by Chloe Walsh
"My tone?" he laughed humorlessly. "You're one to talk about tones."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I held onto his truck door like it was a weapon, and in that moment, it was. He couldn’t drive away from me. He had to stay and face me.
"Your spoiled, snotty, little superior tone," he barked. "Now close my damn door and go inside."
Furious, I glared at him and hissed, "Screw you, Nathan." I slammed the door of his truck closed with more force than I knew I was capable of before storming towards my house.
The sound of tires screeching filled my ears but I didn’t look back at him.
I was too mad.
Yeah, anger was the reason tears were filling my eyes.
Nothing else.
****
Chapter Three
I spent all of the rest of the evening holed up in my bedroom, licking my wounds and wallowing in self-pity. By the time seven o clock rolled in, I was feeling at a loss, having completed all of my homework.
Fresh from a shower and dressed in a clean pair of jammies, I skulked downstairs, feeling lonely and bored to tears. I went into the kitchen and prepared myself a snack and grabbed my insulin pen before padding back to the living room with every intention of molding my butt to the couch for the night. Settling down, I pulled up the hem of my pajama tank top and positioned my insulin pen before clicking the tip and releasing the little lifesaving juice into my body.
Our house was like winning the lottery for teenagers, I thought to myself when I spotted my brother saunter down the staircase in nothing but a pair of blue board shorts.
"Sup, Andi-Pandy," Jackson said with a yawn when he reached the bottom step. His blonde hair was sticking up in forty different directions and he had that sleepy look about him that I'd come to learn he had after sex.
"Jackson," I replied with a shake of my head.
"You hungry?" he asked in his usual lazy drawl.
"I'm fine," I shot back, eyes locked on Cambrey Smith, a girl in Jackson's grade, who was padding down our staircase, clad in my brother's football jersey.
"Hey, Adriana," Cambrey said with a blush when she reached Jackson's side.
"Hey, Cambrey," I replied. None of this was a surprise to me. I was perfectly aware of what Jackson and Cambrey had just done upstairs. She wasn’t the first this week and she wouldn’t be the last.
"Did you drop Ivy home?" Jackson didn’t have a monogamous bone in his body and this was an exact example of why I didn’t want Ivy getting involved with him. Jackson couldn’t help himself, and Ivy was too good to be strung along like this.
"Don't go there," Jackson shot back in a warning tone, catching ahold of Cambrey's hand. "By the way, have you taken your insulin?"
"Yes, Dad," I shot back, hoping he could hear the distain in my voice. He could try and turn this on me all he wanted, but I was thoroughly disgusted with him. I wanted to scream 'you're acting just like dad' but I didn’t dare. I knew that statement – however true it was – would cut Jackson much deeper than he deserved.
"Cool. We'll be out back if you need me."
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the remote and flicked on the television, choosing to focus my attention on anything other than my brother and his latest love interest.
If I were dying on the floor, I wouldn’t go out back for help. Not when I knew what would be unfolding in the hot tub.
I actually shuddered at the thought.
Flicking through the bazillion channels we had, I settled on an old rerun of Friends. Settling down on my back, I folded my arms behind my head and laughed my way through the next thirty minutes.
"Having fun?" Nate's voice came from somewhere behind me and I fell off the couch as I tried to sit up. "Relax, it's just me," he said with an amused tone of voice, as he walked around the couch. "I don’t bite."
I wish you would… The thought penetrated my mind and I blushed beetroot red.
"Jackson's out back," I told him, climbing back onto the couch.
"Yeah." Nate sank down and stretched his arms out across the back of the couch. "I kind of figured that when I walked into the kitchen and saw his bare ass flapping around in the tub."
"Gross," I whispered, cringing at the thought. Settling back down on the couch, I tucked my knees beneath me and angled my body so that I was facing Nathan. I knew I shouldn’t. It made me look weird and stalkerish, but I couldn’t help myself. It was impossible not to stare at Nate when he was sitting so close to me; close enough that if I reached out my hand I could touch his thigh...
"What?" Nate asked, turning to face me. His brown eyes were dark and heated as he stared back at me. "Have I got shit on my face or something?"
"You have engine oil on your cheek." But that's not why I'm staring. "Did you just finished work?"
"No," Nate drawled. "I like to go around wearing overalls covered in oil and reeking of gasoline." When I didn’t reply, he looked at me again and smirked. "Joke, Andi. I came straight here after finishing."
"Oh, okay," I mumbled, ducking my face so he couldn’t see the embarrassment in my eyes. My hair fell forward then and Nate reached a hand out and tucked it behind my ear.
His brown eyes locked on mine. "Don’t know how you can balance yourself," he said, tone low and gruff before drawing his hand back. "With all that damn hair."
"I've never cut more than inch off it," I admitted, my hands immediately moving to my hair. "It's almost like a comfort blanket to me."
Just then, Nate's phone pinged and he let out a muttered curse before digging in his pocket to retrieve it. "Goddamn," he grumbled, glaring down at the screen of his cell.
"What?" I asked nosily, edging closer. "Who is it?"
"Dallas," he told me as he furiously tapped his thumbs on the screen. "Girl needs to take a hint."
"Oh." My heart sank.
"Yeah," Nate said flatly. "Oh."
I could hear the wistful desperation in my own voice when I asked, "you guys broke up though, right?"
"We did," he confirmed grimly. His phone pinged again and this time Nate tossed it across the room." The phone landed perfectly on the other couch. Letting out a sigh, he threw his head back and closed his eyes. "Although, according to Dallas, we're on a break."
My hand shook when I reached out and touched his shoulder. "I'm glad you broke up with her." Sidling closer to him, I added, "She's not good enough for you." I felt Nate's shoulder stiffen beneath my hand. He opened his eyes and looked straight into my eyes.
"What would you know about relationships?" he asked gruffly. I knew he meant to hurt me with that question, but I didn’t let it. Not when he was looking at me with such intensity I could feel it right down to my toes.
"Nothing," I admitted, moving closer, breathing faster than normal. "But I know you, Nate." My pulse had skyrocketed and all I wanted to do was climb onto his lap. "And I know you're smart and kind and loyal and everything she's not."
My eyes were glued to Nathan's face, waiting for a sign, a signal of some sort that would tell me it was okay to feel like this. That it was okay to want to kiss him.
"Andi." Nate let out a ragged breath, his dark eyes locked on my face. Reaching up, he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, so close I could practically taste the mint flavored gum he was chewing. "You've got me all wrong, girl."
Shaking my head, I leaned closer and whispered, "I don’t think I do."
The patio door slamming startled us and Nathan blinked rapidly before shoving me away and jerking to his feet.
"Hey, man!" Jackson said cheerfully as he sauntered into the living room, this time with a towel wrapped around his waist. "You been here long?"
"No," Nate muttered, tone gruff, looking anywhere but me. "Just got here." He ran a hand through his black hair and exhaled a heavy breath. "I was thinking of hitting Dixies," he added. "You up for it?"
Dixies was a crummy, rundown bar on the other side of town. They served anybody in that place. It wasn’t exactly kosher.
Jackson'
s face broke out in a grin. "Count me in. Let me just drop Cambrey home and I'll meet you down there." With that, Jackson disappeared back through the kitchen.
The moment my brother was out of sight, I sprang to my feet. "Nate –"
"Don’t," he tossed out over his shoulder as he stalked out of the living room. "It was my mistake. It won't happen again."
****
Chapter Four
Because of Nathan and Jackson's late night trip to Dixies, and my lack of sleep worrying about what they were getting up to, I ended up being later for first period Bio.
Looking worse for wear, Jackson muttered a slurred goodbye to me at the school door before rushing off in the direction of the gym.
I snuck into Miss Peters' class as unobtrusively as I could, hoping to avoid a detention slip for my tardiness. I had never been late for class in my life and I was hoping that she would take that into consideration. Thankfully, Miss Peter's merely raised her eyebrows at me and muttered, "End desk on the left, Miss Davis," before resuming with her lesson.
I scrambled down the aisle to my assigned desk, pleased when I reached it and saw that Brad Lakewood was my partner again this year. He was one of the few boys in our grade who I'd spoken to. He was also in my History class and we'd completed a group assignment together last semester.
"Hey," I whispered as I pulled out my chair and sat down. Brad looked up at me with a half formed smile frozen on his face. "What?" I asked anxiously, grabbing his arm when he didn’t answer.
Brad shook his head and cleared his throat. "Nothing, you just…uh…you look different”
Dammit, I was going to kill Jackson when I found him at lunch.
It was his fault I looked like a mess. I usually kept my blonde hair in a braid. I hadn't had time this morning, barely having time to run my comb through it. It was flowing freely down my back now. And my clothes? I'd thrown on the first thing I'd found in my closet, which just so happened to be a spaghetti strapped white sundress that fell to my knee. I looked like I was ready for church.
"I look awful, right?" I whispered, looking down at myself in despair.
"No," Brad shot back a little too loudly – and a little too squeaky – before clearing his throat again. "No, it’s nice…you're nice, I mean you look nice."
"Um…thanks?" I think…
"No problem." Reddening, Brad turned his attention to the front of the classroom.
"Come on, come on, pay attention, class," Miss Peters called out then, and I quickly opened my text book and focused on the lesson.
"That was pretty hardcore," Brad announced after the bell rang.
"I know," I muttered in glum agreeance, as I piled my textbook into my bag. I was going to have to put a lot of work in to keep my grades up in this class.
"I’ll see you in History," Brad said as we walked from the classroom together, parting in separate directions in the hallway.
"Sure," I replied, tightening my hold on my backpack.
"Oh, and Andi?"
"Yeah?" I called out, turning back to face Brad.
"I meant it," he said with a grin. "You really do look nice today."
My face flushed bright pink as I watched Brad saunter down the hallway. He was a nice guy. A good one, too. And he wasn’t bad to look at either with warm green eyes, rusty, brownish hair and a warm smile.
One moment I was walking along, thinking about my lab partner, and the next I was sprawled out on the flat of my back having walked into something hard.
"Ouch," I groaned, half stunned as I pulled myself onto my elbows. The back of my head ached from where I hit the ground. It was throbbing so badly I closed my eyes and laid back down, feeling too sore to care that I had just made a massive scene in the school hallway.
"Damn, is that Adriana Davis?"
"Is she okay?"
"Don’t even attempt to help her, dude…"
"I'm not gonna leave her laying there."
"Seriously, man, don’t touch her. Jackson will have your balls for it."
"Enjoy the visual; it's the only time you'll see that girl on her back."
"What the fuck are you all looking at?" My eyes were still closed when I heard Nathan's harsh growl silence the audience around me. Seconds later, two strong arms came around my body, pulling me to my feet.
"Picking fights with doors again, Andi?" Nate mused, setting me down on my feet.
His hands moved over my face, checking for damage, I guessed, and I exhaled a pained sigh.
"I didn’t even see a door." Reaching up to clasp the back of my head, I looked around to find the culprit… and yep, Nathan was completely accurate. I had indeed walked into an open door. "God, I'm such a klutz."
With his thumb, Nate tipped my chin upwards and studied my face again. He used the other hand to feel my scalp. I saw concern in his eyes and immediately, my heart began to hammer in my chest. I felt so little around him. At 5'1", I was consciously aware that I was lacking in the height department and Nate's 6'2" frame did little to make me feel better.
"I think you're good," Nate announced after a long moment of prodding and probing. Clearing his throat, he released me and took a careful step back. "Be more careful."
"Thanks for saving me," I quipped with a smile. "Again."
He smirked and shook his head, seemingly annoyed with himself for smiling at my joke. "Don’t get used to it." Reaching down, Nate picked up my bag from the floor and handed it to me. "Keep your eyes open now, ya hear?" he ordered before turning around and walking off.
And I did exactly what Nathan told me to do. I kept my eyes open and glued to his butt until he was out of sight.
****
By the time lunch rolled around, my tumble outside of Biology class had reached my brother. Instead of laughing about it, like I thought he would, Jackson was mad.
Really mad and really suspicious.
"Did you pass out?" he demanded the moment I placed my lunch tray down on the table. "Did you not take your insulin again and faint?"
"I didn’t pass out," I assured Jackson as I sank down on the chair opposite my brother. "And I didn’t forget to take my insulin. I honest to god walked into a door."
"I find that hard to believe," Jackson shot back accusingly, blue eyes locked on my face. "Who does that?"
"I do," I muttered, embarrassed. "I was distracted and wasn’t looking at where I was going."
Jackson cocked a brow. "And that's your story, is it?"
I could feel dozens of pairs of eyes watching our little scene and I ducked my head, letting my hair fall over my face like a curtain from their stares.
"Yes, Jackson," I replied with a weary sigh. "That's my story and that also happens to be the truth."
I understood why my brother was overreacting.
He'd brought me to the emergency room enough times when my blood sugar spazzed out of control. He was completely OCD when it came to my diabetes.
"Jacko, back off, man." That was Nathan's voice and my head shot up. He was standing behind me with his lunch tray in his hand. "She fell. Plain and simple." Settling his tray down beside mine, he took the seat next to me.
Jackson glared across the table. "Nate, man, if you're covering for her, I'm gonna be real pissed."
"Two things," Nate shot back, eyes locked on my brother as he reached across the table and swiped an apple from Jackson's tray. "First, I've always been straight with you." His bare arm brushed against mine and I had to force my body not to shiver at the contact. "And second; you need to calm your ass down and stop making a goddamn mountain out of a molehill." Shrugging, he added, "You're embarrassing your sister."
Jackson stared hard at Nathan for a long moment before nodding his head once and turning his attention to his teammates who were all watching our little scene. The minute Jackson began to talk about football and touchdowns, I sagged in relief and whispered, "Thank you," to Nathan who was still beside me. He accepted my gratitude with a grunt before biting into his apple with a crunch.
; For the rest of lunch, I sat beside Nathan Cole. He never spoke another word to me and I didn’t offer up any conversation either. Instead, I mentally added this to the very long list of reasons of why I was desperately in love with him.
*****
"What's going on between you and Brad Lakewood?" Ivy demanded in an excited tone the moment I sat in her car after school.
"What?" Fastening my seatbelt, I gaped at her in confusion. "Nothing's going on between us."
"That's not what I heard," Ivy shot back with a wink before switching into drive and pulling out of her parking spot. "Apparently, you two were flirting like crazy outside of Biology this morning. Word is you fell on your ass while you were checking out his ass."
"People at this school are ridiculous," I muttered. "I can assure you that nothing is going on between me and Brad."
"Hmm." Ivy clicked her tongue as she pulled out into traffic. "Then what about you and Nathan?"
I just about choked on my own spit. "What about me and Nathan?"
"Don’t be coy," Ivy teased, casting a glance at me. "I heard all about big, bad Nathan Cole coming to your rescue when you fell – not to mention taking up for you at lunch when big brother had a go at you." Winking, she added, "It was all the girls could talk about at soccer practice – Dallas is mad as hell, too."
"Great," I whispered, feeling every ounce of blood in my body heat up and burn. With my hands clasped on my lap, I inhaled a deep calming breath before explaining to Ivy what had happened between Nathan and I the other night and how close we'd come to kissing.
"So you guys were like that close?" Ivy gasped as she pulled up outside my house and killed the engine. "Damn Jackson for interrupting you."
"And then Nate told me to forget it happened and that it was his mistake," I added dejectedly as I climbed out of my car.
"Of course you haven't forgotten it." Trailing into my house with me, she closed the door behind us and smiled. "You know; I think he wants you, Andi."