He shrugs his shoulders. “No big deal. You wanted to race. Why should he get to stop you?” I give him a small smile and he keeps going. “Where have you been all week? Haven’t seen you at school.”
“Sick,” I grunt.
“Right,” he says, not believing me for one second. “From what I just saw down on the track, I’m going to go ahead and say that’s a load of shit.”
I press my lips together and look up at him. “What do you want, Jackson?”
He watches me for a moment. “Let me drive you home.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going home and in case you didn’t notice, I have a car here already.”
“First off,” he says, indicating down towards the finish line where I see Nate drop down into my car. “I believe your boyfriend is confiscating your car, and as for the party; Crystal Summers?” I don’t respond but I don’t have to. It’s pretty damn clear I’m looking to let off a little steam. “Come on,” he says. “Let me drive you there. You can let Nate sweat a little.”
I let out a sigh and study him for a moment. I don’t know why and I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but one minute I’m looking up at Jackson Millington, the guy who has caused so many problems over the last few months, the next, I’m letting him lead me away.
I guess I really am being reckless.
Chapter 16
Jackson leads me towards a black Charger that has a group of guys from Haven Falls leaning up against it. Each and every one of them look me up and down as though I’m about to open my legs for them and put on a show.
My heart rate starts to pick up again as I take in the four big guys before me. What the hell have I gotten myself into now? We’re far away from the rest of the crowd so I doubt anyone would hear me if I screamed. I just had to be a reckless idiot and follow Jackson Millington. I should have known better.
It hits me that this is the Charger that pulled into the gas station the other day and started a fight with Nate and Jesse. There’s no doubt these guys would remember me. After all, I got myself involved and probably gouged some claw marks in a few of their arms.
One of the guys pushes up off the Charger and looks at me with a dirty leer. He licks his lips and looks me up and down. “Who do we have here?”
“Fuck off, Rocko,” Jackson says. “She’s mine.”
I go to correct him but the look he shoots me tells me to keep my mouth shut.
Rocko puts two hands up and steps back. “Hear ya, loud and clear.”
“Piss off then,” Jackson tells them all. “I’m out of here.”
The group of guys push themselves away from the Charger and Jackson walks forward, pulling me along with him. He leads me to the passenger’s side, opens the door and helps me in before heading around to the other side.
Not once do the eyes of the four guys leave me.
Jackson starts up the car and takes off down the dirt road. “Um… care to explain what the hell that was about?”
“What do you mean?”
“’She’s mine’,” I say, mimicking his deep voice.
“Had no choice,” he grunts. “He would have kept trying if he thought otherwise, and I have a feeling Rocko isn’t the kind of guy you’d be letting in your pants.”
“Got that right,” I grumble.
“Though,” he continues. “The kind of guys you would allow is kinda questionable.”
“Excuse me?” I grunt.
“You’ve been sleeping with Nate Ryder. He’s not exactly known as a good little boy.”
I can’t help the scoff that comes flying out of my mouth. “And you think you’re any better?”
“Hey,” he says in defense. “I was just pointing out a fact.”
I ignore his comment and look around the Charger. “Whose car is this?” I question.
“Mine,” he says, looking across at me. “My last one got a new look that I’m not too fond of.”
My lips lift into a proud grin. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shakes his head but continues on. “My old man wasn’t too impressed with what happened and refused to buy me a new one until he realized he’d have to drive my ass around everywhere.”
I look over at him. “You never ratted out Nate.”
“Why would I?” he tells me. “It would have only caused more problems. My parents would have been all over me anytime I wanted to go out, and besides, he was right; an eye for an eye.”
I nod my head before leaning it back against the headrest. “You know, he worked his ass off on that car.”
“Figured,” he says. “A guy like Nate doesn’t go around showing off a car like that if he wasn’t proud of it.” He lets out a breath. “Would you believe me if I said I never intended for that to happen?”
“No,” I scoff, not needing even a second to think about it.
“It’s true,” he tells me. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to scratch the shit out of it, but I never intended for him to spin out. It’s the only time I’ve ever felt like a real asshole.”
“Really?” I scoff again. “I find that hard to believe.”
I find myself hearing his words over and over again in my head. I don’t know why, but something is pulling deep within me, telling me to believe him. I mean, who would intentionally go out to get another person involved in a major car wreck? But scratching the shit out of his car? Now, that I can believe.
He rolls his eyes and gives me a sideways glance before focusing back on the road.
“Why are you doing this?” I question, studying him with a deep curiosity.
He looks over at me again, only this time, his usual confidence is gone, replaced with a vulnerable confusion. “What do you mean? Driving you to this party?”
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. You’re being nice.”
“I’ve told you a million times before, I’m not a bad guy.”
“You just do bad things?”
“Yeah,” he laughs. “Something like that.”
Again, I find myself wanting to believe him. I mean, he hasn’t tried to lay a single finger on me. He hasn’t hit on me. He hasn’t even looked at me funny. Maybe he’s right. Maybe he is an alright guy and I’ve just been going on Nate’s idea of who he is, but then, I’ve always known Nate to be an excellent judge of character.
He glances at me quickly before looking back out the windscreen. “I don’t mean to pry.” Then don’t. “But I heard you and Nate broke up this week.”
“Really?” I question as my phone starts blowing up in my pocket. I pull it out to see Nate’s name flashing on the caller ID. I hit ignore and drop the phone into my lap.
“Well, at least, that’s what the rumor mill is telling me.”
“Is that why you’re suddenly swooping in to save the damsel in distress?” I question. “Because I’m not interested in getting in bed with you.”
“Look, as much as I’d love to get you between the sheets. This isn’t what this is about. I’m just being a decent guy. Besides, after what happened down on the track. It looked like Nate was ready to tear you apart, and not in a good way.”
“So, you thought you’d come in and save me?”
“Hey, I never said I wasn’t going to take any chance I could get to piss the bastard off and believe me, this one will work wonders.”
I roll my eyes. I’ve never heard such truer words. “He just doesn’t like me being in unnecessary danger,” I explain.
“No shit,” Jackson grunts. “What boyfriend wouldn’t? I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but then, I like a ballsy chick and seeing you race was fucking hot.”
I focus out the windscreen, hoping my face hasn’t turned bright red with his last comments. We grow closer to Crystal’s place when my phone starts going off again. I look down and hit ignore. Not a moment later, I get a text.
Nate – WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?
Delete. Not my fucking problem.
Another comes in.
Nate – TORA? ANSWER YOU
R DAMN PHONE.
“It looks like someone is looking for you,” Jackson murmurs as he pulls into Crystal’s street and starts searching for somewhere to park.
“He can get fucked,” I grumble under my breath.
“Whoa,” Jackson laughs. “Calm down, cowgirl. That’s a bit harsh. What did he do to deserve that? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Worse,” I sigh. I mean, what Nate did to me was devastating. Made me fall in love with him and waited until he had me in the palm of my hands, only to rip it away. I mean, maybe it would have been better if he cheated on me. That way I’d have something to be pissed off about, and it sure as hell would have made moving on a lot easier. But this whole ‘leaving me to protect me’ bullshit is ridiculous. I can’t even hate him for that. How the hell am I supposed to stop loving him when I know he loves me just as much?
Jackson lets the conversation go as he kills the engine though I don’t know if he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to get me started on something that is clearly a touchy subject, or if he’s not asking out of sheer respect. After all, it’s none of his goddamn business. But then, maybe he’s not asking because he generally just doesn’t give a fuck. Yeah, I’ll go with door number three.
We climb out of his Charger and he walks up the long driveway with me. “Thanks,” I tell him. “You know, for saving me back there.”
“No problem,” he says. “I’ll let you know when it’s time to repay the favor.”
“What?” I grunt with wide eyes.
He bursts out laughing. “I’m joking. Chill out.”
“What the hell is this?” a pissed of voice cuts into our conversation. I look up to find Jesse standing out the front of Crystal’s party, looking between me and Jackson as though I’ve just committed the worst betrayal, but then, to him, I guess I have. He looks to me. “Where have you been? And what the hell do you think you’re wearing?”
“What’s your problem?” I snap at him, secretly loving that he hates my outfit as I know if he hates it, Nate hates it so much more. “I was at the races. Now I’m here.”
Jesse looks back at Jackson. “What are you still doing here? Fuck off.”
“Jesse,” I scold. “Don’t talk to him like that, he just gave me a ride.”
“You should have called me if you needed a ride.”
Jackson backs away, shaking his head with disinterest. “Yeah… I’m out. See you later, Tora.”
“Oh, hey,” I call after him. “I never apologize for the whole ‘jumping on your back at the gas station’ thing.”
“Ha, no problem,” he laughs before winking. “I kinda liked it.”
I shake my head as he turns and walks away. I look back at Jesse to see him scowling. “Stop it,” I demand. “The guy was just being nice. I was stuck and he helped me out.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I never asked you to.”
He lets out a heavy huff before pulling his phone out, hitting a few buttons, and holding it to his ear. “I got her,” he says, clearly to Nate. “She’s at Crystal’s party. She’s fine. Pissed off, but fine.” He hangs up a second later before looking down on me. “You’re going to want a few drinks in you before he gets here. That fucker is not happy with you.”
“Good,” I grunt. “Because I have a few things to say to him.”
“Fuck me,” Jesse groans. “Why the hell did I insist on coming out tonight?”
He drags me inside and the first thing he does is fill me a drink right to the brim. As I take my first sip, Brooke appears beside me. “So, you’re still alive? How the hell did that happen?”
“Brooke,” I grunt as she holds her hand up, cutting me off.
“You know what,” she says with narrowed eyes. “I don’t want to hear it.” With that, she turns and walks away. I let out a sigh. I hate when she’s pissed off with me, but she always comes around. But then, on the other hand, I’m pleased to see she made it out of the races unscathed as well. So, points for that, I guess.
Jesse goes to walk away from the table and I reach out and take the whole bottle of Vodka. “I think I’ll be needing this,” I tell him.
He grunts out his approval and grabs a bottle a bourbon for himself. He leads me outside where Jesse sticks to his promise of helping me forget. We stay shot for shot yet no matter how many I throw down, I can’t forget. I’ll never forget. If anything, all this is making me do is talk about it more, but luckily for me, Jess is more than happy to listen. Hell, he even agrees. Nate never should have broken up with me. He should have fought.
I don’t know how long we’ve been sitting here when one hell of an angry Nate comes storming through the back door before beelining straight to us. Jesse flies up to his feet and I don’t miss the way he wobbles as his body reminds him of just how much he has drunk tonight. “What do you want?” he slurs to his brother.
Nate ignores him and aims his heavy glare on me. “What the fuck was that?” he demands. “Were you trying to kill yourself?”
I don’t respond. After all, I don’t owe him any answers. Not anymore.
“Hey,” Jesse yells, punching his shoulder to push him a step away from me. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”
Nate turns his glare on Jesse and just like that, we have the attention of every last person here, but somehow, these two dickheads don’t seem to notice. “You don’t know what she did,” he yells back at him before turning to me. “How’d you get here?”
“That’s none of your damn business,” I tell him. “You lost the right to know anything about me.”
“Bullshit,” he growls.
Jesse gets in his face. “What’s your fucking problem?” he demands. “You’re the one who left her. You fucking hurt her, man.”
Nate’s eyes flick to mine before going straight back to his brother. “We’re not doing this now,” he says with a low warning.
“You hurt her,” he repeats. “And you didn’t even fucking tell me.”
Nate steps into his brother. “You don’t think I know how much I hurt her?” he demands with his eyes flicking to me. “I feel sick to my stomach. Every fucking day. She’s everything to me and I had no choice. Do you think that was easy?”
I push myself between them and look up at the man I’m so desperately in love with. “You did have a choice,” I tell him with tears in my eyes. “You could have fought for us, but you didn’t do anything. You just gave up. You let me down.”
His eyes close and his arms rush out to pull me in. My face squishes against his chest and for the first time in a week, I feel like I’m finally home. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs for only us to hear as his lips graze my forehead. “I fucking love you, Tora, but I swear to you, I had no choice.”
I shake my head as the tears in my eyes threaten to spill over. “You could have fought,” I tell him again before bringing my hands up between us and pressing against his strong chest. I pull out of his arms. I can’t be here in the safety of his arms any longer without doing my heart more harm.
My eyes remain locked on his as I step away from him and I see nothing, but an intense heartache staring back at me. It rips me apart and I want nothing more than to get the hell out of here.
I reach down for the bottle of Vodka and turn to leave. “Wait up,” Jess says a second later.
I turn back and watch as he reaches for his own bottle. “Hey,” Nate calls to Jess before stepping into him and discreetly taking his car keys from his pocket. “Walk her home.”
Jess doesn’t respond but I know he reads his brother loud and clear.
A second later, Jesse’s heavy arm is thrown over my shoulder as we walk out the side gate and into the middle of the road.
We walk for a long twenty minutes back to my place where we crash down into the grass of my front yard, both our bottles just about empty. “We can still be friends,” he tells me.
“What?” I grunt in confusion as my head begins to spin. I lay down and put my head in his lap before looking up a
t the stars. “We are friends.”
“We weren’t friends before you started doing the hokey pokey with Nate,” he reminds me, making me giggle as the tune of the silly song instantly gets stuck in my head. “Break ups mean I’m not supposed to be friends with you.”
“Yes, we were,” I tell him as he lays back in the grass. “Nate was still a douche when we started talking again. We were friends first. Nate can’t claim ‘bro code’.”
“What about the actual ‘bro code’?” he says on a yawn.
“Huh?” I grunt as his yawn becomes contagious.
“He’s my brother. Brothers aren’t supposed to be friends with their brother’s ex’s.”
I go silent for a second. I don’t want to lose Jesse. I can’t. I don’t think I’d survive without both of them. “Screw Nate,” I tell him. “We can be secret friends.”
I feel his whole body relax beneath me as I solve the issues of the world. “Secret friends,” he repeats with a sigh, clearly relieved.
My eyes grow heavy as I realize that no matter what happens between me and Nate, I’ve got an unbreakable bond with Jesse. He’s right up there with Brooke. One of my closest friends. He’s always got my best interests at heart even though he generally has a twisted way of showing it. “I love you, Jess,” I tell him.
“Don’t start this bullshit,” he tells me. “I’m trying to think.”
“Think about what?”
“Kicking Nate’s ass into next year.”
“That sounds good,” I murmur.
Another yawn completely takes over him as my mind begins to fall into unconsciousness. “You never actually told me what you were doing at the races.”
Yeah. This seems like the perfect time to fall asleep.
Chapter 17
I wake to the sunlight streaming down on my face and snuggle back into Nate’s arms. Hmmm, this feels good. I’ve missed these arms. I smile to myself as I notice his hand cupping a feel and love how in-love he is with my body.
Wait… why would I have his arms around me? and sunlight? What the hell?
Broken Hill Hurt: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 3) Page 15