Broken Hill High (Broken Hill High #1)(38)

Nate looks across to make sure I’m eating and seems to relax a bit when he watches me pull off a piece of bread and pop it into my mouth. “You’ve got to tell Jesse to back off,” I tell him.

His eyebrows pull down before he turns back to me. “Why?” he grunts.

“He tried to swoop in and save me from Elle and Josh when I had it handled. You know, despite what you and Jesse think, I can take care of myself.”

Nate shakes his head and pushes his car a little faster. “Do you have any idea what they were planning on doing to you?”

“No,” I say. “But it wasn’t going to happen anyway. I wasn’t going with them.”

“Whether or not you went with them is beside the point. They would have gone through with their plan anyway. They would have just waited you out. Done it at a party or tried to corner you at home. Trust me, you don’t know how these people work.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I question. “What was their plan?”

He lets out a sigh as his hand tightens on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. “They were going to strip you down and have Josh all over you. Elle was going to record the whole thing and post it all over the internet, calling you a whore. I overheard them discussing it this morning.”

My eyes widen as my jaw drops. “What kind of sick people do shit like that?” I question as my heart begins racing.

“Quarterbacks and cheerleaders,” he grunts.

I sit back in the chair and look out the window feeling sick. I mean, was that seriously their plan? To get me naked and humiliate me in front of the whole school, branding me a slut? “I don’t get it,” I say. “All of this just because I didn’t want to screw him? And I mean, Elle was the one who threw her drink all over me in the first place.”

“I know,” he says. “But you challenged her. You went against her when she’s trying to assert her dominance as cheer captain. Josh probably would have left you alone. He doesn’t have the brains to come up with it, but now the idea is in his head and he wants it. This screams Elle. She would have put Josh up to it.”

I silently nod my head, wondering how the hell I’m supposed to deal with this.

Nate pulls into an old abandoned parking lot and I turn towards him. “What are we doing here?” I question. This lot belonged to an old mall that was closed down a few months ago and is due to be demolished and rebuilt into a high-rise apartment building. There’s literally no reason that could bring us here.

Nate keeps his mouth shut and continues driving. He pulls around a corner which is when I see it. “Is that my car?” I question as we get closer.

“Yep,” he grunts. “I’m sick of watching you destroy it.” He pulls up beside it and slides his hand into his pocket before handing me my car keys. “I’m teaching you how to drive.”





Chapter 13


I stare at Nate in shock before my eyes flick down to the keys in my hand. How the hell did he get my car keys? I don’t have to think about it long before I remember the way Jesse had dived into my locker with such ease that anyone would think it was his.

The second I get back to school, I’m changing the code. I may as well work out how to change the code on my front gate at home too. That might help me to avoid getting kidnapped by Nate in the near future, though, I’m sure he’ll find a way.

Nate opens his car door, ignoring my shock and looks back at me. “Are you coming?” he grunts with impatience before getting out and walking over to my car.

I narrow my eyes on his back before letting out a huff. I don’t think I have a choice in the matter. I get myself out of his car and walk around to mine while hitting the unlock button on the keys.

Nate gets in my passenger’s side while I get myself comfortable in the driver’s seat. The second I close the door behind me, the nerves settle in. I don’t like this one bit. It’s one thing for me to drive alone and allow myself to work it out, and it’s another to have to do it in front of Nate Ryder.

“You good?” he asks as he looks across at me.

I nod my head as everything I’ve taught myself about driving this thing has completely turned to mush with Nate sitting beside me.

“Start the car,” he tells me. “Put your foot on the break and the other on the clutch.” I let out a breath as I do what I’m told and start the engine. “Release the hand brake.”

I do that and swallow back the fear of embarrassing myself. “Alright,” he says, using a tone that, for once, isn’t making me want to smack him. “The car’s already in first gear, so after you come off the break, you have to give it a little gas while also coming off the clutch.”

He uses his hands to demonstrate how I should slowly press the gas while coming off the clutch. I turn back to face what I’m doing and try my best to tune him out. I find my hands clenching down around the steering wheel and decide to go for it. I mean, it’s either now or never.

I come off the break and scramble around while trying to remember what the hell he just told me. The car lurches forward and promptly dies in the ass. “Shit,” I groan while an amused smirk comes over Nates face.

“That was too fast,” he tells me. “You need to find the sweet spot.”

“The sweet spot?” I grunt.