“See what I mean,” I say as I turn the phone around to show her the screen.
“Shit,” she sighs as she reads over the text. “So, this is really happening.”
“No,” I sigh. “Maybe. Yes. Oh, I don’t know. He treated me like shit for five years. It’s not like I can just forget that.”
“Good,” she grunts. “I was worried about that for a bit.”
I roll my eyes before replying to Nate’s text to let him know I’m fine and at my place. Brooke’s silent for too long so I look back up at her with a grin. “Well, go on,” I say. “Ask away.”
“Oh, thank god,” she sighs with relief before letting it all come out like word vomit. “What was it like? Is it as good as they all say it is? Is he like, hard and fast or a slow and gentle kind of guy? Oh, oh,” she says with a wide grin. “Is it big?”
Rather than answer all her individual questions, I tell a recap of how it all happened, starting with the very first night at dinner where I threw up, though, I tell her it was food poisoning. I know I’m all about sharing right now, but that secret will be remaining my own for now.
I tell her how we fought in the hallway and how I had gotten the best of him the next morning. I tell her how he had snuck into my room that night and was gone in the morning. She even goes as far to put together the fact that I was in a foul mood that day and is proud that she pieced it together.
I tell her everything, right up to the talk we had in his car on Friday night and how he said he’s liked me since we were twelve.
“So, what happens now?” she questions.
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him since then, apart from this morning at my locker and all he was doing was making sure Josh was leaving.”
“And he actually wants to be with you, like, full on, boyfriend/girlfriend, lovey-dovey type of shit.”
“I think so,” I say.
She bites the inside of her cheek as she gets lost in thought. “I think you should go for it.”
I raise my brow at her. “And just forget about the past five years?”
“No. I mean, forgetting all that would be impossible, but I think if he works for it, you could learn to forgive him. I think you guys would actually be pretty good together,” she tells me. “He’d be intense, but a good intense.”
I think it over for a bit before falling back into the couch. “I don’t know,” I say. “There are a few things he needs to sort through first,” I tell her, thinking of how he couldn’t tell me why he treated me the way he did for the past few years. “After that… we’ll see.”
“Yeah, well,” she says with a sigh. “It’s about the same with me and Maxen. He claims he’s not a girlfriend kind of guy, yet he hasn’t left my side. He even introduced himself to my mom.”
“Shit,” I gasp with wide eyes. “How’d that go down?”
“Good,” she laughs. “I don’t know how he did it but he has mom eating out of his hand. She’s constantly asking me to invite him over.”
“Holy crap,” I laugh. “That’s funny.”
“I know,” she laughs as another text comes through, lighting up my phone on the coffee table. I lean forward and scoop it off the table before reading over the text.
Nate – I got your shit out of your locker. Bring Brooke back to my place.
I pull myself off the couch and pull Brooke up behind me. “Come on,” I tell her, “We’ve been summoned.”
“Huh?” she grunts as she grabs her things off the coffee table.
“Ditching party at Nate’s place.”
A grin sweeps across her face. “Hell yeah,” she says before ducking past the kitchen and grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl.
We walk out and before we know it, we’re pulling up at Nate’s place to find not only his car but all the guys’ cars. We walk on in and she does her usual look around, still not used to being here.
I lead her straight through the house and to the den where I know they’ll all be and a moment later, I drop down into Nate’s lap while Brooke gets pulled down between Maxen and Jesse, which is where we spend the rest of the day.
Chapter 20
The bell for our Friday lunch rings and I let out a sigh of relief as I pack up my things. I’ve been suffering through this class for an hour too long and all I want to do is dig into my lunch and possibly convince Nate to meet me in an empty classroom and screw my brains out.
I walk down towards the cafeteria with Bec rambling on about the first football game of the season tonight and groan as she demands my attendance so us four girls can ogle the football team as they run up and down the field. Though, for the first time since being at this school, I couldn’t think of anything worse.
I mean, sitting up in the stands watching Josh being the star he pretends to be while Elle shakes her ass for attention, I mean, hard pass. I’d rather spend my afternoon sitting in the garage watching Nate work on his car and listening to whatever ridiculous jokes Jesse wants to throw my way.
I spy the bathroom coming up in the hallway and I look across to Bec. “I’m going to pee real quick,” I tell her. “Can you grab me something to eat? I’m starving.”
She rolls her eyes and smiles. The girls have gotten used to my new eating habits over the last few days though, whether or not they know the reason behind it is completely lost on me.
Bec continues down the hall towards the cafeteria as I duck into the bathroom. I quickly pee before washing my hands and tidying up my hair in the mirror. A second later, I step out of the bathroom with a grumbling stomach and make my way towards the cafeteria.
I’m just about there when a hand grasps my elbow and tugs me hard into the broom closet. I gasp at the suddenness of it before I’m slammed up against the wall with hands roaming over my body and someone’s lips crushing down on mine.
At first, I assume it’s Nate, but the smell is all wrong. The lips are wrong. The taste is wrong.
The lights are off, but it’s not too dark to make out Josh standing before me. Though, even if I couldn’t see him, it wouldn’t take me long to realize whose hands are pulling at my shirt.
With his lips crushed on mine, I pull my hands up in between us and try to give him a hard shove. Josh moves back all of one step before coming back for more. It’s enough to allow me to pull in a harsh breath but not enough to move out from around him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I yell as I continue to push him away.
With his size and strength, there’s not a lot I can do, especially as he grabs my hands and slams me against the wall again. “Stop fucking pushing me away,” he demands as he ducks his head down towards mine again.
His dirty lips are on mine again and I rip my head to the side. This can’t be happening. I need to get out of here but I’m stuck. “Get off me,” I yell.
Josh adjusts my hands so both my wrists are locked in just one of his as he slaps his other hand over my mouth. “Shut up,” he demands as he grinds his erection into my stomach while also pinning me to the wall with his body. “You’re fucking mine,” he growls. “I’m just taking what you should have given up weeks ago.”
He takes his hand off my mouth and grips my chin, forcing my face back to his. A moment later his lips are on mine and his hand is slipping up under my shirt. I bite down hard on his lip and he pulls back with anger in his eyes.
Josh grabs my boob and gives it a hand squeeze as he continues grinding himself against me. “Stop acting like you don’t want it. Any girl in this school would be lucky to get this.”
“Get off me,” I demand as tears being to pool in my eyes. “You’re a fucking dirty pig.”
Josh releases my hand and grabs my shoulders. He pulls me forward before slamming me against the wall once again. My head rebounds off it and makes my head spin as an instant headache sets deep within my skull.
He uses his body to keep me pinned as he makes quick work of undoing his jeans. He pulls his dick free and presses it into my stomach again. The tears begin to spill as the feel of him
against me makes me want to throw up.
I need to get out of here otherwise this is going to go somewhere I’ll never be able to come back from.
Josh presses his lips to my neck and I do my best to turn my face as far away from him as possible. He reaches for my jeans and starts fiddling with the button and I realize this is it. I have to make my move.
I swallow back disgust as I reach down between us and grip his dick in my fist. He lets out an appreciative groan. “Hey, Josh?” I whisper into the darkened room as I ignore the tears on my cheeks. My hand slowly travels up the length of his dick before tightening at the base. “Remember when I told you I’ll destroy you if you were to touch me?”
At that, his body stiffens and he pulls back slightly to look down at me, realizing I’m threatening to destroy him while his dick is in my hand. His whole body freezes as he watches me with fear, but I don’t dare hesitate.
I use his dick to pull me off the wall before I let go and ram my knee up between his legs as hard as possible. He groans and doubles over as he clutches himself. He falls to the ground of the dirty broom closet and I take my opportunity to kick him as hard as possible in the ribs. “I told you I’d fucking destroy you,” I yell down at him as I turn and hastily try to unlock the door.
As I scramble to get out, he calls after me. “You’re going to fucking pay for that.”
I slam the door behind me, not daring to look back. The tears come streaming down my face, fast and heavy, and I know I must look like a mess but I don’t care. I just need to get away from him. I need to feel safe. I need Nate.
A million things rush through my mind but I don’t make sense of any of them. I just keep running.
I slam into a hard body and it’s then I realize I’ve come straight into the cafeteria. Nate grips my shoulders and is yelling something at me but I don’t hear him, all I can hear is the sound of my pulse rapid in my ears.
He shakes me and I try to focus on him. I look at the sharp lines of his jaw, his dark hair, his smoldering eyes. I take a breath and calm myself. “Tora? What happened?”
I swallow back and wipe the tears on the back of my arm, but they come straight back. Only then do I realize that every eye in the room is on me. Jesse, Max, Tyson, and Parker all hover around me forming some kind of protective barrier around us while Brooke runs from the opposite side of the cafeteria trying to get to me.
“Tora,” Nate demands. I turn back to him and realize he has been saying something again. “What happened? Why’s your shirt torn?”
The tears continue spilling and I try to focus everything him. “Tora,” he demands again.
“Josh,” I whisper. “He pulled me into the broom closet. He wouldn’t stop.”
Jesse curses as the boys start fidgeting on their feet, desperate to do something about it. Brooke gasps but all I can focus on is Nate. His eyes go dark as his jaw clenches. He starts looking me over from head to toe before he pulls me in hard against his chest. “Are you hurt?” he murmurs as he rubs his hand over the back of my head and down my back.
“I… I don’t know,” I admit as I smother my face into his chest. “He slammed me against the wall a few times. And he… he.”
“It’s ok,” he soothes as he continues rubbing his hand down my back. “You don’t need to tell me.” He pushes me back before pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Wait here with Brooke.”
“No,” I call out and fist my hands into his shirt. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I have to make this right,” he says with fire in his eyes. “He touched you.”
“Please,” I beg. “Just stay here.”
“She’s right, man,” Jesse says. “What are you going to do? You’ve already got too many strikes against your name. If you start another fight, you’re out of here.”
“Like I give a shit about that,” he roars. “He touched Tora. He’s going to fucking pay.”
“I know,” Jesse yells back at him. “Believe me, I want to hand that guy his ass just as much as you do, but we have to be smart about this. Think it through.”
“Sorry, man,” he says, taking my hands from his shirt and stepping away. “That fucker is dead. Nobody touches my girl and gets away with it.” With that, he turns and stalks out of the cafeteria.
Within the blink of an eye, the boys are following right behind him and I’m racing out after them. I push through the boys and come right up beside Nate. He looks down at me and I wait for him to tell me to go, but he never does, instead, he takes my hand and brings it up to his lips. He gives it a kiss before looking up the hallway. “Which one?” he asks, referring to the three different broom closets in this long hallway.
I point it out and a fierce determination sets itself across Nate’s face. He storms towards the door with Jesse behind us, groaning about how this is a bad idea, and he’s right, but there’s no stopping Nate. Not this time.
Nate reaches the door and practically rips it off its hinges before darting in and pulling Josh out into the hallway. The shock has barely registered but when he sees Nate before him surrounded by the rest of the boys, his eyes widen in fear. He knows he’s fucked.
Nate rears back and Josh attempts to duck but he's too slow. Nate cracks his right fist across Josh’s jaw and a spray of blood comes spurting out of his mouth and splatters across the wall of the hallway.
Josh tries to charge him but Nate isn’t putting up with any of his shit and gets an uppercut to Josh’s stomach. It winds him and he gasps for breath. “What’s the matter?” Nate grunts. “You don’t like it when someone touches you against your fucking will?”
“Fuck you,” Josh grunts as he tries to right himself.
People start crowding around but Nate doesn’t seem to care. He’s not nearly done with him. “Nate,” I call out, not wanting him to get in trouble. “That’s enough.”
He starts to pull back but then Josh looks across at me. “You fucking wanted it, you little whore. You always have.”
I see red and launch myself towards him at the same time Nate does. Jesse catches me around the waist and holds on, making me kick and claw at his arm, desperate to get my hands on Josh.
Nate doesn’t have the same issue and freely beats him to a pulp against the wall. Other students try to break through Maxen, Tyson, and Parker to pull Nate off him, but they have no chance of getting past that wall of muscle.
I hear the sound of Nate’s fists beating into Josh’s flesh and I watch each one, hoping they hurt as bad as it looks. Nate rears back one more time and cracks Josh right across the face.
His eyes roll back and before I know it, Josh is knocked out cold and falling in a crumpled heap on the floor; only then does Jesse let me go.
Nate turns around to check on me and I race forward into his arms. “Are you ok?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“Yeah,” I murmur into his chest, using his shirt to dry the tears off my face. I pull back and reach for his hands to find his knuckles red and bloodied. “Thank you,” I say as I gently run my thumb over his sore hands, hoping I can somehow take his pain away.
Nate pulls me back in and wraps his arms right around me. “If he ever touches you again, the fucker will be getting a one-way ticket to hell.”
I don’t doubt that one bit. I look up at him and he brings his lips down on me.
Brooke’s gasp has me reluctantly pulling away as I watch her dart into the broom closet and come out a second later with a digital camera. “He filmed it all,” she says in disgust.
“What?” Nate grunts as he reaches forward and snatches the camera out of her hands.
As he goes to start searching through the camera, a large body pushes through the students. “How did I know this would have something to do with you?” Principal Watkins demands as he looks at Nate. “All of you, my office now,” he roars before looking down at Josh then across to a few of the guys on the football team. “You two, get him to the nurse.”
With that, he turns and stalks away.
With the show over, the students break away, and I follow Nate with a cringe as we walk towards Principal Watkin’s office. “Fuck, this is not going to be good,” Jesse murmurs beside me.
“It’ll be fine,” I say. “It’s not like he did it for fun.”
“I don’t know,” he cringes.
We fall into silence and I watch as Nate plays on the camera before bringing up the video. Rage takes over him once again and I don’t doubt that he’d turn around and have another go at Josh. Nate goes to delete it when I take the camera out of his hands. “Don’t,” I rush out.
His eyebrows furrow as he looks at me in alarm. “Why the hell not?”
“I told him I was going to destroy him and this right here is my evidence,” I explain. “Josh is going down. He’ll never touch another woman again.”
Nate nods. “You’re sure?” he questions. “In order to do that you’ll have to show people exactly what he did to you.”
“I know,” I say, more determined than ever.
“Ok,” he says as he places his hand on my lower back. “It’s your decision. Whatever you want, I’m here for you.”
I nod my head as we walk into Watkins’ office. He’s already seated behind his desk and dialing a number on his phone. He scowls at each of us and I follow Nate’s lead as he takes a seat.
“Mr. Ryder,” he says into the phone. “This is Principal Watkins from Broken Hill High. I’m sorry to have to call you like this, however, there’s a situation involving your sons. I’m going to have to ask you to come down here.” He pauses for a moment before starting up again. “Yes, thank you. I’ll see you shortly.”
Principal Watkins hangs up the phone before looking up at us all. He scans the line of boys before him before his eyes narrow on me. I’ve never been in his office for something bad before and there’s no doubt he’s trying to work out what the hell I have to do with a fight between the two boys.
His eyes go back to Nate which is when they narrow further. “That’s your third strike, Nathaniel,” he tells him.
Nate just nods his head, accepting what is, but not me. I won’t stand for him getting in trouble like that, especially when he was defending me. I fly to my feet. “No,” I demand. “How can you just say that when you haven’t even asked a single question? You have no idea what that was even about.”
Broken Hill High: The Broken Hill High Series (Book 1) Page 18
