“No, I don’t think so either,” I tell him as I take his hand. “I’m Tora.”
“Tora?” he questions, bringing my hand up and pressing the softest kiss to my skin. “That’s different.”
I look up at him while giving him my best man-eating smile. “Yeah, my-”
Courtney clears her throat and cuts me off. “I think I hear Bec calling.” She grins and backs away, leaving me alone with Mr. Ladies’ Man.
The second we’re alone, Jackson steps into me and brings his hand up. He runs it down the side of my face and sends shivers all over my body. “You want to get out of here?”
I step away as my back stiffens. I wasn’t expecting that. I was hoping for a little flirting, maybe an intense make-out session, but not to be asked to leave with him within the first two seconds of meeting. “Wow,” I say to mask my unease. “You’re confident.”
“I know,” he says, moving forward again. “What do you say?”
“I-”
A warm hand wraps around my bare waist sending shivers all over my body as a wall of muscle moves in behind me. My back stiffens again, but this time it’s for a whole different reason. “Is there a problem?” Nate asks from my back with his chest vibrating against my burning skin, but the tone in his voice is anything but friendly.
His hand on my waist skims across my skin and his fingers slip into the waistband of my shorts before spreading them out and claiming as much of my skin as possible.
Jackson looks down and takes in Nate’s arm around my waist. “Yeah,” he tells Nate as he indicates to me with his eyes darkening. “We were just leaving.”
His comments have Nate’s hold tightening around me. “You mean you were just leaving. She stays,” he tells Jackson.
Jackson scoffs at Nate before he looks back at me, expecting me to leave with him and from his arrogance and confidence, I assume he’s at the top of his school, probably on the football team too. “Come on, babe,” Jackson says, reaching out for me.
In the blink of an eye, Nate steps forward and I somehow end up tucked safely behind him, with his arm reaching back, still holding onto me. I place my hand on his strong back and peer around him. “You were leaving,” Nate reminds him in a tone that I’ve never been so unlucky to be on the receiving end of.
Jackson’s eyes flick to mine before going back to Nate’s when he raises his hands and backs away. “There’s easier pussy around here anyway.”
With that, Jackson is gone and Nate is spinning around to face me with a glare. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he questions, still with his hand on my waist, though, at least his fingers are no longer dipping into my shorts.
“What do you mean?” I argue. “All I did was smile at the guy.”
“Do you have any idea who that was?”
I shrug my shoulder. “Should I?”
“That’s Jackson Millington,” he snaps as though that name must mean something to me. He snatches his hand away from my waist. “He’s public enemy number one. He would have taken you out of here, fucked you even when you said no and left you bloodied and broken in a gutter somewhere.”
Well… shit. “I wasn’t going to leave with him,” I tell him.
“You think you could have stopped him?” he questions as he lets out a frustrated huff before taking a few calming breaths. “You gave him ‘the look’,” he tells me.
“’The look’?” I scoff. “What the fuck is ‘the look’?”
“Oh, come on,” he says. “Don’t act like you don’t know ‘the look’.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Please enlighten me, oh wise one.”
Jesse walks by us with the girl still in his arms, trying to give us a wide birth as to not have to deal with our bickering again, but unfortunately for him, it’s never that easy. Nate launches out and grips him around the front of his shirt before pulling him in front of me. “Explain to her what ‘the look’ is.”
“Oh,” Jesse laughs. “That’s an easy one. It’s how you chicks let us know you’re down.”
“What?” I grunt.
“Yeah,” he says with a smirk. “You’ve got a killer look. It’s all in your eyes. It’s enough to make any red-blooded man har-” Nate gives him a hard shove, pushing him away and cutting off the crude thing he was about to say before he looks down at me expectantly.
“You’re an idiot,” I tell him.
“A thank you would be nice,” he says in a smug tone.
“You don’t deserve a thank you. What if I wanted to go with him?”
His jaw clenches and his dark eyes narrow. “Now who’s being an idiot.”
“You’re impossible,” I tell him, wanting nothing more than to stomp my foot and cross my arms, so instead of embarrassing myself, I just huff and storm away, which I realize, after the fact, that I’ve still managed to embarrass myself.
With my party spirit broken, I say goodnight to Courtney and Bec before heading for the stairs. “Where do you think you’re going?” Jesse calls out behind me. “The party is only just getting started.”
I shake my head. “I’m out,” I tell him.
He shrugs his shoulders. “Suit yourself,” he says before giving all his attention to the keg that he and Tyson are trying to bust open.
I head up the stairs and get just outside of my room when I hear moans and Maxen’s name being called out by my best friend. I let out a sigh, realizing that they’re in my bed.
I walk further up the hallway until I can’t hear them anymore and lean against the wall before sliding all the way down to the ground. I guess this is where I’ll be staying tonight.
I pull out my phone as my Kindle is in my room and pull up my Kindle app before getting lost in my book. I must be up here for at least an hour when Nate makes an appearance at the top of the stairs in a soaking wet shirt. “What the fuck are you doing?” he questions as he takes me in, sprawled out on the floor.
“Reading,” I tell him.
His eyebrows pull down. “I forgot you did that,” he tells me. “Why the hell are you doing it out here?” Just then, Brooke screams out Maxen’s name again and there’s no longer a need for my response. “Right, ok,” he says as he walks to his door and unlocks it. “You might as well sleep in my bed. Max is going to have her in there all night.”
I gawk at him. “There’s no way I’m sleeping in your bed.”
“It’s not like I’m going to be in there with you,” he tells me with a grunt.
I consider it for a moment. I’m super tired and I’m terrified of falling asleep on the ground up here during a party. I mean, you never know what kind of losers will be wandering around. But then, could I really take another person’s bed? Of course, I can. “Fine,” I say as I get myself up off the floor.
He opens the door and I follow him in. Nate goes straight for his closet while I study his bed. “Are you going to keep looking at it or were you going to get in?”
I cringe as I continue looking at it and realize that there could have been hundreds of girls in here. With that thought, I start pulling all the sheets off his bed. “What are you doing?” he questions as he rips his shirt off and starts pulling on another.
“I’m happy for you to sleep in pools of your own DNA, but I won’t be doing it.”
He rolls his eyes and I keep working until the mattress is completely bare. I smile at my handiwork before climbing on. “Here,” Nate says.
I turn around just in time to see a shirt flying towards me. I reach out and pluck it out of the sky. “What’s this for?” I question.
“Something to sleep in,” he says. “I doubt you’ll be comfortable in a bikini.”
I look down and realize he’s right. “Thanks,” I murmur.
He nods his head and a second later, he’s out the door.
I close the door behind him before going into his bathroom and getting myself ready for bed. I pull his shirt over my head and find that I really like how it feels against my skin. Though it’s not the fabric
I like, it’s the fact that it’s his.
Shit. What’s happening to me?
I get myself comfortable in bed and squish my head into his pillows.
I’m just about asleep when the door flies open before Ashley comes barging in. She stops in her tracks and looks me over in her boyfriend’s bed, wearing her boyfriend’s shirt. “You slut,” she yells as her face goes bright red.
She storms out before giving me a chance to explain and I start to get up to go after her when I realize that I don’t actually care. She’s not my problem and I haven’t done anything wrong. This is all on Nate.
Feeling good about that decision, I close my eyes and finally drift off to sleep.
Chapter 11
Loud noises in the hallway startle me out of my sleep. I fly up until I’m sitting when I truly start to listen. The music is still blaring downstairs so the voices are extra loud. It doesn’t take me long to work out that it’s not just a loud conversation but a fight.
I don’t recognize the female’s voice very well but the male is as clear as day. After all, it’s the voice that has yelled and taunted me so many times before. “You’re such a dick,” the girl snaps at him. “How many times are you going to cheat on me before I get smart enough to leave your sorry ass?”
And it all makes sense.
It’s Ashley screaming at Nate, clearly pissed off about me being in his bed. Obviously, she thinks he’s been cheating on her with me, unless she caught him doing something else during the party, though, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“For fuck’s sake, Ashley,” he says back to her with a deep groan. “How many times do I need to tell you? You’re not my girlfriend. I can’t cheat on a girl who’s not my girlfriend.”
Oh… that gets my attention.
“Nate,” she demands. “Don’t do this again.”
“I told you from the start,” he says. “I don’t do the girlfriend/boyfriend shit. You’ve never been my girlfriend nor will you ever be. You agreed that you were cool with that. That’s the only reason we’re even doing this.”
“But… I thought…”
“What? You thought what?” he scoffs. “That’d I’d change my mind and fall madly in love you?”
“Well…”
“Never going to happen, babe,” he laughs.
Ooooh, ouch. This shit is juicy… and brutal.
“No, Nate. Please,” she says. “Please. I promise. I’ll stop calling you my boyfriend.”
“Nah, sorry, babe. I’m done with this shit. You’re too much drama.”
“Nate,” she calls as the door to the room is barged open.
I gasp at the sudden intrusion as he slams the door closed behind him and turns on the light before flicking the lock. “Shit,” he says as he looks down at me sitting in his bed. “I forgot you were in here.”
“Ahhh… yeah,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself to try and keep warm. His eyes linger on me and it almost looks as though he’s enjoying the sight of me in his bed, wearing his shirt.
The thought is ripped away by a loud banging on the door followed by Ashley’s screams. “Nate. Open the damn door. I’m not done with you.”
“Well, I’m done with you,” he calls back with a smirk on his handsome face and an attitude so sharp it could cut through metal. He turns back to me with a cringe. “I, um… I suppose you heard all that.”
“How could I not? My parents probably heard it in Australia,” I say. “That was harsh, though. It was like one hell of a mad dumping.”
“No,” he corrects. “I thought you could hear it. It’s not dumping when you were never together,” he explains before cringing when Ashley bangs on the door again. “She deserved it,” he says as an afterthought.
“Shit, I’d hate to see what it’s like for the poor girl who actually gets dumped by you,” I say as I rub my hands over my eyes and yawn.
“Did we wake you?” he questions with concern as Ashley tries again before jiggling the locked door handle.
“What do you think?” I grunt before laying back down and curling into his bed.
He crosses the room and rifles through his closet before pulling out a blanket and tossing it over the top of me. “Do you mind if I chill out for a bit?” he questions. “You know, only until she pisses off.”
“It’s your room,” I say with a shrug.
He nods his head and takes a seat on top of his desk which is when it gets awkward. I mean, what the hell are we supposed to talk about?
“You still owe me an apology, you know?” I tell him.
He scoffs as he looks at me with a sparkle in his dark eyes. “What for?” he questions.
“Where do I start?” I smirk. “First up, for scaring the shit out of me at that race last night and not letting me out of the car. Secondly, for kidnapping me… twice now. And third, how about for the past five years of being an asshat.”
“An asshat?” he questions.
“Yes, an asshat,” I say with a raised, impatient eyebrow.
He watches me for a moment before grinning. “Never going to happen.”
I let out a huff. I knew it was a long shot but it was worth a try. “What time is it?” I question when the silence begins to slowly kill me.
“After four,” he says. “We’ll start kicking people out soon.”
“Ok,” I mumble into his pillow.
A smirk slowly begins to creep across his face as he watches me and I worry that something awful is about to come flying from his lips. “It never used to be this awkward between us,” he says, shocking the absolute hell out of me.
“Yeah,” I agree with a laugh. “That’s because you turned into an asshole.” He lets out a sigh and leans forward onto his knees. “Is it…?” cringe, “did I...?” I let out a sigh, giving up as I’m simply unable to get the question out.
Just like when we were kids, he knows exactly what I’m thinking. “No,” he tells me. “You didn’t do anything. This is all on me.” I look away. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. “I’ll let you sleep,” he says as he jumps down from the desk.
I nod my head as I silently watch him walk to the door. He unlocks it before turning back to me and watching me as he flicks off the light. “Night, Tora,” he says into the darkness.
“Night,” I whisper back, though, with the sound of the music flowing up through the open door, I don’t know if he hears me.
The door closes behind him and I find myself lying awake, feeling really unsure about what just happened. I mean, it was super awkward, but did we seriously just have a conversation that didn’t end with me wanting to tear him to pieces?
I try to get back to sleep after that, but too many thoughts are running through my head. So, I listen. I listen to the sounds of the people lingering on the stairs. The sound of the music thumping through the floors. The people screaming and squealing as they get thrown in the pool.
An hour passes and the noises start to lessen. The music is lowered before it eventually gets turned off. The front door opens and closes at least fifty times before the voices finally fade away.
I reach over to light up the screen of my phone to see it’s now five thirty in the morning and groan. All I want to do is sleep.
I lay in bed for another half an hour until the sun is peeking through the window and hitting me right in the face. I get up out of Nate’s bed and realize I still have no clothes as I’m not brave enough to go barging into my room with Maxen and Brooke probably butt naked in it.
I put my bikini back on before pulling Nate’s shirt over the top and tying it in a knot at the back. I grab my shorts and shuffle them up my legs before sliding my sandals back on. I let out a heavy sigh and head into Nate’s bathroom to splash some water over my face.
As I walk out of his room, I see the mess before I even get to the stairs. As I walk down, I find myself gawking at it all. There are red cups littered on every available surface with half of them knocked off and spilled all over the tiles. There’s furniture
turned over. There are empty alcohol bottles covering the kitchen. There’s mud walked right through the house. The outdoor pool area is a mess with three of the sunbeds in the pool.
This is ridiculous. I’ve never seen the morning after and now that I have, it’s something I never want to see again.
And to think all this started when I asked Trish if I could invite a friend over.
With that knowledge firmly in my mind, I start cleaning.
I flick the music on low and grab a big trash bag. I start with the rooms that didn’t get used much and gasp as I find a body fast asleep on the couch in the formal living room. I poke the guy and wait for him. “Hey,” I call. “Time to go.”
“What?” he groans as he pushes himself up.
“Get your ass out of here, dude,” I say a little louder.
“Jesus, woman,” he grunts before getting up and actually heading to the door. I smile at my accomplishment as I thought that would have taken a lot longer.
I get on with my cleaning, collecting all the red cups in each room and stacking them to save room in the trash. It surprisingly doesn’t take long to put each room back together as once the furniture is straightened and the cups removed, it’s pretty much done, except for mopping and wiping all the surfaces down, of course.
By eight o’clock, there are seven massive trash bags waiting by the door for someone to take out to the bin. I mean, if I knew where their bins were, I’d probably take the bags out, but that’s something the boys are going to have to do.
I find the mop and go nuts in each room before finding the spray and wipe and wiping everything down. It’s only then that I realize I haven’t seen Nate anywhere and wonder where the hell he slept.
At ten, I head out the back and straighten everything up while also enjoying the sun that peaks out from behind the clouds. By eleven thirty I’m hosing everything down and standing back with a smile. I’m exhausted already and for once, my stomach is actually grumbling.
I make myself a sandwich, and by midday, I head back upstairs to Nate’s room to read a little. I must only be reading for twenty minutes when Jesse screaming from within his bedroom has me flying out of Nate’s bed and rushing towards the door.
Broken Hill High: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 1) Page 10