Fuck me, what a mistake that would have been. She would have been a stage five clinger if I even laid one single finger on her. Actually, I did. I should have just let her fall, but I reached out to save her from tumbling to the ground and the second my fingers wrapped around her wrist, a bolt of electricity surged through my body.
Now, I don’t know about other guys, but that shit ain’t normal. Maybe I have been drinking too much tonight.
Nate’s Camaro comes to a stop and I throw myself out the door before finishing what’s left of my beer. I toss the empty bottle down into the fire that’s hardly alight and watch as Nate pulls out a cigarette and starts stalking his way towards Tora.
I smirk at the scene. That poor girl. Nate is a fucking bastard, but she does well to hold herself up. Maybe she’s strong enough for him, but it’s an answer we’ll never have. Any girl would be stupid to be with a guy who treated her like that. Nate would have to seriously turn things around if he wanted to have a shot with her.
I make my way back up toward the party when I feel those familiar eyes on me. I can’t help but glance up toward the house to see the whole senior class standing at the windows after having watched Nate destroy the backyard, and right in the middle of them is Courtney with her intense eyes on me.
Always on me.
That’s right, baby. Keep those eyes on me.
Shit. Why do I like that so much and why the hell do I find her so damn gorgeous? She’s fucking beautiful.
I’m no fool, I’ve been aware of Courtney since the day I first started school at five years old, just as I know that she’s been aware of me. Though, it’s a different kind of awareness. To me, she’s the untouchable good girl wrapped in a pretty white bow who could fuck it all up. To her, I have no doubt that I’m what her nightmares are made of.
I need to stay far away from her, not only for my sake but for hers.
I pass the line of football players, each of them puffing out their chests and doing their best to appear intimidating. I find it funny that as I continue moving towards them, each and every one of them pussy out. Even with their numbers, not one of them is willing to start something. They know that no matter what, we don’t lose wars. We start them and we end them every fucking time.
The footballers tuck their balls between their legs and slink away while I try to hold back a grin. There’s no better feeling in this world than having the fuckers in your life knowing they’ll never beat you. Call me a cocky bastard, but I know it’s true.
I make my way through the back door of the house and instantly have someone holding a new beer out to me. I take it without bothering to know where it came from and continue on my way before popping the cap and tossing it over my shoulder.
A hand falls to my chest as a petite blonde steps in my way. I let out a frustrated groan as I look down at the preppy cheerleader. “What the hell do you want, Phoenix?”
Her hand slides across to my shoulder and travels down until she’s gripping my hand. “Let’s dance.”
I shake my head, pulling my hand out of hers. “Baby, you and me; it was just an easy fuck. We’re not a thing.”
“Come on,” Phoenix says, stepping into me and attempting to press her tits up against my chest. I can’t help but look down. Phoenix has a nice rack and if she’s putting them out there to be seen, then I’m not going to look away. “Would you rather go upstairs?”
Lifting my hand, I trail my fingers across her collarbone before brushing them down the curve of her tit and taking her waist. Phoenix sucks in an excited breath as I pull her in closer.
She raises her chin, waiting.
I lean in close, letting her feel my body up against hers, knowing how desperately she wants it. Her tongue snakes out of her mouth, licking her lips in anticipation. I look into her eyes as her hand travels back up my body, coming to a rest against my chest.
A smirk crosses my lips and I let her see the intimidation in my eyes that instantly has her shrinking back. “I said no.”
I step around her, lifting my beer to my lips as I go. Phoenix squeals out behind me and a chuckle bubbles up my throat. “Fine,” she yells. “Have it your way, but I’m sure you’ll be regretting it when I’m fucking one of your friends tonight.”
I look back over my shoulder and laugh. “In that case, give Tyson a shot. He’s pretty loose tonight. I’m sure he’ll take pity on you and slip one in. He’s all for the desperate ones.”
Her face flames in anger as she clenches her teeth and huffs, but I honestly can’t be fucked wasting my time with it. Besides, I really need to take a piss and that shit is definitely more important than spending another second with Phoenix the walking STD.
I bypass the line waiting for the bathroom and step in front of the door just as it opens. I cut the line and barge my way through, making the three girls inside squeal and hurry out, though they’re more than welcome to stay.
After taking care of business and somehow misplacing my beer, I head back to the kitchen counter to find myself a new one. As I reach for a beer, a body is slammed into me and I look down at the girl to find Courtney’s best friend grinning up at me and her other friend laughing at the way she’s making a fool of herself. I’m pretty sure their names are Brylee and Brooke, but I could be wrong. All I know is that these are the girls who are usually hanging around Tora and Courtney.
“Whoops,” Brylee laughs, grabbing hold of me to stop herself from tumbling anywhere else.
Brooke steps around the other side of the table, grabbing shot glasses as she goes. “Here,” she says, slamming a glass down in front of me and then Brylee. “Let’s do shots.”
Courtney appears out of fucking nowhere, stumbling into Brylee’s side as she loops her arms through hers. She grabs the Vodka bottle and tears off the lid. “Are we doing shots, or what?” she calls over the loud music.
She doesn’t wait for a response before lifting the bottle to her lips and taking a swig. Brooke and Brylee cheer right along with her and I gape at Courtney as though I’m seeing some kind of stranger.
She’s fucking wasted. Who would have ever known that good girl Courtney had it in her?
A wicked grin stretches across my face. I like what I see and no doubt, I’m down to party with a drunk Courtney.
I grab the bottle of Vodka from Courtney’s fingers and her head whips in my direction. Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second and truth be told, she looks terrified, but there’s none of that shit tonight.
I lift the bottle to my lips and take a quick drink before glancing around the three girls. “First one to throw up loses.”
Brooke snatches the bottle from me with a challenge deep in her eyes. “You’re on.”
Three hours later, well and truly after the majority of the party has left, I’m standing in the middle of the dance floor with Courtney grinding against me and Brylee throwing up in the bushes with Tyson. Jesse and Maxen are chilling in the pool with a bunch of naked chicks after tossing them in, and Nate? Well, who the fuck knows where he is?
All I do know is that I’ve never had such a great fucking night and I’d bet that it has a little something to do with this sexy minx dancing up on me.
Chapter 3
Courtney
How is it two days later and my head still hurts?
Friday night was a huge mistake. What was I thinking of drinking like that? Don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude, but if I’m going to let myself get wild, then usually, it’s going to be somewhere a little more controlled; not a freaking house party where guys like Puck are lurking around, looking for their next victim.
I’m lucky nothing happened to either me or Brylee. I was supposed to be the responsible one, looking out for both of us so she could relax and have a few drinks. Somehow, we both ended up walking our dumb asses home at four in the morning after I spent the night rubbing my ass and tits up against Puck’s strong body and she spent it hurling her guts in the backyard with Tyson.
How fucking ridiculous.
I groan, throwing the blankets off me as I sit up in bed. Maybe a warm shower and a bit of food might help. Shit, who am I kidding? I need pain-killers and a strong kind at that.
I dig through my bedside table and find my pain-killers under all the crap that’s been accumulating over the past few years. I reach for my glass of water only to find it empty.
Just my luck.
I stare at the little pills with disgust. There’s nothing worse than swallowing these little lifesavers without water. Ugh, just the thought of them going down my throat dry makes me want to gag. I guess I have no choice but to get out of bed.
I trudge through my room and bypass my private bathroom. Mom decided that all the bathrooms in the house were due for an upgrade despite having them done only three years ago. How mom wants to spend her money is completely her business, it’s her house after all. My issue is that she decided to do them all at once rather than one at a time, meaning I now have to share the guest bathroom with my little brother, Matty. It’s frustrating as hell. The little dweeb has absolutely no respect for personal space, though he’s only eight so I guess that will come. I hope.
I make my way into the guest bathroom and bypass the whole filling up a glass thing. I drop the pain-killers onto my tongue before shoving my whole head under the tap and turning it on just a little too hard.
I choke as the cold water hits the back of my throat suddenly, spraying me and the bathroom entirely. If this was a telling sign of how my senior year was going to be, I'm going to be pissed
I’ve been looking forward to my senior year. It’s supposed to be one of the best years of my life and if it’s destined to go downhill…I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it sure as hell will suck.
Seeing as though I’m already soaking wet, I may as well get started on my day. I strip out of my now cold pajamas and step into the shower, basking in the feel of the hot water against my skin.
With it being the first day and all, I decided to go all out. I wash and condition my hair, scrub myself silly, and shave my legs until they’re as smooth as a baby’s bum. As I tilt my head back into the stream of hot water the bathroom door flies open, and in barges Matty without a care in the world.
A squeal comes tearing up my throat as I slap a hand over my tits and do my best to cross my legs and cover my lady bits. “Matty! What the hell are you doing? Get out of here. I’m trying to shower.”
The little turd scratches his ass before dropping his pants and taking a seat on the toilet as though he’s completely oblivious to my presence. “Are you kidding?” I shriek before his face morphs. “Are you…?” I suck in a horrified breath. “You better not be taking a shit right now.”
When he starts grunting, I grab the shampoo bottle and launch it out the shower door. “Get out of here,” I yell, struggling to keep myself covered. The shampoo bottle smacks him in the ribs and drops to the ground, splattering shampoo all up the bathroom tiles.
Matty looks down at the bottle as though he’s only just noticing it, leaving me gaping at the dork. Does he even hear me right now?
“MOM!” I yell as the slightest smirk crosses my brother’s face, which is exactly when the smell hits me. I gag, struggling to get my words out. “Get Matthew the hell out of here.”
“What’s going on in there?” Mom demands as her head pops into the bathroom and she starts looking around, trying to figure out what’s causing havoc in her guest bathroom. She presses her lips into an irritated, tight line. “Matthew, what on earth are you doing? How many times do I have to tell you that you’re too big to be barging in on your sister like this?”
Matty shrugs. “What?” he questions innocently, looking up at mom. “When you got to go, you got to go. Or would you prefer I found a bucket and did it in the hallway?”
I grab the conditioner and launch it at him. “Ugh! You’re so gross. Get out of here, you little turd.”
A wicked grin crosses his face. “Should I just snap it in half?”
He did not just say that.
My face scrunches up in disgust as I reach for the body wash. Mom attempts to diffuse the situation as dad steps through the doors. “Family meeting in the bathroom?” he chuckles as though he’s the funniest thing to ever grace this planet, but the second he realizes his son is in the middle of taking a dump, he spins around to avoid the horrendous sight, only to catch an eyeful of his daughter in the shower.
“Dad!” I shriek, feeling completely humiliated.
Dad scurries out of the bathroom quicker than how he’d entered. “Oh, dear God, My eyes! That was way too much of my kids for a Monday morning. Sorry, Court, if I knew you were showering, I never would have walked in,” he calls through the bathroom door. “Mathew; finish your business and get your butt out of there. Your sister is…becoming a woman,” he adds, making the words sound like some sort of disease. “She needs her privacy.”
Mom gives me an encouraging smile before discreetly stepping in front of me to give me what little privacy she can as we wait for Matty to finish destroying the guest bathroom. Though, she doesn’t do it without scrunching her face up at the smell that’s coming from her youngest child.
After the longest few minutes of my life, Matty finally picks himself up off the toilet and walks over to the sink to wash his hands and just when I think I’ll be safe, he reaches for his toothbrush.
“No way, buddy,” Mom says, hauling him out the door as he chuckles, knowing exactly how much of a pain he’s being. “Brush your teeth in the kitchen.”
Mom follows him out the door and I shake my head as the door closes. How is this my Monday morning?
I reach for my towel and wrap it around myself, not wanting to be in here longer than necessary as the smell is beginning to burn my nose. I mean, what could that kid possibly be eating to make such a foul smell come from his tiny ass? There’s no doubt in my mind that shit is acidic. He needs a doctor and fast.
With most of my morning now wasted, I get a move on. I grab a banana from the fruit bowl and silently thank my father as I find the coffee waiting for me on the kitchen counter; his way of apologizing for walking in on me in the shower.
I smile to myself as I walk out the front door and find my brand new Lexus glistening in the morning sun. Damn, this shit never gets old. Mom and dad got me this bad boy for my eighteenth birthday a few weeks ago and I still haven’t gotten over it.
To be completely honest, I kind of knew they were shopping around for a car, but this? I’ve never been so lucky. I was expecting something a little…less, not the most gorgeous Lexus on the planet. I mean, damn. The last two years of begging my parents for a car finally paid off and it paid off in a huge way.
I drop down into my car and listen as she purrs to life. After carefully putting my coffee down and making sure it’s not going to make a mess of my baby, I drive around the fountain in the center of my driveway and head down the hill to the road.
Knowing just how obsessed I am with driving my new car, I find Brylee standing outside her home, waiting for me. She gets in with a wide smile and I let her infectious attitude take away the annoyance that settled inside me after dealing with my little brother.
We get to school ten minutes later and just as I cut the engine, Brooke’s Mercedes pulls in beside me with Tora happily chatting away on the passenger’s side.
The four of us start making our way toward the entrance of the school and I can’t help but take in the vibe of the other seniors around me. It’s clear that everyone is pumped for this. We’re the new kings and queens of the school and we are going to dominate.
I feel a heavy gaze against my back and I can’t help but cast my eyes back over my shoulder and find my biggest regret of the weekend. Puck stares back at me with a grin playing on his lips and I hold back a groan. Wha
t was I thinking spending the night dancing all over him? Puck is dangerous. He’s not only one of the most popular guys in school with a bad reputation, but he’s the guy who will willingly play with a girl’s heart just to watch it crumble.
I turn straight back around. He’s staring at me like I’m some kind of game he isn’t sure that he wants to play, but what’s more, he’s looking at me like I’m his next meal and I don’t know what to make of that. It leaves a big question mark in my life. I like control. I like to know what’s going to happen before it does, and not knowing what Puck’s intentions are is really messing with my head.
Surely he would know that I’m not interested in being some guy’s bed buddy. I have standards and at the risk of sounding like a bitch, Puck certainly doesn’t meet them. He’s way too rough around the edges and he certainly isn’t the boyfriend type. He’s a dangerous game that I’m not willing to play, despite how fun it may be.
I try to focus on the girls’ conversation as we walk through the massive double doors of Broken Hill High. The doors close behind us, relieving me from Puck’s unwanted stare, but all it does is put us in the firing line for everyone else.
All the cheerleaders are gathered around, presumably waiting for their queen, Elle, with every single one of their eyes cast upon our group, more specifically Tora. There’s no doubt there’s going to be some sort of retaliation from Josh shoving his tongue down Tora’s throat. The cheerleaders deem Josh as their property. Actually, they deem all the football players theirs which is absolutely fine by me. I really don’t care for their school politics and drama, but Tora is dangerously toeing the line of insanity by getting involved with him.
We head down the corridor, bypassing the bitchy cheerleaders and losing Tora to her locker. Brooke falls off in the opposite direction and soon enough it’s just me and Brylee, side by side at ours.
Puck: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 1) Page 2