“Either way, you’ll be moving away,” Court says.
Brylee gives her a sad smile and looks away. “Yeah,” she says softly. “But not yet. There’s still ages before that.”
“I guess,” Court says as her eyes begin to well with tears. “I, um… forgot something.” With that, she turns and starts heading back down the hallway with Brylee hurrying after her.
Puck looks up as Courtney walks by him and does a double take. “Shit,” he grunts before jogging after her. “Babe,” he calls. “Wait up.”
Nate looks back at me as they disappear together and raises a questioning eyebrow. I silently shake my head, letting him know everything is fine before turning back to Brooke. “You’re not about to burst into tears too, are you?”
“No,” she chuckles.
“Good, because today is supposed to be a good day.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
“Well, stop thinking about Max and it will be.”
She rolls her eyes and presses the home button on her phone to check the time. “Come on,” she says, looping her arms through mine. “We have just enough time to get a coffee.”
“I can get on board with that,” I smile, allowing her to drag me along.
We walk down to the cafeteria and it’s strange seeing it so deserted. We hardly ever come in here before school starts, but when you need a caffeine hit, you need a caffeine hit. We get ourselves a coffee and chat about college on our way back.
“Here,” Brooke says, pulling me up the junior hallway. “We’ll cut through here.”
I nod along and she tells me all about the virtual tour she took of the college campus she’s hoping to get in to, even though she’s told me this over a hundred times. It’s always been her dream to become a vet and I can guarantee she’s going to do everything in her power to make it happen. Actually, she won’t just make it happen, she’ll keep going until she’s the best. She’s a determined little firecracker.
I guess today is universal ‘talk about college’ day.
I’m busy studying the ground as we walk when Brooke yanks hard on my arm, bringing me to an immediate stop. “Hey, what gives?” I complain as I try not to spill my drink everywhere.
I look up to find her gawking at the sight before her. I can’t help but follow her gaze and the second I do, my blood runs cold. “That fucking prick,” I grunt as I take in Maxen leaning into a locker, flirting with some girl.
“I should have known,” she scoffs under her breath as the tears instantly spring to her eyes.
Her arm drops from around mine as her whole bubbly nature completely deflates. “Go,” I tell her. “You don’t want him to see you crying. He doesn’t deserve that. I’ll deal with this.”
She nods her head and turns on her heel, hopefully, to go the long way around while I storm forward. “Hey,” I call out as I get closer.
I watch as his eyes widen at the sound of my voice. His head whips in my direction and he instantly jumps on the defense like any other guilt-ridden asshole would do. His hands fly up in innocence as his head starts shaking. “I… I.”
I’ve heard enough.
I grab him by the shoulders and ram my knee up into his junk. “She deserves so much better than you,” I seethe as he doubles over.
I continue on as I hear his grunts echoing up the hallway behind me while students either cheer or gasp at what’s just happened, though not one person dares ask me for an explanation. I clench my jaw as the desperate need to go back and really let him have it sails through me. I mean, a knee to the junk is hardly enough. That douchebag needs to suffer. He needs to be torn to shreds the same way he’s been doing to my best friend.
How dare he mess around on her like that?
The fury pulsing through me has my hands shaking and I do my best to try and relieve it as I push my way back out of the junior hallway.
I round the corner and face down the senior one to find Nate still talking with Tyson and Jesse while girls flaunt themselves around them, though all three boys studiously ignore them. If I weren’t so pissed off, I’d probably even laugh about it. Instead, I storm down the hallway and shoulder check the girl trying to hang off my man’s arm as I continue on to Brooke, who’s furiously trying to grab her things out of her locker.
“What the fuck?” Nate grunts under his breath as he follows behind me.
I get to Brooke and distantly realize my coffee is no longer in my hands, but there are more important things to worry about. “Are you ok?” I ask, studying her face.
“I’m fine,” she grunts out as she briefly looks at me and then at Nate over my shoulder. Her attention flies straight back to her locker and I realize she’s getting ready to bolt out of here.
“Brooke?” I say.
“Don’t,” she snaps. “I just want to be alone.”
“Are you sure? I’ll come with you.”
“No,” she demands, flinging her handbag over her shoulder and slamming her locker. “Just… I want to be alone.”
Disappointment flutters through me. “K,” I mumble, pressing my lips together.
“I’ll, um… I’ll call you later.”
“Alright. Let me know if you want me to come and I’ll be there in the blink of an eye.”
“Sure,” she says, pursing her lips. “I’ll see you later, k.” With that, she turns and heads for the door.
“Fuck,” I grunt, slamming my fists into the locker. “I’m going to kill him.”
I take off up the hallway, desperate to do some damage. I mean, today was supposed to be a great day. It started incredible, right up until Courtney realized that Brylee’s acceptance to Yale meant she was going to move away. Since that moment, this whole day has gone to shit.
Nate catches me by the arm and pulls me back to him. “Whoa,” he says. “What the hell is going on? What’s wrong with Brooke?”
“We just caught Max in the junior hallway all over some skanky whore.”
His eyebrows pull down. “Are you sure?” He questions, not wanting to believe that his cousin has it in him to mess up on the girl he insists he’s in love with, the same way his dad had done to his mom for nearly two decades.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I snap as the anger continues pulsing through me.
“Hey,” he soothes, pulling me into him and holding me tight. “Calm down. You’re not about to go apeshit on his ass. I’ll deal with him.”
“No,” I growl. “She’s my friend.”
“I don’t give a shit whose friend she is. He’s my cousin and you’re not about to get another suspension for fighting. That’s my thing. You have a future to think about.”
“And you don’t?”
“Tora,” he says, sternly. “Leave it. I’ll deal with it outside of school. For now, you need to calm down.”
I look away. “What if I kind of already hurt him?”
His eyes narrow on me as he tries to work me out. “What did you do?” he questions.
I let out a long breath. “I kneed him in the balls.”
“Shit, babe,” he groans trying to hold back a grin. “Is it wrong that turns me on?”
The bells rings as I roll my eyes. “You’re like a walking hard-on,” I tell him as I cross the hallway and grab my book out of my locker before making sure my phone is safely tucked away in my pocket.
I turn back to Nate. “I assume you’re going to go fuck around for ten minutes just to piss off Mr. Miller?”
A smirk cuts across his lips as he leans down as presses a soft kiss to my lips. “I’ll see you later.”
I melt into my locker as I watch him walk up the hallway. He looks back over his shoulder and sends me a wink that has me wanting to strip him bare and bite his sweet ass.
As the hallway starts clearing out around me, I realize I’ve been daydreaming about Nate for a little too long and get a move on.
I push through the door of my first class for Monday morning and collapse down into my chair. It’s lonely here without Brooke, but I�
�ll have Nate here soon. As I wait for the class to fill, I pull out my phone and send her a quick text.
Tora – Remember I love you. I’ll come over this afternoon and we can drown our sorrows in ice cream and chocolate.
Brooke – You have no sorrows to drown.
Tora – I’ve turned into Jesse’s BFF. I have plenty of sorrows.
Tora - I kneed Max in the balls btw.
Brooke – Good. When I see him, I’m going to knee him into next year.
“Tora,” Mr. Miller’s voice calls out. “Put the phone away or it will be mine.”
Tora – Shit. Got to go.
I slide my phone back into my pocket and settle in for the lesson. “Alright guys, your break is over. This is the second half of your senior year and it’s time to get serious,” Miller says. “Open your books to page 89 and we’ll get started.”
I start flicking through my textbook when the door of Miller’s classroom opens wide. I look up and see Nate strolling through with a knowing grin on his handsome face. I can’t help but shake my head at his performance which always manages to push Miller’s buttons in just the right way.
Mr. Miller looks up and groans to himself. “Fuck me,” he says under his breath before addressing Nate with a sigh of resignation. “Sit your ass down, Nathaniel. Page 89.”
Nate salutes him and walks by my desk. His eyes lock on mine as he places a brand new coffee down on the corner of my desk, replacing the one he realized I never returned with before. ‘thank you,’ I mouth.
He bends down and kisses me, gaining even more of Mr. Miller’s annoyance and cuts behind my chair. I expect him to take the seat behind me as he’s done since the start of senior year, except, without Brooke here, he takes the seat beside me and rests his arm across the back of my chair.
Nate turns back at Mr. Miller and nods. “Right, I’m ready.”
Chapter 8
Tora – Be ready in ten minutes. We’re picking you up whether you like it or not.
Brooke – No! Go away!
Tora – Tough shit. It’s Friday night. You’re not moping in your room all night. I’m taking you out and were having a good night. NOW GET YOUR SORRY ASS DRESSED!!!!!!
Tora – Love you.
Brooke – Fuck you! You’re a dirty swap turd!
Tora – Nasty frog fucker!
I let out a relieved sigh. Job well done. Brooke and Max officially broke up on Monday afternoon and she’s spent the last five days living in her own filth, refusing to leave her room, and drowning herself in her own bubble of depression.
I mean, no matter how hard Nate clocked Max in the jaw, it will never take away the sting he left on Brooke’s heart. He completely shattered her through and through. She had fallen hard for him and he proved us all right; he’s a no good, sleazy player.
I warned her at the beginning that he wasn’t a good guy. He’s like an older version of Jesse but then he asked her out and they were amazing together. Now, it’s all blown up in her face. She wasn’t expecting it. In fact, none of us were. He made me trust him with her and I’ll never forgive myself for that.
She deserves a guy that will give her the world, not one that will leave her alone on New Year's Eve. It came out on Wednesday that he was actually with some girl that night, just as he’s been the whole way through their relationship. He played Brooke like a puppet. But what really makes me sick about that night is that we were sitting in the grass near the back of the property and apparently Max was in the bushes behind us, screwing some chick from Haven Falls Private. He could probably hear me and Brooke talking.
“Is she coming?” Nate asks as he pulls up out the front of my house in Jesse’s Range Rover
“Yep,” I tell him, walking around to the passenger’s side and opening the door.
Jesse looks back at me as though I’ve grown a second head. “You’re kidding right?” he grunts, refusing to give up his spot. I mean, he’s already lost the keys, now he’s about to lose the front seat entirely.
“Dead serious,” I tell him.
He shakes his head. “I’m not sitting in the back of my own car.”
“Please?” I beg. “I’ll introduce you to this girl from my History class.”
He scrunches up his face. “What was her name?”
“Brittany,” I tell him. “I heard she’s double jointed and a dancer so she’s flexible.”
“And if I say no?”
Nate’s fist punches out and instantly gives Jesse a dead leg. “Then I’ll move you myself,” he warns his brother.
“Fine,” he groans. “But I want Brittany and all her friends,” he tells me as he jumps down from the front seat.
He stands before me and I reach up on my tippy toes to kiss his cheek. “You got yourself a deal.”
With that, he steps around me and climbs in the back as I haul myself up in the front and lean across to kiss Nate. “I’ve never heard of a Brittany,” Nate grunts as he hits the gas and drives back up my long driveway.
“I know,” I tell him before grinning back to Jesse in the back seat. “That’s because she doesn’t exist.”
“What?” he roars in outrage as he slowly shakes his head, completely devastated. “I knew it was too good to be true. A double-jointed dancer. Damn.”
A laugh comes bubbling up and I have no choice but to let it free. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“You owe me, big time. In fact, tonight you’re my wing woman. Everywhere I go, you go.”
“No way,” I shriek. “I’m good, but there’s no way I can keep up with you. Besides, I’ll be babysitting Brooke and making sure she doesn’t drunk dial Max.”
“You’re right. Brooke should be my wing woman.”
“What? No.”
Nate squeezes my hand. “It’s not actually a bad idea.”
“Are you nuts? He’ll destroy her.”
“No, he won’t,” Nate defends. “He’ll keep her mind off Max and make sure she has a good time. Jess is exactly what she needs.”
I turn around and set my fiercest glare on Jesse. “If you even have one sexual thought about her, I’m going to castrate you.”
Jess makes a cross against his heart as he grins back at me. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
I roll my eyes as we pull into Brooke’s driveway. “What are you, twelve?” I laugh.
I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Brooke, letting her know we’re here.
Tora – Get your skinny ass outside. Jesse is taking you hostage tonight!
Brooke – Shit. Coming.
We come to a stop outside her house and wait for the quickest moment. Her front door opens and she comes out in a little black dress that hugs her starved body just right, making me cringe because I know she hasn’t eaten all week. “Geez,” I murmur beside Nate. “We better stop and get her a burger.”
“Mmhmm,” he replies as Jesse puts down the window and wolf whistles.
“Fuck me,” Jesse says before Brooke gets close enough to hear. “I know I crossed my heart and hoped to die, but I’m getting up in that tonight.”
“What?” I shriek, spinning around in my chair to face him. “No, you’re not.”
“Sorry, babe. I’ve made up my mind.”
“Nate? I grunt, hoping he will be able to help me out here. “Isn’t there some kind of bro code?”
“Nope. Sorry. Max didn’t treat her well, so in our eyes, she’s open for the taking,” he laughs as Brooke opens the door and starts climbing in. “It’s out of my hands. Besides, you know how Jesse gets. If he wants something he won't stop until he’s got it. It’s in Brooke’s hands now.”
“What’s in my hands?” she questions, always hating when she’s being talked about.
“Dinner,” I tell her. “Your choice.”
“Oh, um. I’m not hungry.”
“Trust me,” Jesse says. “You’re going to need your energy for tonight.”
She narrows her eyes on him before turning
back to me. “What do you want to eat?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “Maybe a burger.”
“Fine,” she says. “A burger it is.”
With that settled, Nate gets busy driving us to Broken Hill’s famous drive-through diner which just happens to have the best burgers in the country, well, in my opinion, it does. Five minutes later, Nate throws me the bag of take out and I do my front seat passenger duty of handing out everyone’s dinner.
“Whose party are we going to?” Brooke asks as she unwraps her burger and looks at it as though it could kill her.
Jesse fills her in on the plans for the night as I look to Nate. “Is this what it was like when I wasn’t eating?” I ask quietly.
“Worse,” he grunts. “She’s only like this because she’s upset. You weren’t eating because your twisted mind was hurting you.”
I press my lips together and watch as she lifts the burger to her lips. “You made me better,” I remind him.
“Damn straight, I did,” he grins triumphantly.
I resist rolling my eyes. "I'm sorry I put you through all that," I tell him as I bring my soda to my lips.
He looks across at me as though I'm some misbehaved child in need of a stern talking to. "Just don't do it again."
I can't help myself as I draw a cross over my heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"You're trouble, Tora Roberts."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
With that, we drive the rest of the way mostly in silence. Mainly with me shoving the burger down my throat and Jesse working his charm on my best friend.
We pull up at the race track twenty minutes later and for once, Nate actually parks the Range Rover among the other cars. "You're going to make me walk?" I tease as he cuts the engine.
"I can't be an arrogant pig every time, can I?"
"It's never stopped you before," Jesse grunts before getting out and helping Brooke down in her heels.
Jesse walks off with her leaving Nate and I behind. I wait for him to lock the car before he pockets the keys and takes my hand in his. As we walk closer to the track and the crowded bodies, it occurs to me that this is the first time since Nate's accident that we've been here. "Are you ok?" I ask him, hating that it took me so long to realize that this could be hard for him.
Broken Hill Hurt: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 3) Page 7