Elle – You’re a dick!
Jackson – And you’ve got the softest lips I’ve ever kissed.
I watch her patiently and love the way she beams as she reads over the text. Her bottom lip is drawn in between her teeth and her cheeks lift into two perfectly round globes that make her look like an angel. That goddamn smile is everything.
Students flood the hallway and I want nothing more than to make them disappear so I can have a moment alone with Elle, but the shocked gasps and devastating heartbreak across every female’s face tells me that a fellow soldier has fallen. When I hear my sister’s name whispered on their gossipy lips, they finally get my attention.
“She’s such a whore,” one girl spits. “Why’s he with her anyway? She’s not even pretty.”
My eyes narrow on the preppy bitch. She better not be talking about my baby sister like that. I’ll fucking drop her ass, or at least, I’ll get one of these other chicks to do it. I’m not against kicking ass, but when it comes to a woman, I draw the line.
The girl’s friend replies. “What does it matter anyway? Jesse’s just fucking with her because of Jackson. He’ll dump her sorry ass in a few days and then he’ll be back open for business.”
“The fuck did you just say?” I roar, pushing off my locker and stepping right in front of the two girls, demanding not just their attention but everyone in the whole fucking hallway. If Elle couldn’t spot me before, I don’t doubt she has any issues now.
The girls gape up at me but the one on the right recovers quicker and looks more than happy to deliver the news. In fact, she looks downright thrilled about it. “That’s right, Jesse Ryder is getting naked with your little sister. I guess he’s lowered his standards or she’s finally stepping up and making a name for herself here. Either way, it needs to come to an end because Jesse is mine. I’ve been trying to get him in bed all year.”
I clench my jaw, balling my hands into fists at my side. “Jesse Ryder is dating my sister?”
“Not just dating,” the other girl says. “Apparently, they’re like a full-on thing now.”
I shake my head as the fury rips through me. I spin on my heel. There’s only one person here who’ll give me the fucking answers I’m looking for and one other who needs to explain himself.
I start my way down to Tora before leaning into her locker and demanding her full attention. She looks up at me and rolls her eyes, but the distaste that she used to have in her eyes is completely gone. Though right now, I can’t seem to care.
“Oh, the horror,” Tora says with thick sarcasm. “Please don’t beat me up or total my car.”
“Not funny,” I snap, trying to hold it together as Elle watches me closely, unsure what the hell is going on. “Did you know?”
“Know what?” Tora questions, narrowing her eyes at me.
“About Jesse and my sister.” A fond grin stretches wide over Tora’s face and just like that, I know it’s true. “Damn it, Tora,” I demand, slamming my fist into her locker as the anger overwhelms me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What?” she scoffs. “Why would I? It’s not my business to be telling you who your sister’s been screwing.”
Fuck no.
“He’s screwing her?” I roar, making my voice bounce off every wall in the fucking school. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
I push off Tora’s locker and start forcing my way down the corridor, shoving fuckers out of my way who are too damn slow to move on their own. Tora hurries after me and I don’t doubt that Elle is following right along.
“Stop,” Tora yells, grabbing hold of my elbow and tugging hard to get me to stop. “He really likes her.”
She’s fucking kidding, right? Is that shit supposed to make this okay? My sister will not be dating a guy like Jesse Ryder. He’ll make a fucking joke of her and crush her just to get at me. No, I won’t allow it. He can get at me all he likes, but Kaylah is off-limits.
“I don’t give a shit,” I tell her, dragging her along until she drops off my arm. “She’s too good for that piece of shit. No way is he going to defile my baby sister.”
“Jesse’s a good guy,” she says, defending his honor as though the prick deserves it.
“Bullshit,” I throw over my shoulder. “He’ll chew her up and spit her out like last night’s trash, and then guess who’s going to have to clean up the pieces? Me, that’s who. I’m not having it.”
“What the hell is happening?” Brooke asks before she starts walking backward to continue her line of questioning.
“Jackson just found out that Jesse is dating Kaylah,” Tora laughs as though she actually finds this shit amusing. “He wants to kick his ass.”
“Oooooh,” Brooke grins, grabbing Elle’s hand and pulling her along. “I’m not missing this.”
I storm into the junior hallway and instantly zone in on Jesse at the other end, fucking around at his locker and I grin to myself. I’m taking this bastard down once and for all. That is until a petite blonde catches my eye and I suddenly have a brand new target.
“Hey,” I yell, knowing my sister would recognize my voice and tone anywhere.
Kaylah’s head whips around and her eyes bulge out for a brief second, telling me that she knows exactly why I’m here. She quickly rights herself and slaps on her tough girl attitude before raising her chin in defiance. “What do you want?”
I step right up in front of her. “Tell me it’s not true.”
Kaylah raises a brow as she crosses her arms over her chest then follows it up by jutting out a hip just to be a bitch. “What’s not true?”
“That you’re dating that….that thing,” I spit in disgust, indicating down the hallway towards Jesse. Kaylah cringes and rage sails through me. “Shit, Kaylah,” I sigh. “Anyone but him.”
“Leave it alone,” she tells me. “I can date whoever the fuck I want.”
“Over my dead body. Don’t be such a fucking idiot.”
A hand slams into my chest and I’m pushed back away from Kaylah by a furious Jesse. “Hey,” he roars. “Leave her alone.”
I scoff as I look at the kid who’s about to meet his fucking maker, the one who assumes he can take my sister and do whatever the fuck he pleases with her. “Stay the fuck out of this.”
Jesse’s eyes flare as everyone around us starts calling out for a fight. I know the look in his eyes, I’ve seen it a million times before and I relish in the fact that he’s just as ready to go as I am.
A small body steps in between me and Jesse. “Cut it out,” Tora demands, putting her hands on each of our chests and trying to shove us away from each other. She looks towards Jesse. “Cool your jets. If I get another suspension for trying to break up another fight, Nate is going to have your balls. Besides, this is not a good way to impress Kaylah.”
I roll my eyes. “He doesn’t need to be impressing Kaylah.”
Tora groans, looking up at me. “You shut up. You’re not helping.”
Has she lost her fucking mind? As if I’m trying to help the situation. I am the fucking situation and Jesse’s face under my fucking shoe is my end game. “I don’t give a shit.”
“Yo, what the fuck is going on here?” Nate demands, inserting himself to where he doesn’t belong after giving Tora a curious glance.
“This piece of shit thinks it’s okay to fuck over my sister.”
“What?” Nate grunts as Jesse growls, “I’m not going to fuck her over.”
Tora looks to Jesse in shock. “You haven’t told him?”
“You knew?” Nate snaps back at her.
“Well, duh,” she scoffs. “Who do you think convinced him to find some balls and actually ask her out?”
“You did this?” I demand, hating that she was the one who thought it’d be a great idea to put the fucking idea in Jesse’s head that Kaylah was fair game.
“Hey,” Nate growls. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”
“Alright,” Tyson says, pushing his way into our tight circle an
d forcing Jesse back a few steps. “This is stupid. Cut the shit.”
“Agreed,” Tora says looking up at me. “You need to go find your sister and apologize for being such a douche,” she orders, making my eyes flick around the group of dickheads around me only to realize that she’s right; Kaylah is fucking gone. Tora glares at Jesse and continues before I even get a chance to respond. “And when he’s done, you need to apologize for being a douche. She’s not going to appreciate this shit. Trust me, no girl wants to put up with a guy who’s going to beat the shit out of her brother every Christmas.”
Fucking Christmas. Yeah, fucking right. Like hell I’d let it go on that long.
I glare down at Tora, thrilled to have someone to blame for this bullshit. “You need to fix this.”
“Fix it?” she scoffs. “Can’t you see this is good?”
“Don’t bother,” Nate grunts watching Tora with irritation. “Jess will fuck it up soon enough.”
“Are you kidding me?” Tora shrieks. “Your brother asked out a girl instead of screwing and leaving her. This is a big fucking deal. How can you not see that?”
“Anyone but her,” he scoffs.
My hands ball into fists once again. Did he just disrespect my baby sister? “What the fuck is wrong with her?”
“She shares your DNA,” Nate claps back.
“Jesus Christ,” Tora says, throwing her hands up in frustration as her face becomes red with anger. “Both of you dickheads stop. Be happy for them and leave it the hell alone.”
I shake my head before glaring at Tora one last time and stalking away. I’m done with this shit. If I stick around, Jesse is bound to get flattened and Tora’s right, I need to be sorting this shit out with Kaylah.
But now is not the time. I grab my stuff from my locker and fuck off out of here. Needing time to myself, I stop by the local football field and grab my old ball from the backseat of my car. Nothing beats time alone. If I was to talk to Kaylah now, we’re both bound to say things that are just going to make it worse.
I walk out into the middle of the field and with one solid kick, I send the ball sailing over the goalposts at the far end, hoping that I can somehow manage to find a little normal in this shit storm that seems to be my life.
Chapter 9
Elle
I lean into my bathroom mirror and open my mouth like an idiot as I focus on applying an even layer of mascara when my phone starts going nuts on my bedside table.
I ignore it for a second and finish off my mascara before waltzing back into my bedroom and pulling my phone free from its charger. I find a text from Jesse and my brows instantly pull down.
What the hell could he want this early in the morning? I very rarely get texts from him and when I do, they’re either insults or asking for nudes. Though, now that he’s with Kaylah, I can assume this text is most likely an insult or yet another warning to keep away from Jackson.
After their little showdown in the junior hallway, there’s been a little tension between the two. Okay, that’s an understatement. They hate each other. It’s impossible to be in the same room with both of them and not feel the tension. Though, having said that, I don’t think Jesse’s warning is really warranted anymore.
Jackson seems to have fallen in with our group of friends and to be honest, I kind of like having him there. He’s like a slightly less annoying version of Jesse. Maybe it’s their similar personalities that have them butting heads so much. It’s sad really. If they could just get past their differences, they’d probably be good friends.
I light up the screen of my phone and open Jesse’s text.
Jesse – Get your ass down to the paintball arena. It’s Tora’s birthday and it’s going to be fucking EPIC!!!!
A grin stretches wide over my face.
Hell Fucking Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been needing.
Elle – I’m in. I’ll be there in 10.
Jesse – Bring me some snacks.
I hit delete on that last message and pretend I never received a damn thing. The fucker can get his own damn snacks.
I rush through the rest of my makeup and put my hair straightener away, opting for a messy bun instead. After all, if I’m spending my morning kicking Nate and Jesse’s asses, then I intend to be prepared and ready.
Hurrying out to my car, I unlock the beautiful thing and resist throwing myself over the top, deciding a little class is always best. I open the door and get in like a regular human being before driving just a little faster than the speed limit in my need to have a great day out. The sun is shining and it’s perfect weather to mess around with friends.
I pull up at the paintball arena, proud of myself for remembering how to get here. I’ve never actually done this before. I’ve never had the kind of friends willing to get themselves dirty, but things have changed and I couldn’t be more excited. Maybe I should have brought some warrior face paint and then the girls and I could really dress the part, but then, knowing Brylee, she’s probably already thought of it.
As I cut my engine, a black charger pulls into the lot and parks beside me with a grinning Jackson in the front seat and a scowling Kaylah beside him, most likely pissed off for having to deal with her brother at this time of the morning.
Surprise rocks through me. I don’t know why though. I should have expected him to be here, but for some reason, the thought hadn’t even entered my mind. I’m not going to lie though, I kind of like the idea of spending a fun day like this with him. I haven’t had the pleasure of having his lips on mine since that night at my place so maybe today is my lucky day and I’m going to get way more than what I bargained for.
Kaylah’s eyes come to mine and her scowl instantly disappears and I see a challenge brimming in her eyes. I grin to myself. That girl has one mission and one mission only. To take out her brother and I’ve never been so on board.
Kaylah and Jackson get out of his Charger and not a second later, Jackson’s arm falls over my shoulder before leading me towards our friends.
I don’t miss the way both Nate and Jesse narrow their eyes on him, but I couldn’t care less. Today is about Tora, not their bullshit rivalry. Besides, maybe it’s time for the Ryder brothers to realize that Jackson has become a permanent fixture in our group and they need to kiss and make up.
Jesse hardly gives me a second to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Tora before he’s splitting us into two groups; boy verse girl. I step out from under Jackson’s arm and he has the audacity to look offended. “Game on, Casanova.”
His brows shoot up. “Oh, is that how it’s going to be?”
“Damn straight,” I laugh as Jesse pulls me back towards the group of girls, though I’m confused as to why he’s over here, though this is Jesse so I should have learned by now to never be surprised.
“You better not be fraternizing with the enemy,” he warns me.
I roll my eyes. This is going to be so much fun.
----------
I stand beside Kaylah, both of us with our guns ready and battle paint on. We’ve got this, but more importantly, we’re taking Jackson down and we don’t care how sneaky we have to be to make it happen. Hell, we’ll cheat if we have to, but neither of us will stop until the job is done.
The buzzer sounds and we all stand a little taller. “You guys ready?” Tora questions, looking around at each of us, eyes narrowed with her battle face on.
“Hell yeah,” Courtney cheers, fist-pumping the sky with her paintball gun. “I want to nail Puck right in the ass.”
“That’s the spirit,” Brooke laughs before a sly devilish tone takes over. “I’m going to nail Max right in the balls.”
“Ooooh,” Jesse cringes, grabbing his junk and probably reconsidering if this is a good idea. After all, it turns out that Tora has requested his presence on the girl team to be her human shield so she can take down her boyfriend and enjoy Jesse being shot up close and personal.
“Alright, ladies,” Tora says. “Let’s do this.”
The gi
rls and I make our way out of our little hidey-hole and take a look around. The field has been set up with obstacles and targets, but I won’t be aiming for any of them as I already have a specific target in mind.
We all break into different directions. Kaylah sticks to me like glue and we dart behind a huge tree. Courtney and Bry hurry off to the left, also taking the ‘two is better than one’ approach while Jesse and Tora take off in a different direction. Brooke though, her determination is something that doesn’t come around often. She darts forward, going with a surprise attack and shocking us all.
With everyone now exactly where they want to be, this ultimate game of chicken can finally get started.
Kaylah and I get comfortable, peeking our heads out around our tree, patiently waiting for our target, only we don’t have to wait long as he darts across the field, roaring his battle cry. Kaylah and I burst into laughter as we realize that Nate most likely sent him out as bait. But who are we to let Nate’s grand plan down?
We take the bait. After all, it was offered up to us on a silver platter.
Kaylah and I take off after Jackson, guns out and ready as everyone else jumps into action. Paintballs fly and Jackson howls with laughter, knowing we’ll never be able to catch him, not with all his football training.
Jackson gets close to the arena’s edge and loops around, but in doing so nearly runs headfirst into Brylee. She screams out as he tries to dodge her, but when they both step the same way, they collide with an almighty crash. Jackson throws his arms out to protect her as they fall and I grin at how he never once raised his gun at her.
“Oh, fuck,” Jackson breathes, realizing he’s in a bad situation.
Brylee scrambles to her feet before trying to get hold of her gun, but Kaylah comes shooting in, determined not to allow Brylee to take her prize.
Jackson fights to get to his feet but Kaylah surprises me with her motivation and throws herself at her brother, slamming a foot against his chest and forcing him back to the ground. He doesn’t have the same reservations for his sister as he did with Bry and goes for his gun. But Kaylah gets in there first, shooting three perfectly round orange paintballs at his chest.
Jackson: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 2) Page 7