I had no freaking choice.
Tully thought it was a great idea, you know, give me a chance to see the school and hopefully convince me that this scholarship is the right way to go. I mean, I don’t need much convincing. All their arguments are too good and all my excuses are complete shit.
Noah’s right, I’d be a fool not to give this my all. This could mean a future that I never thought possible for myself. I can just see it now, the first Haven Falls girl to make something of herself. Well, I guess that’s not fair. Many of the women from Haven Falls have been successful, but I doubt any of them have done it with a college degree.
The more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I feel that Tully should be giving the whole college thing a crack too. She could do a business degree which would give her all the tools to make her floristry business a raging success. She could take an online floristry course, learn a little about marketing and communications, maybe even a little bookkeeping course, and she’d be set.
Me, though? College? Wow.
Henley Meadow Bronx; Professor. Yeah, I freaking like it.
The more I think about it, the more I want it and that’s kind of scaring the shit out of me.
Damn it. I have to start thinking about something else before I send myself crazy. I loop my arm through Tully’s. “You need to distract me,” I tell her. “All this college bullshit is going to make me scream and it’s not going to be pretty.”
Tully scoffs. “You really think I’m capable of distracting you without bringing up Rivers or Rocko right now?”
“Good point,” I laugh. “What did the boys end up doing tonight?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “You’d have a better idea than I would. I haven’t heard from either of them since school. My guess is that Noah went looking for Rivers, and Rivers is hiding out somewhere to avoid explaining what the fuck that was all about.”
“Good point,” I say, pulling my phone out once again to find nothing from Noah. I haven’t spoken to him since we left school. He dropped me off at his place assuming Tully was there and went to go find Rivers, but that was hours ago.
If he found him and managed to get anything out of him, I’d dare say the two boys are covered head to toe in blood and bruises. If he hasn’t found him, Noah will be at home, punching holes in walls as his mind goes over all the possibilities of what would have made Tully say something like that.
Not freaking good.
Noah’s probably going through all kinds of hell right now and I’m here, about to watch some stupid football game. Great girlfriend I am.
Well, to be honest, I doubt we’ll be watching anything. We’ve been walking around this damn campus for twenty minutes and still haven’t found the stadium. Maybe neither of us are smart enough to go to college after all.
I hear the roar of the crowd. In fact, we’ve been hearing it since we got here. I assumed we’d park the car and follow the crowd, but we must have parked in the wrong place because there sure as hell isn’t a crowd to follow.
A call comes through on my phone and I glance down to find Kaylah’s name written across the screen. I answer almost instantly.
“Are you guys still coming?” she yells down the line, probably struggling to hear with the noise of the crowd behind her.
“Yeah,” I say, hoping I’m speaking loud enough for her. “We’ve been here a while. I think we’re lost.”
A chuckle comes out of her. “Really?” she questions with amusement deep in her voice.
“Yes,” I groan before looking around at where we are. “We’re on campus. Out front of the Macquarie Library.”
“Shit,” she laughs. “Why the hell are you there? You’re completely in the wrong place.” Kaylah gives us a few directions and I start pulling Tully in the opposite direction before ending the call with Kaylah.
After another ten minutes of walking, we finally find the stadium, and it is fucking huge.
How could we have missed this?
We head for the ticket booth and get ourselves sorted before making our way inside the huge stadium. My mouth drops open. This is freaking incredible.
Pride surges through me. This is all Jackson has ever talked about and he did it. He made it to the big leagues and I don’t doubt that by the end of college, he’ll be leaving with a contract to the NFL. He’s just that good.
Tully and I make our way up the massive grandstand, still following the directions Kaylah had given us. She’s saved some seats for us amongst her friends, wanting us to have the absolute best time of our lives.
I curse myself for still not being able to memorize all of Kaylah’s friends’ names. One day I’ll remember them. I mean, I’ve pretty much got Nate, Jesse, and Tora down, but the rest…they’re kind of a blur in my mind. Why is it that I only seem to meet them when I’ve been drinking?
“There you are,” Kaylah squeals as we make our way across the row, squeezing in front of the annoyed spectators who managed to make it on time and not get lost. “Hurry up. It’s just about to start.”
I drag Tully behind me and we find our seats just as the teams are rushing out onto the field amongst a bunch of the hottest cheerleaders I’ve ever seen. I mean, shit. The cheerleaders at Haven Falls are nothing like this. I’m used to plastic, bimbo bitches with bad attitudes, but these ones, they’re just…hot. They’re real. Who knows, they could be plastic and most likely are bitches, but they have an air of realness around them.
Maybe that’s just what happens when you graduate from high school. You suddenly have to grow the fuck up and leave all the bullshit high school drama behind. I can’t freaking wait for that.
I lean across Kaylah and say ‘hey’ to Jesse and one of his friends who I’m pretty sure is Tyson. Jackson’s girlfriend, Elle, is on the other side of Tyson and gives me and Tully a warm smile before I give up on saying ‘hi’ to the rest. Tora, Nate, and some other dude are too far down the line and I’d have to scream over the sound of the crowd to get their attention. Not worth it. I’ll catch them at half time.
As the game goes on, I can’t help but watch Jackson just like I always used to. Only this time it’s different. Instead of studying the way his body moves and how incredible he looks in his uniform, I’m watching just how good he is. He’s only new to the team and I’m sure there are a few others who want to remind him of that, but don’t be fooled, by the end of the season the whole world will know he’s a fucking star, just as Kaylah and I have always known.
Before I know it, we’ve been here for nearly two hours without even the slightest thought of Noah or Rivers. The buzzer sounds and Tully and I stand on our feet, cheering for Jackson’s team as they’ve absolutely dominated the game. They shake hands with the opposing team in a show of good sportsmanship before jumping around the fucking field like idiots.
We start making our way out of the row and I fall into easy conversation with the Broken Hill kids as we wait for Jackson to finish up with his team.
Twenty minutes later, Jackson shows his pretty face and Elle rushes up to him before throwing herself up into his arms. Jesse and Tyson groan about ‘saving it for later’ while the rest of us crowds around him to say congratulations.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing here?” Jackson beams, pulling me into a tight hug against his hard chest before ruffling my hair like a little sister.
“Ugh, get off me,” I say, scrunching up my face before pushing against his chest, not getting the same thrill from being in his arms that I used to. I straighten up my hair and look up at him as I answer his question. I indicate towards Tully. “We needed a distraction so Kaylah thought it’d be a good chance to come check out the campus and get our minds off…things.”
His eyes narrow. “What things? Noah didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No,” I scoff, practically laughing at the absurdity of Noah hurting me. “The furthest from it. The idiot is trying to convince me to apply for a scholarship here.”
Jackson’s brows practically
disappear into his hairline. “You? A scholarship? For what? The last I checked, you wouldn’t even know what an ‘A’ was,” he teases, completely forgetting about the fact that he was digging for information as to why we would need an escape from home. Though, it’s not like I’m about to tell him all about Tully and Rivers’ issues.
I playfully smack his arm but roll my eyes. Getting teased by Jackson Millington isn’t exactly a new thing for me. “Shut up.”
Kaylah butts in on our conversation with a teasing grin of her own. “She’s a science nerd, remember?”
Jackson studies me a moment before it all comes back to him. “That’s right,” he says, proudly. “You’re all into DNA and that shit.”
“Uh huh.”
“Shit,” he chuckles. “How could I have forgotten about that?”
Well, forgetting shit about people that you completely abandon for eight months tends to have that effect on a person, but I wouldn’t dare say that out loud. It’s still a bit of a sore point for us all.
I mean, I figured I was completely over it, but the fact that the thought just popped into my head suggests otherwise.
“Wait,” Jackson says, the grin suddenly disappearing from his face. “Why would Noah be trying to convince you to apply for a scholarship? Why the hell aren’t you jumping at the opportunity?” I glance away, forgetting that Jackson has been able to read me like a map for years. “Ahhhh, you’re shit scared.”
My eyes instantly zone back in on his. “I’m not fucking scared,” I shoot back at him.
He watches me with a “Prove it, chicken.”
I resist smacking him in the face.
My scowl is sharp enough to cut glass. How dare he call me a chicken? Out of all the people in my life, he’s one of the few who know me well enough to know I’m no fucking chicken.
We continue staring each other down. “What’s holding you back, Henley?” I keep my mouth shut. Like hell I’m about to admit my insecurities and fears in front of a bunch of people I hardly know. But once again, he reads me like a fucking map. He lowers his voice to keep our conversation a little more private. “You can’t let the fear of failure dictate your life, babe.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re terrified of getting your hopes up and then having some pretentious ass take it all away by saying that you’re not good enough. The kind of person who isn’t good enough is the kind of person not willing to give it a shot,” he says. “Do you really think I’d be here, winning fucking college games if I didn’t take a shot on myself and stayed on a losing team at Haven Falls? No fucking way. You don’t get what you want without working for it, Henley.”
“But…”
“No, don’t give me your fucking excuses. You’re applying for it whether or not you like it. If you get it, fucking awesome. If you don’t, search out your other options, but either way, you’re not going to fall into the Haven Falls stereotype. You’re going to be something, Henley. I can feel it.”
I roll my eyes. “Jesus,” I chuckle. “No need for the dramatics.”
“Yes, there is,” he tells me. “I can already see the fire growing in your eyes. You want to prove me wrong for calling you a chicken.”
“Challenge fucking accepted,” I laugh. “I ain’t no chicken.”
“Like I said,” he grins. “Prove it.”
And just like that, it looks like I’m going to need a brand new application form.
“Come on,” Jackson says, taking Elle’s hand and dropping his heavy arm over my shoulder. “Let me take you for a tour around campus. See if I can really change your mind.”
Tully loops her arm through mine and before I know it, we’re walking through campus, both of us in awe, realizing a future we never knew we wanted.
An hour later, we find ourselves at Tora’s place attending our first college party on a Thursday night of all nights. I mean, who the hell parties on a Thursday night?
The party flies by while Tully and I have the time of our lives. If Jackson’s lecture and the campus tour wasn’t enough to convince me that I should be applying for that scholarship, then this party certainly is.
Chapter 10
After drinking way too much to drive ourselves home, Jackson’s over the top, brotherly protectiveness comes shooting out as he ushers us out of Tora’s place and to his car. He even grabs Kaylah and hauls her out too, saying it’s way too late for her to be staying much longer on a school night. I mean, come on!
Jesse has a few choice words to say about Jackson’s protective tendencies, but he puts up a good fight and before we know it, even Jesse is walking out the door and heading for his Range Rover, offering to take Kaylah so Jackson doesn’t have to make too many stops.
I don’t know how Jackson does it. He must be some kind of kickass manipulator. I’m pretty sure he even had Jesse thinking it was his decision to head home, and believe me, I have a feeling Jesse has never left a party at this hour in his life. He’s generally the guy who’s still partying while people are waking up around him and getting the place cleaned up before their parents get home. I can only imagine what people must go through when it’s time to tell a guy like Jesse Ryder to go home.
Tully and I drop down into Jackson’s black Charger and I smile at all the fond memories I’ve had in this car. Jackson taught me how to drive a stick shift in this thing. Now, they are some memories that I should probably try to forget. Learning to drive wasn’t exactly the easiest thing. Dad was gone most of the time and so I basically taught myself in the old pick up truck. Believe me, it wasn’t pretty.
When Jackson realized what a shitty job I was doing, he stepped in and taught me. Having such a nasty crush on him at the time, I didn’t get much concentrating done, add that to the fact that I was teaching myself to drive in an ancient truck, and I nearly sent us hurtling onto the boardwalk and into the ocean. Trust me when I say there’s a huge difference between driving a car like Jackson’s and driving something older than my dad.
Jackson didn’t let me drive much after that.
Noah’s Camaro though, that’s as easy as riding Noah himself. You just got to show it who’s boss and it will come alive beneath you, letting you feel its deep rumble and smooth, harder edges. Pure perfection.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Jackson questions, pulling me out of my thoughts as he drives towards Haven Falls.
I blink a few times, hardly remembering where the hell I am. I quickly glance back at Tully and find her laying across the backseat, using Jackson’s old high school letterman jacket as a pillow, making a fond smile pull at my lips. “Nothing,” I say, turning back to the front to give her a little privacy as she drools all over the jacket and grumbles in her sleep.
“Bullshit,” Jackson chuckles to himself before quickly glancing across at me. “I’ve known you forever, Henley. You were having dirty thoughts and you can’t fucking deny it.”
“What?” I gasp, sucking in a breath and gawking at him. I mean, a few dirty thoughts kind of surfaced in my mind, but this guy doesn’t need to know about them and he sure as hell doesn’t need to know that the second I walk through the door of Noah’s bedroom, it will be locking behind me and not opening until I’ve had my fill of him. “I was not having dirty thoughts.”
Jackson raises a brow, once again challenging me and I try to think back to what was going through my mind before it was assaulted with all things Noah. It finally comes back to me - his stupid car and the stupid boardwalk. “I was just remembering when you taught me how to drive stick shift in this thing,” I tell him, relieved that it’s a topic that should distract him from the last one.
“Oh, yeah. You fucking sucked,” he laughs. “Are you still a shit driver? I bet you are.”
“Excuse you,” I say. “I’ll have you know that I am fucking awesome. I could whip your ass any day on the track.”
"Right,” he grins.
“Rumor has it that it’s not that hard to beat you anyway.” I start countin
g my fingers. “How many times has Nate beaten you now? Shit, I don’t have enough hands to work that one out.”
His head whips my way as he narrows his eyes on mine. “Take that back.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Sorry, I just can’t," I say as a thought hits me. "Have you ever raced Noah?”
Jackson sinks back into his chair as he falls into deep thought. “I don’t think I have,” he tells me. “But I sure as hell can beat his ass.”
“Right,” I say, mimicking his earlier tone.
We fall into easy conversation the rest of the way back to Noah’s place and I can’t help but feel comfortable with how easy it comes. It’s almost as though I truly have my old friend back. I’ve missed this and it’s so much better because the swirling thoughts in my head are completely gone. Well, that’s not entirely true, there are still swirling thoughts in my head, but they’re just not about him. Not anymore and never will be again.
Noah has completely consumed me. Never in my wildest dream would I think that I was lucky enough to find a guy like Noah, and I certainly never thought that he’d fall in love with me and completely sweep me off my feet. I must be living in some kind of alternate universe because shit like that just doesn’t happen, but I’ll be damned if I don’t hold onto it as tight as I can. Surely, time is going to run out on me soon and I want to have made the most of it when that time comes.
I really hope that time never comes. I’m having way too much fun. Being Noah’s girl, shit. Noah’s girl. I still can’t get used to that. Being his girl is an absolute dream come true. He’s wormed his way under my hard exterior and is taking away the darkness within.
I always assumed that being in love with someone made you soft and reliant, but I was so damn wrong. He lifts me up. He continues to let me be independent. In fact, he soars seeing me taking care of myself, but no matter what, he’ll be close by in case I need him. He’ll never let me fall, but he’ll sure as hell let me learn from my mistakes just as I do for him.
Untameable: Haven Falls (Book 3) Page 9