Broken Hill High (Broken Hill High #1)(47)

“Gross,” I laugh with a sigh of relief. I don’t know If I could handle that kind of attention from both of them.

“What’s it going to be?” he asks as he reaches into his locker again and pulls out his keys. “Are you coming?”

“Nah,” I say as I lift the apple to my mouth. “I can’t ditch two afternoons in a row, and besides, I’m trying to avoid Nate as much as possible right now. Walking straight into the lion’s den would be stupid,” I explain. “I’ll see you later.”

“Alright,” he says with an eye roll before grabbing his things and closing his locker. He takes off down the hallway and pushes through the door at the other end without so much of a goodbye.

I shake my head to myself as I walk back into the cafeteria eating his stupid apple. Happy that while my heart is hurting and my world seems to be falling apart, I still have a good friend in Jesse, even though it’s his brother who has caused all this pain.





Chapter 16


I get home from school and collapse down into my bed. I close my eyes, taking in the feel of laying in my own bed. A bed that isn’t tainted with Nathaniel Ryder.

I haven’t heard from Brooke all afternoon, but I’m not surprised after I was such a bitch today. I’m going to have to make it up to her, though I’m sure she’s probably out screwing Maxen right about now, so that will have to wait.

I get my homework sorted and get through the things that I missed yesterday while I was busy skipping and having the time of my life with Nate. I get myself something to eat, force it down, and before I know it, I’m right back on my bed with nothing to occupy my mind except for my night with Nate.

Why did it have to be so good? If he was just playing, why couldn’t he have made it boring and disappointing? Instead, all I want to do is go back for more and see what else he can do with that body of his.

I shouldn’t feel like that though. I should be hating on him. I should be cursing his name and finding a little Nate voodoo doll that I can stick pins into. Instead, I’m thinking about how he held my hands as he pushed up into me. How he kissed my neck and made sure I was ok.

Shit. This sucks.

I grab the blanket off my bed and trudge downstairs. I get myself comfortable on the couch and practically cocoon myself in the blanket while I wallow in a pit of my own self-destruction.

I hear the front door open before it’s slammed shut. I don’t need to wait to see who it is. I just know, and all I see is red.

I fly up off the couch and storm through my house. I find Nate on my stairs heading up to my room on his mission to find me. “Hey, asshole,” I call after him. He stops and turns around to find me glaring up at him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here,” I demand. “And how the hell did you get in? I changed the damn code.”

He flies back down the stairs and is in my face in a matter of seconds, glaring right back at me. “March sixth. 0306. The day Trixie died,” he tells me as I gasp at how easily he recited the day my family’s Labrador passed away. “I fucking know you, Tora. I know you better than you know yourself.”

“You don’t know me,” I argue. “You might know facts, but you don’t know me.”

“Bullshit,” he says. “Why the fuck are you hitting on Parker? Is he here?”

“What’s it to you?” I demand as I push impossibly closer. “Jealous?”

His eyes narrow on me. “You fucking wish.”

I continue to glare at him as I slowly shake my head. “I never should have let last night happen,” I tell him before pushing him back a step. “How could I have been so stupid to fall for that shit? Was it just a game to you? Do you enjoy treating girls like shit and making them feel worthless?” I seethe before stepping into him and pushing him again. “I knew it,” I say as the anger completely overwhelms me. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. I should have saved myself for someone who deserved it.”

“Saved yourself?” he grunts as he catches my hands in his, stopping me from pushing him again. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

I rip my hands back out of his. “Nothing,” I say, realizing my mistake way too late. “Please, just go.”

He ignores me and pushes into the wall, grabbing my hands so I can’t possibly escape. “What are you talking about?” he repeats. “You slept with Carter Williams last year.”

My eyes narrow on his as the anger becomes nearly too much to bear. “No, I didn’t,” I tell him. “We went on one date and he told everyone he fucked me in the cinema parking lot. He was such a pig, I left halfway through dinner. We didn’t even make it to the movies.”

He just stares at me, clearly very lost in thought. “You were a virgin?” he murmurs in shock.

“And he finally gets it,” I cheer with sarcasm as I push him off me again.

“Fuck,” he curses before walking away and from the look in his eyes, I fear for my walls. He looks back at me. “I should never have done it.”

Pain rips through me and I somehow manage to stand before him without shedding a single tear. “Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special,” I grunt. “Maybe you should have brought a gun and shot me. That would have stung less. So, please, if you’re finished insulting me, then make yourself acquainted with the door and get the hell out.”