Broken Hill Halo (Broken Hill High #2)

by Sheridan Anne

  The barista comes around with our drinks and we take them with eager hands. I lift my caramel latte to my lips and breath it in before tipping the yummy goodness down my throat. “Yeah, that’s good,” I announce to the table.

  “Hell yeah, it is,” Courtney agrees with a moan.

  “Hmmm,” Brooke groans.

  “Fuck me,” an irritating but lovable voice says from behind me. “It sounds like the big finale of an orgy fuck fest in here.”

  “Go away,” I tell Jesse without bothering to turn around.

  He leans against the back of my chair and looks over my shoulder at my latte. “What kind of fancy ass drink is that?” he says before diving in and grabbing it. He’s too fast to catch and before I know it, my latte is scalding his throat. “Fuck, that’s hot.”

  He slams the cup back down which is when I notice Tyson is here too, though, at least he makes his presence known in a nice way, rather than suggesting we sound like we’re all coming together. Ty pulls up a chair between Courtney and Bec and happily helps himself to the bowl of hot chips in the middle of the table.

  I turn around and narrow my eyes on Jesse. “Is there something you need?” I question, irritated that I didn’t get to enjoy my latte.

  “No,” he says with an amused grin. “We were just driving by and saw you guys. Thought we’d say hi.”

  “How thoughtful,” I grunt with sarcasm.

  He winks before pulling up a chair of his own and forcing me and Brooke apart. “So, what’s going on?” he asks the table.

  The girls fall into easy conversation with the boys and I push up out of my chair before heading over to the barista to order a new drink. He takes my order and I lean back and wait against the counter, realizing that there are far too many people scattered around the table for the barista to have to navigate with a hot beverage in his hands.

  Laughter comes from the table and I can’t help but smile. I love the way my two groups have merged together. At the beginning of the school year, these two groups wouldn’t go a mile within each other, but now, they’re partnering up and forming great friendships.

  I absolutely love it.

  The barista hands me my latte and I stand back to take a few sips before risking taking it anywhere near Jesse again. I get back to the table and pull out my chair as Jesse’s phone starts blaring on the table. I can’t help but look down and see Nate’s name scrawled across the caller ID. A pang of jealousy cuts through me which is completely irrational. I mean, they’re brothers for god sake. Of course, he’d call him every now and then, but I kind of wish it was me. I always wish it was me. When I’m not with him, I desperately wish I was.

  What have I become?

  “Yo, fucker,” Jess says as he accepts the call and puts the phone to his ear. He looks across at me and throws an arm over my shoulder with a grin. “What’s up? You’re disturbing my hot date with Tora.”

  “Ugh,” I groan as Jesse goes quiet. I push his arm off my shoulder and am surprised when he doesn’t put up a fight. I look over and watch as his eyes widen in shock.

  “Fuck,” he curses before flying up out of his chair. “We’ll be there in a sec.” Jesse hangs up the phone with the attention of every last person at the table. “Parker got jumped,” he explains in a rush.

  Within a matter of seconds, every last coffee is abandoned as six bodies try to scramble for their belongings and hurry out the door. I see Jesse’s Range Rover parked in front of Brooke’s Mercedes and I find myself running towards it, knowing Jesse is going to get to the hospital a lot faster than Brooke.

  I climb in the front seat as Tyson hurries into the back. He slams the door and before I know it, I’m latching onto the handle as Jesse pulls out into the traffic. “Shit,” Tyson curses from the back. “Who would fucking do that?”

  “I’ll give you one guess,” Jesse grunts.

  “The quarterback,” he replies.

  “Which one?” I question, looking across at Jesse.

  His eyebrows pull down, but it’s Tyson who responds from the back, “Good question.”

  We pull up at the hospital and hurry through the doors of the ER. I find Nate sitting in a corner beside Maxen, leaning forward on his elbows and I rush towards him. He hears me coming and stands up just in time to catch me. “What happened?” I ask as I search his horrified face.

  “He got jumped. I don’t know,” he says as he looks over my shoulder at Jesse. “I was halfway home from school when he called. He said something was wrong with his car. It wasn’t starting, so I turned around to get him, but when I got there, he was on the ground covered in blood.”

  “Shit,” I cry as my eyes well with tears. “Is he ok?”

  “I think so,” he says as he pulls me into his chest, though I don’t know if it’s for my sake or for his. “He was passed out, but it’s bad. He’s cut up and bruised. His left arm is broken and I’m pretty sure he has some broken ribs.”

  Crap. Crap. Crap.

  Jesse steps back from me and curses before sending his fist through the drywall. “Fuck, I asked him to come with us, but he said no.”

  “Blaming yourself isn’t going to help shit,” Nate snaps at him.

  Just then, the girls come hurrying through the door and crowd around us. Courtney has heavy tears in her eyes and is demanding Nate give up every last detail, though, he can’t tell her anything more than what he’s already told us.

  “Shit,” Nate curses a moment later as two older people come rushing through the door. I release my arms from around him and watch as he goes to meet the couple. I’ve never met them before but it’s clear these are Parker’s parents. The woman pulls Nate in for a quick hug before talking to him for a bit, probably trying to piece together what the hell is going on.

  Parker’s mom thanks Nate before turning to her husband and falling into his arms. Nate excuses himself and comes back over to join us. The husband ushers her into a chair when she begins to sob and he makes his way over to the nurse’s station, eager for more details.

  Movement beside me has me looking over and watching as Courtney pulls herself up out of her chair and walks over to the woman. She introduces herself and sits down beside her before the two of them cry together, making me wonder just how deeply Courtney’s feelings for Parker run.

  We only have to wait for an hour before a doctor comes out and calls for Parker’s parents. They rush to their feet and make their way over as we watch on with eager eyes. Parker’s mom sighs with relief and that one little noise eases us all. They thank the doctor before following him down the hall.

  “Thank god,” Nate groans beside me as his head falls back against the wall.

  I lace my hand through his, hoping it offers him some sort of comfort as we wait for Parker's parents to come back out. We only wait a short while before they appear at the top of the hallway. They make their way down towards us and I can’t help but notice that they look like entirely different people. They look ten years younger as the worry and stress have been completely lifted from their features.

  “He’s kicking us out already,” Parker’s mom says to the group with a roll of her red rimmed eyes. “We’re going to grab a coffee, but he’s asking for you all.”

  “Thanks,” Nate says. “I’ll call if he needs anything.”

  She reaches out and touches his cheek, making it clear just how long Parker and Nate have been best friends. I mean, their lives are completely woven together. “Thanks, love,” she tells him. “Third door on the left.” Nate nods and the couple head away.

  As a group, we head down the hallway, looking for the third door on the left. Jesse is the first there and reaches for the door handle before pushing it wide open for us all. “Fuck, man,” he says as he walks through. “How’re you feeling?”

  We squish in behind him and my eyes instantly lift to Parker as we all find a space to hover around. “Been better,” he grumbles.

  A low breath escapes me as I take him in. His face is all bruised up, he has a fat l
ip, and blood is matted in his dark hair, and that’s just his face. My eyes travel down his body but most of it is covered by the blanket, though I don’t doubt the rest of him is very good. I mean, I can clearly see the outline of a cast under his blanket.

  “Fuck,” Courtney curses under her breath with wide eyes as she shoulders her way through the group and walks towards his bedside. “Who did this?”

  His eyes lift to her and a small smile pulls at his lips. “You sat with my mom,” he murmurs as his hand lamely reaches out and searches for hers.

  She takes it greedily while being careful not to hurt him as discreet smiles appear over the faces of all my friends. “Of course, I did,” she tells him quietly with a slight blush over her face, though I can’t tell if it was from the admission or from having to say it in front of all of us.

  His eyes lower as he watches her and Nate clears his throat beside me, gaining his attention. “Parker,” he says in a no BS tone. “Who was it?” he demands.

  Parker lets out a sigh. “I don’t know,” he says with regret. “They hit me from behind. I don’t really remember much more than that.”

  “Fuck,” Nate curses as his hand tightens in mine. “Whoever the fuck it was better watch out.”

  “No,” Parker demands. “This one is mine.”

  “Fuck that,” Maxen says. “You can hardly fucking move. Your arm is broken, man. You won’t be throwing any punches any time soon. Just leave this shit up to us.”

  Parker lets out a frustrated huff and looks up at the ceiling. “I guess I don’t have a fucking choice then.”

  “I mean, you could talk to the school about it,” I suggest. “They were pretty good when Josh attacked me. I’m sure they’ll launch an investigation and whoever did this would be expelled.”

  “I don’t know,” he says. “I prefer to handle my problems with my fist, but don’t get me wrong, my mom will be having a meeting with Principal Watkins first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “I know,” I say, realizing he’s more like Nate than I’d ever known. “But if you can’t get your payback the normal way, then at least knowing you’ve done something would help to make you feel better. I mean, the boys are going to beat this guy to a pulp, but for your own sake…” I add with a shrug.

  He presses his lips together before cringing at the pain in his fat lip. “Maybe,” he grunts.

  I leave it at that, knowing if he’s like Nate, that he’d prefer not to include any authority figure. He’ll I’m sure he told his parents that he doesn’t know what happened.

  Nate grows fidgety beside me and now that he’s checked on Parker, I realize that he’s more than ready to get this shit handled. He looks across to Jesse and then to Max before turning to Ty.

  Parker groans. “I know that look,” he says.

  “You’re good if we go?” Nate says with a cringe. “We’ll stay if you want.”

  “No,” Parker sighs. “Go. I want to know who did it and I want him to pay.”

  Nate nods and a moment later, the boys start heading for the door. “I’ll be back.”

  With that, the boys disappear and we spend the afternoon entertaining Parker and getting to know his parents while we wait to hear from the boys, though it gets well past nine at night when Parker’s parents send us all home without any clues as to who was behind it.

  Chapter 20

  We walk through the door of Noah Meedy’s party and I instantly start looking around. Noah is a racer like Nate that goes to public. He’s pretty much the in-between guy for the two schools. He’s friendly with everyone. Popular enough to remain relevant, is known in all the groups, and is generally a pretty cool guy. Well, at least, Nate seems to think so, and so far, I’ve never known Nate to be wrong when it comes to his judge of character. Besides, the guy has a Camaro of his own and the way he drives it, I know Nate respects it.

  As we walk in, people seem to stop and stare, though it’s not the usual stop and stare that accompanies the Ryder brothers. This is different. This is the stop and stare people give when they know something is about to happen.

  Parker was released from hospital yesterday after three horrible nights stuck there. All he has wanted is to get out and knock some heads together, but unfortunately, doctor’s orders have him stuck in bed and his mom is not budging, not even a little. I sympathize with him though, after being stuck in bed myself after the whole appendix situation. I know all he must want is his freedom back.

  By now, everyone from both schools know all about it, and unfortunately for us, we still don’t know who’s behind it, though, we have a good feeling about this party tonight. After all, Nate, Jesse, Max, and Ty have made their way around our school and we’re pretty confident the culprit goes to public, so someone here tonight will know something.

  “Hey, man,” Noah says, walking confidently up to Nate, unlike so many others. He holds out his hand and they do the half hug, shoulder clap bullshit that guys like to do. “What’s up?”

  “Not much,” Nate replies with a grunt as he looks around at all the partiers.

  “Look,” Noah says. “I’m going to be real with you. I’m glad you’re here, but I’m not looking for any trouble. We’re just trying to have a good time.”

  Nate looks him square in the eye. “I can’t make any promises,” he says. “If the fucker is here, I’m not letting him get away.”

  Noah presses his lips together and looks over Nate’s shoulder at the rest of our group. “Yeah, ok,” he says with a sigh. “But, at least, do me a solid and take it outside.”

  “No problem,” Nate says as he holds out his fist.

  Noah brings up his fist and bumps it against Nates. “Thanks. Hey, listen. I heard about your Camaro. It’s a shame. It was a nice one.”

  “Sure was,” Nate says with a grin. “Whooped your ass plenty of times.”

  “Hey, now,” Noah says, feigning offense.

  “Hey, Noah,” someone calls from somewhere deeper in the house.

  Noah looks over his shoulder, nods, and waves before turning back to Nate. “Duty calls,” he says.

  “Yeah, ok,” Nate says. “Hit me up if you need some spare parts for that low class Camaro of yours.”

  “I’m going to remember you said that,” Noah says as he turns away before looking back over his shoulder. “Keep your shit outside.”

  “Well,” Jesse says with a laugh. “That went about as well as we could have hoped.”

  “No shit,” Nate grunts.

  We head on into the party and Nate takes me by the hand, keeping me close as most of the public guys are a bit rough, and no doubt, Josh is probably here which is a whole different can of worms that I don’t feel like touching on tonight.

  Nate helps me to a drink and takes me somewhere to sit down, while Brooke goes off with Max. Courtney decided not to come tonight as she’s been playing nurse to Parker the last few days, though, so far, I can’t tell if he likes it or not. His mom though, she loves it. She thinks the sun shines out of Courtney’s ass. So, Courtney not being here also means that Bec isn’t here, as they’re sort of a package deal.

  I don’t know what Courtney is going to do if Bec gets into Harvard or Yale. It would mean Bec moving away and a separation of the girls who are attached at the hip. Court will be devastated while Bec will pretend to be miserable moving away, even though going will make her dreams come true.

  I can’t wait. That’s going to be one hell of a sob fest.

  I sit on Nate’s lap and turn around to face him. I haven’t slept in the same bed as him for a few nights now and I can’t help but miss him like crazy, which is ridiculous as I’m in his arms right now. All I need is for him to hold me for about twelve hours straight and I’ll be good.

  I study his face. This week has been hard for him. His car. His best friend. His parents. It’s been one thing after another and any weaker man would have crumbled by now. “Are you ok?” I murmur for only his ears.

  He shrugs his shoulder. “I will be, once all this
shit is dealt with and I find out what this fucking big secret is.”

  “And then you’ll be sleeping in my bed again,” I tell him.

  “I can’t fucking wait, babe,” he says as his lips meet mine. Nate’s fingers trail over my back and slip under the fabric of my shirt. “I miss this,” he says. “I miss you squirming up against me in the middle of the night, pressing your ass into me. It’s fucking heaven.”

  My check flush and I have to look away from his intensity. I mean, I’ve been sleeping with the guy for months and I’m still shy around him. What the hell is wrong with me?

  Nate laughs as he brings up a hand and lightly pinches my flushed cheeks, teasing me. “I’ll never get tired of that.”

  I wriggle around on his lap and pull my phone out of my jeans pocket. “I found something today,” I tell him as I bring up the site I was looking at earlier this afternoon. “I’m not sure if it’s the right thing though.”

  His eyebrows pull down as I hand him the phone and he studies the site before him. “You’ve been looking up Mustangs?” he questions as his eyes light up.

  “Yeah,” I say. “It’s probably the wrong one. I don’t know how to tell if it’s good or not.”

  “No,” he says in amazement. “This one’s not too bad. Are there any more?”

  I lean around to see the screen. “Yeah,” I say. “I bookmarked the few that I’ve found. There’s about three in the area, but the rest are a bit far away.”

  “Fuck me,” he says as he gets to the third picture. “This is pretty close to what I’ve been looking for.”

  “Yeah?” I say as the hope starts to grow within me.

  “Yeah, I could do heaps with this,” he says as he takes a screenshot of the Mustang and sends the picture to himself. “Look here,” he grins as he zooms in on the picture. “See it’s old, but not too old. Its framework is still intact, but I’ll have to check it out to make sure there’s no rust or any other problems.”

  “You sure?” I question. “It’s really what you want?”

  “Oh yeah,” he grins with his eyes lighting up like the fourth of July. “Seeing this now. I can’t wait to get started.”