Kaylah gets out of my Charger and walks ahead. “You can’t ignore me forever,” I remind her.
“Shut up, dickhead. I can and I will,” she says over her shoulder, getting looks from the few girls around her.
I jog to catch up with her, throwing my arm over her shoulder, knowing just how much she hates it. “Come on. When are we going to talk this through? I’m your big brother and Henley’s your best friend.”
“Exactly my point,” she seethes, trying to keep her voice low. “She was my best friend and you screwed her. Both of you betrayed my trust. How am I supposed to trust you again? I’m at a new school thanks to you and now I’m too freaking scared to get close to any of the girls here because all I can think about is that you’re going to try and get them in bed the second my back is turned.”
“Who knows, maybe they’ll try and get me in bed,” I tease, earning myself a sharp glare. I let out a sigh. “What’s the big issue? I’ve been with your girlfriends before and you’ve never had a problem with it.”
Kaylah jams her elbow into my ribs before pushing me away and making my arm fall heavy at my side. “She was my best friend. Henley was the one person I could trust not to fall for your ridiculous charm and you couldn’t just let me have this one thing.”
“It’s not like I intentionally went out to sleep with her, it just sort of happened. It was a one-time thing.”
“Oh, great,” she says, throwing her hands up dramatically. “Well, I’m glad you ruined our relationship over a one-time thing. I hope she was worth it.”
Damn it.
Kaylah stomps off towards the entrance of Broken Hill High and I give her space to calm down. Going after her now will only result in a full-blown, sibling argument that I really don’t want to happen in the hallways of our new school where we each have our own battles to face.
I’m left behind in a cloud of doubt as I dawdle up to the entrance. I really fucked things up this time. Though being a fuck up just seems to come naturally to me.
Maybe it’s time to start turning things around. While everything is going great on the field, everything else is a disaster and what kind of man will I be if I let this shit continue? Despite the accident with Nate being just that; an accident, I’m still not proud of myself. I should have fought harder to clear the air, instead, I allowed it to spiral out of control into this monster that I can no longer handle.
I walk the corridors of the school, saying ‘hey’ to all the guys on the team who want to stop me and tell me all about the killer party we attended last night after winning yet another game, but dealing with Kaylah has a mood settling over me. I wish I could make things right with her. She’s my sister and although I royally screwed things up, she has to forgive me at some point…right?
I throw my things in my locker and try to prepare for my day. If I’m going to turn things around, then I need to start by mending bridges and what better way than to start with one that I’ve well and truly burned.
Being at Broken Hill High, I’ve quickly realized that there is never a shortage of drama, and without the football team to keep me grounded, I sure as hell would have found myself in worse trouble.
One thing’s for sure though, there’s one chick around here who can’t seem to keep herself away from trouble. Tora Fucking Roberts. She’s Nate girlfriend and because of that, she’s become an interest of mine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not interested in stealing her away from Nate, but I’ve certainly been enjoying messing with her to get under his skin. Maybe it’s time for that to end.
All things considered; Tora is a cool chick. She’s strong, loyal, and protective and she would stop at nothing to make sure her friends and family are safe.
I feel for Tora though, firstly, she has a boyfriend like Nate. He’s an A-class douche. At least, to me he is. Everyone else around here looks at him as though he’s some kind of king. He’s the hero of Broken Hill High and I just can’t get on board with that, but secondly, I feel for her because she was involved in one hell of a terrifying fire. In fact, it’s her first day back.
There was a party at Broken Hill Lake and after Tora managed to weasel her way under Nate’s skin, they had it out in the boat shed. They’d been gone for all of two seconds before the place went up in flames.
It all happened so quickly. One minute, I was helping myself to a beer, the next, bright orange flames were taking over the boat shed. Everyone ran. All differences were put aside as we quickly realized the door had been locked and the windows were unbreakable. We tore that fucker to pieces and eventually got them free.
Despite how I may feel about Nate, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It was easily one of the most terrifying moments of my life which only speaks volumes about how they would have been feeling at that moment.
Knowing she’s due back today, I peer down the hall and find Tora standing by her locker, busily trashing all the flowers, bears, and RIP signs that have been left in her honor. I don’t know who was dumber; the person who came up with the rumor that she was dead or the person who believed it and spread it around the school. It was ridiculous. I caught Jesse hundreds of times trying to explain to people that they were fine, but no matter what, people are going to believe what they want to believe.
Tora hands the bag of trash off to one of the teachers who I haven’t bothered to learn the name of and I find myself smirking as I walk towards her. I drop my shoulder into a locker and grin down at her, making it impossible for her to ignore me.
Here goes. Day one of operation ‘mending bridges.’
Tora groans as she realizes who’s standing before her, but I don’t let that stop me. “Well, you don’t look dead,” I tell her, gracing her with a smile that I’m sure looks more like a smirk, but hey; old habits die hard.
Tora lets out a frustrated huff before pretending to make herself busy so she doesn’t have to look up at me. “What do you want, Jackson?” she grumbles, trying to sound annoyed, but it comes out as more of a friend talking to another.
“I’m just checking you’re okay,” I question. “I saw the fire from the party.”
Tora huffs before turning and looking up at me through narrowed eyes. “Really? Lost any jackets lately?” she questions.
What the fuck is she talking about?
I scrunch my face in confusion. “What?” I grunt though it takes me only a moment to realize that she’s accusing me of something and a brief flash of anger sails through me. If she thinks I had anything to do with that fire then I’m going to be pissed. I handle my problems with my fists, not bullshit like endangering people’s lives. Some may question me, but truth be told, even I have limits that I won’t cross.
Tora’s eyes remain narrowed on me for a moment longer before the hard glare begins to fade. “Nothing,” she says, letting it go. “I’m fine.”
I nod, moving in a little closer. “Good. I was worried about you.”
“Are you kidding me, right now?” she snaps, raising a pissed off brow and making me hold back a chuckle. “Are you have bipolar or something? One minute you’re using me in your twisted games to get at Nate, and now you suddenly care if I got hurt or not?”
I grin down at her. “I’ve told you this a million times; I’m not the asshole you keep assuming me to be. Yes, I have a problem with your boyfriend. Me wanting to kick his ass isn't going to change, but that doesn't mean I have a problem with you too. I think you’re a cool chick, Tora. I didn’t like hearing that you got hurt. You didn’t deserve that.”
Tora looks taken back for a moment before slowly nodding her head. “Um…thanks,” she finally says, clearly unsure of what to make of the situation.
Not wanting to overwhelm her, knowing that she’s bound to get all sorts of people approaching her today, I nod and rake my eyes quickly over her body, double-checking that she is in fact ‘fine.’ I give her a tight smile before realizing that I’ve probably overstayed my welcome, not that I had any in the first place. “Yeah,” I say, shoving my hands in my pock
ets and turning away.
I walk away before looking back over my shoulder. I guess that went mostly well. She didn’t curse me out or anything so that’s a good sign.
A small body slams into mine and I launch out to catch the girl before me. “Shit,” I gasp, catching her just in time before she goes falling to the ground, only to realize she’s fucking stunning with her natural blonde hair and bright blue eyes, though I have absolutely no idea who she is. “Sorry.”
The girl narrows her eyes on me as she pulls her handbag back up to her shoulder and shrugs out of my hold. “Be more careful,” she reprimands, somehow making me feel like a child getting an ass whooping from an angry parent, though I have no idea how she does it. The girl is tiny, and fuck, she has a body to kill for.
Before I can even ask her name, she’s gone, hurrying down the hallway and getting lost in the crowded corridor. I look back once again before deciding it’s a lost cause. A girl who looks like that is probably taken and I don’t do chicks who come with baggage. In fact, I stay far away from that shit. I’ve already got enough trouble in my life. I don’t need any pissed off boyfriends coming to teach me a lesson. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s involved with one of Nate’s guys. All I know is that I’ve got to know more about her.
Chapter 3
Elle
My whole freaking chest hurts. Body slamming Jackson Millington first thing in the morning before I’ve had my coffee really wasn’t something I needed today. I didn’t realize he was so big, and damn, he smelled good too.
He’s the new quarterback of Broken Hill High so I shouldn’t have been surprised by how strong and tall he is. I had to tilt my head all the way up just to see his face, and my God, getting up close and personal with him was something I wasn’t prepared for. He has this sharp jaw that had me melting inside and eyes to die for, but more importantly, his hands on my upper arms, stopping me from falling face-first onto the ground had shivers taking over my skin. I couldn’t shrug him off fast enough.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I've been a cheerleader for most of my life with many footballer friends over the years. They've all been in incredible shape, so I can't understand why seeing Jackson up close like that was such a shock. I should be used to this, though maybe I’m a little out of practice. After all, I’ve been out of the game for a few months now and my self-confidence has taken a major dive.
Who cares, right? I have absolutely no intention to have any guys in my life. I don’t want that kind of drama anymore. I’ve been doing my best to avoid social activities at all costs unless it’s partying with my girls and letting loose.
It’s still strange calling them my girls. Being a part of their group is sort of a new thing for me, but I’ve never been so grateful. I think I might even go as far as to say that these girls have saved my life.
Only a few short months ago, I was a stranger to the person I am now. I was the typical cheer captain. I didn’t care about anything or anyone but myself. I didn’t have respect for my peers, I had no real friends, and I used the people around me to further my own agenda. To put it bluntly, I was a bitch, like a hardcore, mean bitch who didn’t let anyone stand in my way.
Who knew that Jesse Ryder had the ability to take me down? Well, I guess if anyone did have the power to do that, it’d be Jesse or his brother, Nate.
I made some mistakes. Okay, I made a shitload of mistakes, each one of them worse than the last. My biggest mistake had to be allowing my body to be used by two men who didn't respect me. That has changed now and those two guys could even be considered friends, but at the time, they were just pieces of man meat who I used to make myself feel good.
Yep, that’s right, I had a dirty threesome with Tyson and Puck and while it was some of the best sex I’ve ever had, it was used against me and once the whole school found out, I was slut-shamed in a way that not even the cheer captain could withstand or overcome.
Overnight, I’d become the local whore and people around here treated me like it.
I don’t get what the big deal is. Sex is fun and threesomes are better. Half the girls here are doing it and all the guys are begging for it, yet I was the one crucified for it. Girls at this school have done far worse, girls like the one who just followed me into the bathroom.
Phoenix Reilly.
If anyone around here should be crucified for being a whore, it’s the girl who seduced a guy, knowing he was her half-brother. I mean, that shit is just sick, but because that guy was the famous Jesse Ryder, her indiscretions were excused for the juicy details of how he was in bed. I’ve never felt sorry for Jesse Ryder until now.
To say the girls on the cheer squad have their priorities screwed up is an understatement. At least Phoenix was demoted from being the captain, but that doesn’t explain why I was completely shunned. After all, what Phoenix did was so much worse than just some summer fun threesome.
I turn towards the sink and look at myself in the mirror, trying to ignore the way Phoenix does the same. I let out a sigh. She hasn’t slut-shamed me all morning so she must be running late on her schedule. After all, it’s impossible to get through my day without some sort of bullshit flying out of her mouth.
“Well,” Phoenix says, pulling out her lip gloss as she grins at me through the lipstick-stained mirror. “If it isn’t the runt of the litter.”
I roll my eyes as I turn on the tap and try to tune out her running commentary, though I’m not going to lie, the comment stings. She’s referring to the squad being the litter and me being the one who wasn’t strong enough to make it. “What do you want, Phoenix?”
“Isn’t nationals going to be so much fun this year?” she beams, though the sickly sweet glimmer in her eyes tells me she knows exactly what she’s doing. Phoenix gasps, holding her hand over her glossed lips. “Oh, wait,” she pouts. “You won’t be there.”
Fuck me. How was I friends with this bitch for so long? Though having Tora, Brooke, Brylee, and Courtney in my life, I now realize what it means to actually have real friends.
“Is there something you need?” I ask, turning to face her while crossing my arms over my chest. I raise a brow as though speaking with this skank is beneath me, but to be honest, it really is. I may not be the cheer captain like I used to be, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to shut a bitch down. In fact, I was actually spectacularly good at it.
Phoenix’s eyes bulge, but she quickly reins in her shock. She hadn’t expected that. She thought I’d bow out like I’ve become so accustomed to over the past few months, but when you become predictable, that’s when you become an easy target.
Phoenix steps into me, trying to appear intimidating, but she should know this shit won’t work on me. I’ve been around it too long. Had she tried it on an innocent, sweet soul like Brylee, it probably would have worked, but this is an error in judgment that’s going to come back and bite her on the ass.
“You’re nothing,” Phoenix whispers. “All those years I stood in your shadow and now look at you. You’re a loser. I’m standing in your spotlight and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Your team is mine. Your friends are mine. Your life is mine. I own you.”
I step closer, meeting her challenge as I raise my chin. “You own me? I’ve never heard such bullshit. You might have swooped in and stole my position, but you were there by default. I was voted in, I earned it, you,” I scoff, “you just fell into it. They respected me, but they tolerate you. You’re the one with nothing, Phoenix. I have the world at my feet, and even without being on the team, you’re still walking in my shadow. You know it’s interesting how you go to all this effort to expose your relationship with Nate and Jesse, but where are they now? I don’t see your brothers standing by your side. In fact, if they walked in here right now, you know whose side they’d be standing on? Yeah, that’s right. Mine. You really fucked that one up, didn’t you?”
Phoenix’s eyes narrow on me as she shoots a sharp glare right into my soul, but she can’t hu
rt me, not anymore. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” she warns. “You better watch your mouth.”
I grin. “Tell me, Phoenix, why is it the girls are still using my choreography? What happened to yours? Oh, that’s right. It was shit, just like you were as a captain. Geez, you certainly lost that crown quickly. I’ve never seen someone tumble down from the top quite so fast. Are you okay? That fall would have hurt.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she repeats through a clenched jaw.
“Oh, come on, Phoenix,” I laugh. “You and I both know that no matter what you do, you’ll never be able to take me down. I may not be on the team anymore, but I’m still a fucking boss bitch. Come at me all you want, but just know that I will be there to take you down every single time.”
“Watch yourself,” she murmurs low as the bell sounds, signaling the beginning of the school day. “You don’t want to start a war with me.”
“You’re the one who followed me in here and started this, and don’t act as though I don’t see right through you. You cornered me in here so you wouldn’t have an audience because you’re scared of me. You always have been because if anyone was going to steal your crown, it’d be me, but you know what? I don’t want it. It’s worthless and a joke, just like you are. So, no, Phoenix, I don’t start wars. You know me better than that. I finish them.”
With that, I turn my back and stride out of the bathroom, leaving her behind, hopefully, to never have to deal with again.
As I break out into the corridor of busy students rushing by, a grin splits across my face. Fuck it felt good to flex my metaphorical muscles and finally put that bitch in her place.
I hurry down to my locker and quickly grab what I need for my morning classes and find Brylee and Courtney. “What are you so happy about?” Brylee questions as Puck steps in beside Courtney and drops his arm over her shoulder, pulling her into his side.
Jackson: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 2) Page 2