I shake my head and attempt to step around him, only he moves with me, blocking my path. “Now,” he tells me.
“Or what?” I challenge.
“I’ll make you.”
I narrow my eyes on his and know without a doubt he means it, so rather than put myself in this position again, I turn on my heel and stalk back to my car. I can sit around the corner and wait until he’s gone to come back.
I get to the door of my Audi and pull it open before his hands are at my waist, pulling me back. “Let me go, you prick,” I demand as he holds me at arm’s length and dives into my car. He goes to turn off the engine when he looks down and shakes his head. “For fuck’s sake,” he groans under his breath as he takes the car out of neutral and puts it in first before turning the keys and getting out.
In an instant, he grabs me again while bending, and before I know it, he has me thrown over his shoulder as he stalks back to his Camaro. “Put me down,” I say, banging my fists into his back.
He chuckles to himself as he waltzes into the garage, pulls open the passenger side door, and throws me in. I land in the seat with a huff and before I have a chance to right myself, the door is slammed shut and locked.
I watch in annoyance and he struts around the front of the car like King Shit before getting in. He sits beside me in silence and backs out of the driveway, expertly going around my car. How did I end up in this situation again? “Where the hell are you taking me?” I demand as I notice the packet of cigarettes sitting between us in the center console and roll my eyes.
He doesn’t respond, just sits there with a smirk across his devilishly handsome face.
My blood boils and the need to smack him is rising high within me. “What’s your problem, Nate?” I yell as I feel my face reddening in anger. “I’m not some pawn you can use in your twisted games. I have a life and I don’t need you constantly appearing in it and trying to make it a living hell,” I tell him. “I get it, ok. You don’t like me. You’ve made that crystal clear, but news flash, I don’t give a shit. Your childish tactics have no effect on me, so you can go right ahead and leave me the hell alone.”
Again, he doesn’t respond, just sits there with that stupid smirk, only now, the smirk is so much bigger.
I let out a frustrated groan before sitting back and accepting my fate.
He drives like an idiot through the streets and I find myself grabbing onto things to stop me from jostling around. He drives for twenty minutes before he pulls into an old property.
It’s pitch black out here and I sit a little taller as I study the dirt road before us. In the dark, all I can tell is that it’s long and probably leads to absolutely nowhere. He probably plans on killing me and dumping my body where it will never be found.
He drives for another few minutes and when he turns a corner, I see a haze of bright lights in the distance. I look over at him in confusion. Where the hell are we?
He doesn’t look at me, just keeps on going, so I focus on the lights.
As we draw nearer, things start to fall into place.
There are people everywhere. Loud music. Cars. Booze. I start to think it’s some exclusive party when I notice the drag racing track they all stand around. What the hell is Nate into?
Nate drives past the lines of cars and straight into the sea of people before him, all of whom part and cheer for him as though he's some sort of celebrity around here. "Are you really that arrogant you can't park your precious car alongside everyone else’s?" I question with as much attitude as I can possibly find within myself.
Again, the bastard doesn’t respond.
The smirk on his face should have been the big hint. I should have known he was up to something, but naturally, I'm left wondering, right up until he pulls up beside another car that's busily revving the shit out of its engine.
Nate looks over at the other driver and only then do I realize he has just set himself up to race. "No," I say with wide eyes as I dive for the door handle and pull against it. No way in hell is he about to drag race with me in the car.
The door is locked but that doesn't stop me from yanking on it a second and third time. "Let me out," I demand as the mischief in his eyes seem to increase. He reaches forward and turns the music right up, making me have to yell to be heard over it. "I'm more than happy for you to risk your life doing this stupid shit, but not mine. I won't die for this, Nate."
He keeps his eyes forward and I watch on in shock as a girl in the tiniest little skirt, high heels, and crop walks between the two cars and turns to face us with a scrap of fabric in her hand. She raises her hands above her head and the panic really sets in. I have to get out of here now before it’s too late. "Nate," I scream to the wall of muscle beside me as fear continues to rattle me. "I know you hear me, asshole. Let me out. You're going to kill me. Nate?"
I was not made for this shit. I read books. My homework is always done. I help my parents around the house. I was not made for drag racing.
The girl rips her hand down and Nate hits the gas. The momentum of the car jolting forward has me flying back into the seat with my breath rushing from my lungs. I hastily reach across myself and grab my seatbelt before trying my hardest to get it buckled as quickly as possible.
I grip onto anything I possibly can as I watch out the front windscreen with wide eyes. "I'm going to kill you," I shriek.
Nate hits the corner and turns the wheel with practiced ease, making the back of the car whip around so he can drift around the corner while I scream for it to end.
My throat hurts with my scream but I don’t get a chance to think about it as the next corner is coming.
I take a second to look over at Nate and take in how damn relaxed he is right now. I mean, how is that possible? The fucker is completely in the zone. He looks cool, calm, and collected. I swear, it's as though he's taking a Sunday drive to the grocery store rather than scaring the absolute shit out of me.
He shifts through the gears, knowing his car like the back of his hand, and I swear, I've never seen anything sexier. It only takes me a second to realize that he’s completely in control of his car. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is easily the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.
I rip my eyes off Nate and focus on the track before me. There’s a corner coming up a shit load faster than I ever thought possible. I find my hand being ripped off the ‘holy shit’ bar as I point out the windscreen. “Corner,” I scream in case the dickhead happened to miss it.
I hear his chuckle coming from beside me and have to resist launching myself at him and gouging his eyes out. That will have to wait as my life is currently in his hands.
This is not my idea of a good Friday night.
I see the other car to my right and find myself secretly wishing Nate would win. As the other car creeps closer, Nate pushes down on the gas and shoots us forward.
I clench my eyes.
I can’t watch.
I get rocked around in the seat and find my eyes tearing right back open. Having them closed makes it so much worse. After another thirty seconds of reminding myself how to breathe, the car comes to a screeching halt, ripping up the dirt track behind it and jolting me forward, making me reach out and stop my momentum on the dashboard.
As the car comes to a complete stop, I slap my hand across my chest as my heart threatens to break right through my ribcage. People come rushing towards the car from all around, but right now, all I can focus on is the rage building up within me.
Nate looks over at me, looking as proud as can be with that damn smirk still right in place. I narrow my eyes on him. “Let me out,” I say, letting him see just how damn serious I am right now.
Finally, he reaches across and flicks the button to unlock the doors and just to be a pain, my hand swipes out and steals his packet of cigarettes before I get my ass out of there. I weave through all the people trying to get a glimpse of their favorite bad boy and hoping he’s not coming after me when a whiny voice stops
me. “What do you think you’re doing?” I turn to the side and find Ashley glaring at me with her hands on her hips. “He’s not interested in you. He’s mine,” she tells me.
I scoff at her bad attitude and keep on walking. I am so not in the mood to deal with her right now. “Hey,” she calls after me, but I don’t have the patience for her and keep moving.
The rage still flares through me and I find myself heading for the dirt road that leads in here. I pull my phone out and find a few missed calls from Brooke before I hit her number.
I hold the phone up to my ear and wait patiently.
“Where the hell have you been?” she questions. “I want to go to Maxen’s party.”
I ignore her comments. “Can you come pick me up?” I question.
“Um… yeah. What do you think I was doing?”
“No,” I tell her. “I’m not at home. Nate struck again.”
“Oh, no,” she says. “Where are you?”
I give her the directions and she promises to get here as soon as possible. I get myself as far away from the crowd and lights before finding a big ass rock to sit down on while I work on pulling apart every damn cigarette in the box before shoving the mess back inside and securely closing the lid.
After what feels like forever, her car finally comes down the dirt road. I jump up from the rock and wave her down as I’m sure it would be hard to see me in the dark, even with her headlights on.
“What the hell is this place?” she questions as I practically dive into the safety of her car.
“It’s some sort of illegal racing track,” I explain as she works on turning her car around.
“Shit,” she grunts.
“Mmhmm,” I groan before telling her exactly what had happened tonight.
She looks over at me with a deep curiosity. “Why does he keep doing this stuff to you?”
I shake my head. “I honestly have no idea, but I wish he would stop.”
Brooke is quiet for a moment before she lets out a heavy sigh. “I’m assuming you’re bailing on Maxen’s party?”
“Yeah,” I say, giving her an apologetic smile. “I’m not feeling it.”
“Ok,” she says, a little disappointed. “I’ll take you home.”
“Actually,” I say. “Can you take me back to Nate’s? I have my clothes and my car to rescue, and while he’s out, now’s probably the best time to do it.”
She nods in agreement before turning the music up and focusing on the road before her. She pulls up at Nate’s place soon after and I let out a sigh as I jump out of her car. “Have fun,” I tell her. “Let me know if anything exciting happens.”
“Alright,” she smiles before turning hopeful. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Still not going,” I tell her.
She rolls her eyes and blows me a kiss. “Love you, party pooper.”
“Love you, too,” I laugh. “Remember to use protection.”
With that, she pulls away and I hear her laughter flowing freely through her open window. As she disappears down the driveway, I turn around and face the big house.
A moment later, I push through the front door and head up the stairs to find my things. It’s time to put this day to rest.
Chapter 8
I wake on Saturday morning feeling like absolute shit. My head aches, my body aches, and my poor little nose is all stuffy. I peel my eyes open into the bright light that’s streaming into my room and groan as I push myself up to sitting. I’d say I’ve got the flu.
I reach across and hit the little circle button on my phone to see the time, but instead, I find a crapload of text messages and wonder how on earth I didn’t hear my phone going off all night.
I grab my phone off the bedside table and bring my hands down into my lap as I read through them.
Josh – Baby. You coming?
Josh – Where are you?
Brooke – Holy crap! This party is awesome! Get your shit together and get down here!
Josh – I thought you wanted to party?
Brooke – OMG!!!!!! Dickhead just showed up. I think he’s looking for you. OH NO! He’s coming this way!!!!! SAVE ME, TORA!!!!!!
Brooke – Yuuuup! Nate’s definitely looking for you. You’re in trouble, missy! He said something about his cigarettes.
Unknown – Where the hell are you, Tori?
Unknown – Tora?
Unknown – Damn it, Tora. Stop ignoring me. Where are you?
Josh – Did you seriously stand me up?
Brooke – BEST NIGHT EVER!!!!!!!!
I lay back down on my bed with a groan. First off. Josh can get stuffed. I’m not in the mood to deal with that crap right now. Second, I know it says unknown, but there’s no mistaking who was sending those messages, and to be honest, I have no idea how the hell he found my number. It doesn’t matter anyway as that’s another message I won’t be responding to.
I bring my phone up above me and bring up a new text to Brooke.
Tora – Sorry I didn’t respond to your messages. I was dead asleep. How’d your night go? Did you finally seal the deal with Maxen?
Brooke – Shit, Tora. What are you doing????? It’s only nine in the morning!! No Maxen, he was a little busy with his head between Elle’s legs. I’ll catch him next time!
Tora – WHAT??? Elle strayed from the football team? NEVER!!!!
Brooke – I know! There’s going to be trouble in cheer practice on Monday. Little miss pom-poms broke the rules! Speaking of the football team… Josh was looking for you all night… so was the broody asshole.
Tora – Ugh! Don’t remind me. They can both go to hell!
Brooke – Whoa! Laying it on thick this morning.
Tora – Sorry, I’m not feeling well.
Brooke – THEN GO BACK TO SLEEP.
With that, I put my phone down beside me and close my eyes. My head continues to pound and my nose needs a good blow. Reluctantly, I peel myself off my bed and start searching through my desk drawers for the painkillers that I threw in here after the migraine I had a few weeks ago.
I find them sitting at the bottom of the drawer and grab them before heading into the bathroom for a glass of water. I send them straight down the hatch and work on blowing my nose before deciding I may as well take a nice hot shower.
I stand under the welcome stream of hot water, letting it wash away all my troubles… well, not really, the second I step out of the shower they’re all going to be right where I left them, but at least in this box of steam, I can pretend.
I wash and condition my hair before shaving my legs. I mean, if I’m destined to feel like crap today then I might as well look good doing it.
I turn off the taps and reach for my towel before stepping out and looking at myself in the mirror. I get myself all dried up and wrap the towel around me. I pull open the door and go to cross my room when I pull myself to an alarming stop at the person lying in my bed.
My mouth drops open as Jesse Ryder lays with his head squished into my pillow, watching me gawking back at him in my towel. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shriek as I pull my towel tighter around me, pleased I decided not to strut out here in my birthday suit like I usually do.
“I’ve come to get you,” he tells me. “The order has been given and I will be delivering.”
My face scrunches up as I study him. “What are you talking about?”
“Nate wants you back at our place,” he explains.
“Ugh,” I groan before crossing the room towards my closet and searching through my clothes. “I’m sorry you got your ass out of bed and came over here, but it’s not going to happen. Nate is an asshole and if he wants me to play along with his twisted games, then he owes me an apology first.”
“Ha,” Jesse barks out. “That’s never going to happen.”
“Then you might as well get going,” I say, pulling out a pair of jeans and some underwear.
“Yeah… not going to happen,” he says, repeating himself.
/>
As I slide my underwear up under my towel, something occurs to me. “Hey,” I say, sticking my head out around the corner to peer at him. “Why haven’t you made any sexual comments about me in a towel yet?”
He smirks as he watches me. “Would you like me to?”
I narrow my eyes on him. “Answer the question, dipshit.”
He rolls his eyes. “Well,” he starts. “There are a few reasons. Number one. You had the balls to put me in my place yesterday. Not many of you girls do that, so from now on, you’ve got my respect. Number two. Seeing a chick walk around in a towel is not exactly a new thing to me.”
“Ugh,” I groan, cutting off whatever ridiculous thing he was about to follow that up with. “How are you such a whore already? You’re only sixteen.”
“Hey,” he defends. “I’ll be seventeen in two months.”
I shake my head in exasperation as I pull myself back into the safety of my closet and work on pulling up my jeans. “You’re an idiot.”
“Besides,” Jesse continues. “Nate would kick my ass if I kept up with the comments.”
“Huh?” I grunt. “How do you mean?”
“You didn’t notice my black eye?” he questions, making me shove my head back around the doorframe. “He wasn’t too pleased that I offered you my bed.”
My eyebrows pull down in confusion as I take in the slight bruising around Jesse’s left eye. “That doesn’t make any sense,” I tell him.
“It does,” he grunts with a knowing smirk that confuses me so much more. Jesse ignores the questioning look I send his way and reaches for my phone. “Could you hurry up?” he says. “I want to get home and go to bed.”
“You haven’t gone to bed yet?” I gasp.
“Nope. Maxen’s party is still going this morning. I only left when Nate demanded I pick your ass up.”
“Oh,” I grunt, taking in my phone that sits happily between his scrolling fingers. I clench my teeth together but decide to let it go. “So, you’re telling me you’re going to act like a decent human being towards me now?”
“Yep,” he says, popping the ‘p’.
Broken Hill High: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 1) Page 7