Hearts and Bruises (Hearts Series Book 1)

by A. M. Brooks

  "What?" I asked, totally confused at what she thought was so funny.

  "You just put the Kings down. And you're new. It's like social suicide." Yet she continued laughing. Soon I was laughing too as we found a place closer to the fire. Being away from Darrian's watchful eyes and the awareness of the Kings left me feeling chilled suddenly. The adrenaline was starting to leave my body. Despite my dad's enthusiasm, I didn't believe Araminta would be my home for long. I didn't care what these people thought of me and I wouldn't get attached like always.

  News of my disregard for one of the Kings spread fast through the party. Guys gave me looks of admiration bordering on questioning my sanity while girls looked at me like I was just crazy. Ethan glanced at me often, a sad expression on his face. I could see him from my seat by the bonfire, but no one came over by us. Lily was enjoying the “peace and quiet” as she put it. Besides her, only one other girl came over and introduced herself. Hannah was also new this year and would be a junior like me. Her light auburn hair cut right under her jaw and her blue eyes darted around in excitement. I liked Hannah right away, she seemed quiet and a little timid, but she was nice. The three of us discovered we shared a love of Criminal Minds and coffee. Lily informed us the best coffee shop, Smallest Bean, was on the way to school that she stopped at every morning. Like me, Hannah moved a lot. Unlike me, both her parents were in the military. She wanted to stop moving so she could fit in and make friends, also, unlike me. Moving had become part of who I was. I learned to embrace it. High school sucked, and I couldn’t wait ‘til I was in college where it was reasonable that I would leave my dad and stay on one campus in one town.

  “Hmm, Jeff Henderson is looking at you, Nora.” Lily flicked her eyes over my shoulder. I shrugged.

  “What do you know about him?” Hannah asked innocently taking a drink from her own cup.

  “He seems decent enough,” Lily answered. “He’s not really up to par with the Kings but...attractive. Captain of the football team.”

  I made a face.

  “Don’t like athletes?” Hannah asked giggling.

  “They’re not bad,” I sighed feeling exasperated. “It’s just that something about the quarterback of the football team...always seems to be a cliché.”

  “I think you like that word.” Lily pointed at me.

  “I think it fits everything about high school.” I stuck my tongue out at her.

  “Mmm, well, the football quarterback slash captain cliché is walking this way,” Hannah warned as she sipped another drink.

  “Lily,” a deep southern drawl floated over me. “Ladies, how is your night goin’, darlin’?”

  “Not bad Jeff,” Lily responded. “How about yours?”

  “Not bad,” he said. “Could be better if you’d introduce me to these lovely women.”

  “This is Hannah, and this is Nora,” Lily said. I finally shifted my gaze behind me. Jeff was blonde and blue-eyed. A small dimple pushed in his cheek. He was tan and built like a football player. Not at all my type, but attractive enough. The southern drawl was sort of a turn-on too. Hannah must have been thinking the same thing, her cheeks were pink, and she couldn’t take her eyes off Jeff.

  “I’ve heard about you darlin’,” Jeff said over his cup, tilting it at me.

  “Then you know I’m a lot of fun,” I said, winking at him. I could flirt a little. Did not mean anything was happening though. Jeff laughed.

  “And what about you, suga’?” he asked, looking at Hannah. She turned pink.

  “I just moved here. I’ll be a junior this fall.” Her voice floated out softly and innocently. Jeff grinned. Predator meet prey ran through my mind. Lily didn’t look worried though, so I let it slide.

  “Can I get you another?” Jeff nodded to Hannah’s drink.

  “Sure,” she said, standing up and dusting off her white jean skirt. I watched them disappear over by the other keg in the distance.

  “Maybe little Hannah isn’t as innocent as she says she is,” Lily smirked. “How about you, Nora...innocent?”

  I laughed. “I’ve dated a few guys. I sort of gave up though, the more times we moved.”

  “Let me guess, the last guy took your V-card then cheated on you with your best friend?”

  I chuckled. “Close...only, not my best friend. It was our English teacher.” I slammed the rest of my drink back.

  “What the fuck,” Lily said, her mouth hanging open.

  “Oh yeah,” I told her. “Lots of drama. To be fair though, I did plan to break up with him before I found out, because we were moving.”

  “What about the teacher?” Her smile was barely containable.

  “I think she got fired, but I’m not sure.” I shrugged my shoulders at her.

  “Jeezuss girl.” She was shaking her head. “No wonder you have brass balls.”

  It felt good to laugh and talk with Lily. It was easy to pretend I wasn’t in another new place and already made a name for myself. I would definitely miss this girl when I leave.

  The sky grew darker with little sparks of light scattered across. The bonfire raged on and people became a little less uptight. Several people had stopped by our spot to say hello to Lily. Most of them stopped ignoring me, most of them just wanted to know who I was. I scanned the crowd and saw Ethan still sitting by Elijah and Darrian. Disappointment grew in my stomach. I had thought he would be a decent friend. The girls were sitting by their boyfriends nearby but distant from the guys.

  My body tingled when my eyes met Darrian's. He rubbed his hand across his jaw while he studied me. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of blinking first. He didn't scare me.

  "Hey, I'm kind of worried about Hannah," Lily said to me. She was standing and scanning the crowd.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, still having a private stare down with the King.

  "Nothing, I hope. It's just she and Jeff disappeared a while ago."

  "So..." I said.

  "Well, it's just the cliché you mentioned, Jeff isn't a bad guy, but he isn't a saint. Hannah just seems so innocent." Lily was hopping up and down to look farther over the crowd, wringing her hands together.

  I stood, feeling uneasy as I watched Lily become panicked. I let my eyes slide away from Darrian and grabbed Lily by the hand. "Let's just split up and look. We'll feel better if we at least know she's okay." Lily took off over by the kegs where Hannah and Jeff had been earlier. I decided to head away from the party farther down the beach. All night, couples had come and gone from that direction. Dread was icing my veins as I kept walking. Lily knew these people better and if she was worried, then I was really worried.

  Not surprising, the darker parts of the beach were scattered with a few couples making out. A few others were thinking they were secretive and skinny dipping in the ocean. I kept my eyes averted not wanting to see anyone's bitties. The wind was picking up and I hugged myself tighter to keep out the chill. I had reached the dunes and was going to turn around when a muffled noise caught my attention. I snuck closer and saw Hannah on the ground with Jeff on top of her. A second look had me realizing she was struggling and his hand was over her mouth. Not thinking about it, I ran over and shoved at Jeff with my whole body, sending me off balance. My arm scratched on nearby driftwood sending sharp pains up and down my skin. He fell to his side wiping his mouth with his hand.

  "What the fuck bitch?" His eyes were murderous, the gentlemanly southern drawl disappearing.

  "Come on Hannah," I said, trying to pull her up using my good arm. She was crying and trying to adjust her clothes. Red splotches covered her chest. I felt angry about what had almost happened to her.

  "I asked you a question," Jeff said, ripping my hand away from Hannah.

  "Get fucked!" I seethed at him, my eyes narrowed as I struggled to free my hand from his. I reached down again to help Hannah get up and he knocked my arm away. I shoved him again, trying to create some space.

  "Bitch," the word flew out of his mouth. I tensed as he was about to launch
himself at me, only the impact didn't come. Another body came out of nowhere, clocking Jeff right under the jaw. He dropped to the sand, unconscious. Hannah screamed as she ducked down out of the way, tucking her legs under her arms, still crying and shaking. I leaned down to soothe her.

  "Come on," his voice said right next to me. When I looked up, Darrian was holding out his hands to pull me up. I let him. The instant my skin made contact with his, warm currents shot down my arms chasing the chill away. He started to pull me back toward the party.

  "I can't leave her," I said, dragging my feet. He looked back at me, his eyes narrowing at Hannah. She hadn’t moved since Jeff’s body fell next to her. I heard a low “fuck” come out of his mouth as he made his way back over to her. Not caring, he lifted her effortlessly into his arms and carried her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head, continuing to cry.

  A flash of jealousy shot through me, but I shook it away. He was helping a girl who was almost taken advantage of. I needed to remember Darrian was fascinating, but he was a dick. We made it back up the beach when Lily suddenly ran up to us.

  “Oh my God! Is she okay?”

  Darrian set Hannah to her feet. She looked exhausted, but her crying had stopped.

  “Take her to Ethan, tell him to drive her home and to make sure she gets inside.”

  Lily snorted. “Yeah, like he’s going to leave if I tell him.”

  “Tell him I said to then.” His jaw flexed. My fingers itched to rub across it. Where did that come from?

  “Okay,” Lily said, taking Hannah under her arm. “Damn girl! Your arm is bleeding,” she said, pointing at me.

  I looked down. Sure enough, a red streak was running down the back of my forearm. “Oh yeah. Happened when I hit Jeff,” I explained, shrugging my shoulders. With everything else that had happened, I had forgotten I was cut.

  “You hit Jeff?” Lily exclaimed loudly.

  “Lily.” Darrian crossed his arms.

  “Sorry.” Lily pouted at him then turned to smile at me. “Call me later. I want to hear everything.” We watched her walk to Ethan with Hannah. I saw Ethan glance at us then he followed Lily toward the cars.

  “Come with me,” Darrian softly said in my ear, tingles raced over my arms and legs again. I wondered if he knew he was doing that. The smirk on his face made me believe he did. He tugged on my good arm, making me follow him. We walked to a black Jeep that had the cover pulled back. He opened the passenger side and pulled a box out of the glove compartment.

  “You have a first aid kit,” I said stupidly, not able to comprehend it. With his hard exterior, Darrian seemed more like the live-dangerously-embrace-scars-and-wounds type of guy.

  “Sometimes the coral is hard to see when we’re surfing,” he shrugged. Of course he surfed. I loved to surf. Looking at the back of the Jeep, I noticed for the first time where a long yellow and orange board was strapped. He took my arm again and gently turned it to the side. I winced slightly then caught him staring at me. Without saying anything, he rubbed a clear salve on the cut and gently wrapped a Band-Aid over it. Darrian King had just patched my wound.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled. I did not want to feel indebted to him.

  “You should be more careful,” he said, putting his box back in the glove compartment. I rolled my eyes.

  “Yeah, okay. Well, thanks again, bye,” I said, starting to walk away. He saved me, wrapped my wound, and now wanted to lecture me on safety after being a jackass earlier tonight.

  “Nora,” he said my name sternly. For some reason my name on his tongue caused a slow fire to spread through my belly. I turned back to face him, but he had already reached me.

  “What, Darrian?” I suddenly was tired. The adrenaline and my buzz had long worn off and we were far away from the fire and the people.

  “Let me take you home.” His eyes bored into mine.

  “My ride is over there.” I pointed to my SUV.

  “You can get it tomorrow.”

  I watched as he shoved his hands in his pockets, his forearms rippling.

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll bring you.”

  “You’ll bring me?” My voice dripped with sarcasm. I folded my arms across my chest waiting for the verbal blows he could deliver.

  Instead, a smile tugged at his full lips, and a little hoop piercing pushed out. “We could get breakfast too.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “Wouldn’t want to just invite anyone, would you?” I reminded him of the words he had used to describe me earlier. Without knowing anything about me, he had disregarded my existence or assumed I was just someone wanting to latch onto Ethan.

  Darrian’s face darkened. He stepped closer, bringing his chest right against mine. He was warm and solid. His scent swirled around me. The ocean, sandalwood, and a hint of smoke from the bonfire. His hand pushed back the hair that was rioting around me. His hand warm and slightly rough tucked the strands behind my ears. I shivered.

  “You aren’t just anybody though, are you?” His eyes roamed my face. I was taking him in just as intently. His eyebrows thick and dark slanted over his grey eyes, which now that he was closer, I could see the irises were outlined with a darker blue. His jaw was strong and square. I was beginning to like the muscle that jumped there. I wanted to kiss it.

  “No,” I told him. My heart leaping as his eyes looked down to my lips. “I’m not.”

  Those large hands cupped my face, I inhaled him in before his lips were on mine. The metal from the hoop gave a delicious bite against my lip as our mouths slid together. The force tipped my head back causing me to reach out to steady myself, my hands landed against his sides. Hard muscled abs flexed against my fingers. Darrian growled from the pressure, his mouth more urgent. His tongue slid against mine. He tasted as good as he smelled. I felt myself turning into a puddle. My insides warmed, and heat was building between my legs.

  A loud laugh startled me suddenly. I pulled away from that kiss, breathing heavily and thankful that shadows hid the heat in my cheeks. A small group walked past us. Darrian kept his head down, his eyes stayed focused on my face. I met his look, he looked just as shaken as me. I let everything I was feeling pour out of me for him to see. He grasped my fingers in his and led me back over to his Jeep, opening the door for me. Not thinking twice, I got in.

  "So," he said, jumping into the driver’s side and starting the engine.

  "Yeah." My voice still thick. He laughed.

  "No, I mean so where do you live?"

  "Oh." I shook my head, laughing with him. "That's embarrassing."

  "No, it's not." He rubbed his thumb over my fingers. "I feel the same way." I turned my head, watching him. He kept his face forward, he seemed softer, more relaxed. A far cry from the guy I first met who had made me feel little and insignificant.

  He followed the directions my Siri gave him. We wound our way back up the hills, the ocean disappearing in the distance. I kept trying to remind myself that this was the same asshole who insulted me a few hours before he saved me, cleaned up my injury, then kissed the fuck out of me. Just because he wanted to drive me home and have breakfast in the morning, didn’t mean he was a nice guy. If I had learned anything tonight, it was that the Kings kept to themselves and looked out for only the few select they chose to have as friends...and we were not friends.

  “I want to do it again too.” His voice floated through the air. He was glancing at me. I realized subconsciously I had been running my fingers over my lips, remembering how his had felt against mine. I flushed because he had caught me. He laughed.

  It didn’t take long until we pulled into my driveway. The front lights were still on and the rest of the house looked as dark as I had left it.

  “You just move in?” Darrian asked. I looked where he was looking at the small stack of boxes by the garbage.

  “Uh yeah,” I said, unbuckling. “Today actually.” I laughed. Things were moving fast in this place.
>
  “Your parents home?” he asked.

  “My dad?” I asked, shaking my head. “Doubtful, he will probably be out for a while.”

  “Will you be okay here?” He trailed his fingers down my face when I turned to him.

  I shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

  “Where is your phone?” He flipped on a small light by the dashboard so I could find it. I handed it to him.

  “You have my number.” I heard my ringtone as he handed it back to me. “Now I have yours. Call me if you need me.”

  “I’ll be fine, but thank you,” I told him. “And thank you again for this.” I pointed at my arm.

  “No problem. I’ll pick you up at nine,” he said. Both his hands cupping my face again, he kissed me softly, this kiss much different than our first.

  “Goodnight, Darrian,” I said, pulling back slowly. I hated leaving the warmth of his body, but I craved the sanctuary of my new room to figure my head out. I got out and made it inside the door before he sped off.

  The house was quiet as I made my way up to my room. I was suddenly thankful I had decided to make up my bed earlier. Feeling exhausted from the night’s events, I quickly threw on some cotton shorts and put my hair in a ponytail. Laying on the bed, I stared at my phone realizing I wanted to text Darrian, but I didn’t know what I’d say. I barely knew him, but I wanted to talk to him again already. The idea terrified me. I was acting like a girl with a crush and that was dangerous territory. Frustrated, I placed my phone on the nightstand before turning over to sleep. Thoughts of pale grey eyes swirled in my head as I closed my eyes and fell fully asleep for the first time in a long time.

  A muffled ding woke me from my favorite dream of Mom and me at the beach. Normally we were looking for seashells, this time it was as if she was trying to explain something to me. I rolled over finding my phone hidden under my pillow. Three texts from Darrian lit up my screen. I shot up out of bed scanning them, noticing it was fifteen minutes to nine.

  Darrian: Did you sleep okay?

  Darrian: Good morning beautiful, are you up?