  I turn back to Nate and shrug my shoulders. “I haven’t really made up my mind,” I tell him. “And I don’t know. I doubt I could actually get in.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he says. “You have great grades.”

  I shrug again and look away, letting him know I don’t really want to talk about it. So, I watch as he gets up and pointedly places the textbook down on my bedside table, front and center. I can’t help the little grin that comes across my face and neither can he, though, I don’t know if it’s there from being smug about figuring me out, or because he’s generally just happy that we’ve talked about it.

  He sits back on my bed before laying back and pulling his phone out. “What are you doing?” I question.

  “Looking up what you need to apply,” he grumbles as he studies his phone.

  “Jesus,” I shriek as I steal his phone from his hands. “I already know what I need.”

  “Then why aren’t you doing it?” he demands. “It’s already December.”

  “Because I already have,” I tell him.

  “Oh,” he says, looking slightly offended I didn’t say anything. “And?”

  I reach out and take his hand, knowing he’ll get over it in a second. “And, nothing. It’s too early to hear anything yet,” I explain. “How did this go from your dad’s secret to drilling me on college?”

  Nate shrugs as Jesse gets up off the floor. “Where are you going?” he asks.

  Jesse looks back as he reaches for the door handle. “Downstairs,” he says. “Brooke was making a chocolate sundae and I feel kind of awkward being in your sex dungeon.”

  I roll my eyes as I look to Nate. “I could go for a chocolate sundae.”

  He rolls his eyes right back at me and pulls me up off the bed. “Then you better go fast before Jess eats it all.”

  “Shit,” I gasp, realizing the error of my ways. We head down the stairs together and turn into the kitchen. My eyes widen in shock at how Jesse already has a bowl filled to the brim of chocolate sundae, topped with strawberries and cream. “How’d you make that so quick?” I shriek.

  Brooke groans and narrows her eyes on Jesse. “Because he stole the one I already made for you.”

  I narrow my eyes on Jesse before stalking forward. “Give it to me.”

  Jesse lifts the spoon to his mouth and takes a massive bite of my ice cream as a wicked grin lifts the corners of his mouth. “Make me.”
r />   “Oh, shit,” Nate groans under his breath.

  I dive for him.

  Jesse runs, laughing like a hyena as I race after him. He holds the bowl above his head and hurries into the den. He runs around the couch and I scoop a cushion up off it as I pass. I whack him in the back over and over again and chase him through the house, only stopping when I realize I can’t possibly beat him.

  I return to the kitchen and drop down onto the stool beside Brooke before reaching out and stealing her soda. “Shit,” I grumble as I try to slow my breathing. “I really need to workout more.”

  “Yeah, you do,” Jesse laughs as he walks back in. “That was pathetic. I was hardly even running.” He finishes his taunt by taking another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

  I let out a huff as my breathing returns to normal. I hop off the stool and start digging through the refrigerator for all the ingredients to make a kick-ass chocolate sundae. I reach for the whipped cream and grin to myself as I eye Jesse leaning against the sink.

  I pop the lid and straighten myself out. “Hey, Jess,” I grin.

  He looks up from his bowl just as I let loose on the cream. It spurts from the top, covering him from head to toe in a matter of seconds. I burst out laughing as Nate grabs me and runs for our lives.

  Jesse’s shriek echoes around the house and Brooke’s laughter instantly drowns it out. “No,” I hear Brooke yell behind us.

  “Bring her back or Brooke gets it,” Jesse calls out.

  Nate stops and we look over to find Jesse holding onto a squirming Brooke with the can of whipped cream aimed at her face. “Run,” she laughs. “Forget about me. It’s not worth it.”

  Jesse grins and a second later, Brooke is covered. Nate puts me down and runs forward, determined to save my best friend from Jesse’s evil clutches. within seconds, we’re all covered in cream as we slip around on the tiles, grabbing onto one another to try and stay on our feet.

  “What the hell is happening in here?” we hear a stern voice questioning.

  We all stop and turn to find my mom standing in the kitchen, gaping at us like we’ve gone mad.

  I’m about to stutter out an apology when Jesse steps forward with a mischievous gleam in his wicked eyes. “Well, hey there, Mrs. Roberts,” he says with the can securely in his hands.

  Mom starts shaking her head. “No,” she says in horror as she takes a step away from him, followed by another. “Don’t even think about it.”

  He grins wide. “Too late.”

  “RUN,” I yell.

  Mom takes off with a scream and Jesse follows behind. She laughs and I can’t help but laugh with them. I haven’t seen mom this happy in ages, and to think it’s because a delinquent teenager is chasing her with a can of whipped cream.

  We hurry after them, desperate to save my mother from Jesse’s torturous game, but let’s face it, this game won’t be over until my mother is covered from head to toe.

  Ten minutes later, we stand around the pool, looking at the cold water below. Nate holds my hand beside me. “We just have to do it.”

  “Or we could all get naked and get in the shower,” Jesse suggests.

  “For the last time,” Brooke says. “I’m not getting naked with you.”

  “Yeah,” Nate grunts. “I see your dick flopping around enough as it is. I don’t need to see it more than I already do.”

  “Thanks,” mom grunts on my other side with a horrified cringe. “I could have done without that mental image.”

  “No problem,” Nate laughs.

  “Alright,” she says. “On three. One. Two. Three.”

  I take a deep breath and launch myself off the edge. I crash into the freezing December water as the cream is washed off my skin and clothes. I push up and break the surface before taking a needed breath. “Holy shit,” I gasp as the cold water rocks right through to my core. “That’s freezing.”

  Laughter taunts me and I turn around to find mom still up on the edge of the pool, looking down at all us suckers, shivering in the water below. “You guys are such idiots,” she says before turning away. “I’m taking a hot shower.”

  Half an hour later, we all sit in the den. Brooke and I wear a pajamas while Nate and Jesse sit wrapped in bright pink Snuggie blankets mom had seen and ordered off an infomercial last year.

  We sit back and Nate explains to mom why they are here and she looks at us, realizing that we know that she knows what the big secret is. “I’m sorry,” she says after a moment of consideration. “It’s not my place to say. You need to talk to your parents.”

  “I figured that much,” Nate says.

  “I’m assuming you boys are staying here for the night?” she questions. Nate and Jesse both nod their heads and mom pushes herself up off the couch. “Alright. I’ll call Trish. I’m sure she’s worried,” she says. “But you guys are on dinner duty.”

  With that, she walks out of the den and I fall back into the comfort of Nate’s Snuggie. “You know she going to make us sleep in different rooms,” I tell him.

  “Yeah,” he sighs. “That won’t be happening.”

  Chapter 19

  I sit in the cafeteria, glaring at Phoenix from across the room as Elle sits quietly beside me, still a little unsure about speaking up amongst my group of friends, though, she shouldn’t be. They’ve pretty much accepted her straight into our group after she had my back and warned me about Phoenix.

  The girls chat to themselves and I completely zone out, way too tired to function after Nate kept me up all night. The boys have been gone since this morning on their mission to ransack their home, looking for information on their dad while trying to figure out his nasty little secret. They should be back soon, but knowing them, it’s a very real possibility that they’re just going to skip the rest of the day.

  I tap my fingernails on the table, desperate to know if they know anything, though, it’s not like it’s any of my business, but the pitying way mom looked at them last night tells me it’s bad. Hell, all night I was fighting the need to go and beg mom for some answers, but I know better. She’s a loyal friend to Trish. Always has been, always will be. She wouldn’t crack, not even if her life depended on it.

  The cafeteria doors swing open and just like I have every other time, my eyes swivel towards it. My hopes plummet once again as a junior walks through the door. I let out a sigh of frustration. All this parent bullshit is too much.

  As I turn back to my friends, I catch a pair of eyes across the room, staring back at me. Jackson grins and winks, sending a shiver down my spine and making my skin curl as it reminds me of what he said to me yesterday. I mean, he’s seriously confused if he thinks I’m going to give him the time of day. I tear my eyes off him, absolutely hating the guy and focus every bit of my being on the girls’ materialistic conversation.

  The door swings open again, and finally, my boys walk through, looking just as perplexed as they did when they left. That couldn’t be good. Nate’s eyes lock on mine and he crosses the cafeteria towards my table as Jesse breaks off to sit with the boys. I resist getting up and running toward him and do my best to wait patiently.

  He drops down beside me and leans forward on his elbows. “Anything?” I question, with hope.

  He shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says. “I mean, I found out some things about my father that I could probably do without ever knowing, but nothing big enough to have caused this much drama.”

  “Damn,” I sigh as I lean against him and rest my head against his shoulder. “What kind of things?”

  He scoffs as he wraps an arm around me. “Things that I’m not prepared to tell you.”

  “Things like a membership to an exclusive Russian sex website?” I murmur quietly beside him.

  Nate’s eyes widen as he turns to me. “How’d you know that?” he demands.

  I grin as I look up at him. “I guess our dads are more alike than we thought.”

  “Shit,” he grunts. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I scoff. “
How’d you think I ended up with an R8?” Understanding flashes in his eyes. “Speaking of cars,” I continue. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do with yours?”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “Not really,” he says. “I was thinking of getting a ‘sensible’ car, for the time being, you know, to keep mom happy, but I don’t know what I’ll do with the Camaro.”

  “You don’t want to try and rebuild it?” I question.

  He shakes his head. “Nah, I think it’s too far gone,” he says before a sparkle hits his eyes, making my stomach clench with how badly I love him. “I might have to start a new project.”

  “What kind of project?” I ask as a smile lifts the corners of my lips.

  He grins down at me as his eyes light up in excitement. “Mustang GT.”

  “Oh, geez,” I laugh. “You’re going to do it matte black, right?”

  “Is there any other way?”

  I grin up at him as the end of lunch bell rings. “Will I see you this afternoon?” he asks as he pulls me to my feet.

  “I’m not sure,” I tell him. “The girls want to go to Carter’s Coffee House and it’s been way too long since I’ve had a caramel latte.”

  “Ok,” he laughs as he gives me a gentle kiss, making my stomach rise with butterflies. “I’ll call you.”

  With that, he turns and walks away and I watch as a freshman bumps into him before looking up, going ghostly white, and trying his hardest to scramble out of Nate’s way. He walks out the door with his usual bad boy swagger and the girls and I follow behind with my eyes fixed permanently to his perfect ass.

  ----------

  I sit in Carter’s Coffee House welcoming the heavenly aroma of the little shop. I mean, it smells like life in here. It’s incredible. I listen to the way our little overachiever, Bec, talks mindlessly about her early admissions she sent to both Harvard and Yale and roll my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy for her, but this is also the millionth time we’ve heard about it in the past few weeks. She’s a mix of excited and nervous and when that happens, she has a hard time zipping her lips.