Broken Hill High (Broken Hill High #1)(37)

“What do you want, Jesse?” Josh grunts as he focuses all his attention on him.

“Not much. I was just about to steal Tora away.”

“Tough shit,” Josh replies with a heavy scowl, making it clear just how much he doesn’t like Jess. “She was coming with us to talk things out.”

“Oh,” Jesse says, feigning surprise before looking down at me. “Were you busy?”

“Nope,” I tell him. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Are you serious, right now?” Elle cuts in with her signature attitude. “We’re trying to do something nice for you.”

“Right,” Jesse says, releasing his arm off my shoulder and stepping forward towards Elle. “I know all about the ‘nice’ thing you wanted to do for Tora, and let me tell you, it ain’t going to happen. Not unless you want word of what you did at Ty’s party last month to get out.”

Her face drains of all color as her eyes widen in horror. She flicks her eyes to me and then back to Jesse before swallowing her pride. “Come on, Josh,” she says, not removing her glare off Jesse. “We should go.”

“What?” he grunts. “No way.”

“Josh,” Elle demands. “Let’s go.” With that, she turns and walks away.

Josh’s eyes narrow on me before he realizes he’s completely alone here. He lets out a small huff before turning and following Elle, though I get the feeling that he’s not quite finished with me. He wants his revenge and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.

Jesse turns back to me with a grin the size of Texas across his face. “You’re welcome,” he says before nodding and pretending to tip his non-existent hat to me.

“I’m welcome?” I scoff. “I totally had that handled. I didn’t need your big head getting involved.”

“Bullshit,” he says. “You would have caved out of curiosity.”

My mouth drops and I go to call him out when Brooke cuts me off. “Speaking of curiosity,” she says. “What the hell happened at Tyson’s party?”

Jesse's eyes cut across to Brooke before he winks and draws his fingers across his lips, pretending to zip them. She rolls her eyes but he doesn’t see as he turns his attention back on me. “Come on,” he tells me before walking off.

“What? I’m not going anywhere with you,” I call behind him.

He stops and looks back at me. “Hurry up,” he demands.

I let out a sigh before looking back at the girls. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“No, she won’t,” he tells them.

I shake my head and wave goodbye before following Jesse up towards the school. “Would you wait up?” I say.

We walk into the hallway with the senior lockers and Jesse stops right beside mine. “You should probably get your things. You won’t be coming back today.”

“Huh?” I grunt as I stare at him blankly. “Where the hell are we going?”

“No fucking clue,” he says before nodding towards my locker. “Make it quick.”

I cross my arms over my chest and give him an impatient look as I lean against the locker. “I’m not ditching school.”

“Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?” he groans before reaching for the lock and putting the combination straight in. He opens it as I gawk at him and takes my bag straight out. “Come on,” he says before stalking off.

“Hey,” I call after him before I realize he would more than happily take off with my things. I hurry to catch up with him and yank my bag out of his hands. “What do you think you’re doing? And how do you know the combination for my locker?”

“First up, I’m trying to get you to hurry up. I thought that much was clear, and the combination is the same as your gate at home. 1005. You really need to find something a little more original.”

I narrow my eyes on him and give in. “Where are we going?” I ask as he pushes out the front doors of the school and walks down towards the parking lot.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he tells me. “You are.”

“Huh?” I grunt just as Nate’s Camaro pulls into the lot. He drives around and a moment later he comes to a stop right before us.

Jesse reaches for the door handle and pulls it open. “Get in,” he tells me. I clench my jaw and look over my shoulder. I wonder how far I’ll make it before they’ll catch me? “Don’t even think about it,” Jesse says. “I’ll catch you in no time, and trust me, I’ll enjoy throwing you over my shoulder.”

I groan and narrow my eyes on Jesse. “You’re an ass.”

“And you’re a princess,” he tells me. “Now, get in.”

With a huff, I do as I’m told and slide into the passenger’s seat of Nate’s car. Jesse shuts the door a second later and before I know it, Nate is peeling out of the school parking lot. “Will you at least tell me where we’re going?”

Naturally, he doesn’t respond, though I’m not surprised. He reaches into the back of his car and a second later, he tosses something onto my lap before focusing back on the road. “Eat,” he says.

I look down into my lap to find a sandwich looking back up at me. With a groan, I start nibbling.