Puck dives in after me, but the laughter tearing out of him tells me that I’ve more than ruined my chances for today. How fucking humiliating.
“Babe,” he howls, trying his hardest to rein in his laughter, but there’s no chance in hell, the guy is just moments from falling off his own fucking chair. “Are you alright?”
I pout up at him, hating how humiliated I feel. I mean, how is it possible for my morning to go so freaking badly? “Did everyone see that?” I murmur, wanting to climb under my table and never come out.
Seeing the embarrassment in my eyes, Puck’s laughter instantly ceases and he glances up at the other students before a look of pure terror stretches over his face. “What the fuck are you looking at?” he demands of the class. “Give her a bit of fucking privacy.”
Shame takes over me knowing they all saw, but I don’t doubt that the second my head pops up above the table that every eye in the room will be facing the front. Hell, probably Miss Blakely’s too. Nobody here would have the balls to go against Puck’s wishes, they couldn’t be that stupid.
Puck’s eyes fall back to mine. “Don’t worry, babe. No one saw a thing. You’re good.”
That warm smile that disappeared the second I realized I was falling comes straight back and despite how obvious he made it that everyone did, in fact, see my epic fail, I can’t help the warm fuzzies that sail through me at his attempt to protect my dignity. But the questions is – why the hell do I find that so endearing and comforting?
Puck offers me his hand and I gingerly take it, loving the feel of his warm skin against mine. He pulls me up off the ground as though I’m as light as a feather and within a second, his eyes are raking over my body with worry. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
“I’ll be alright,” I tell him, grabbing hold of my chair and sliding my ass back onto it with a little more care than I had during my first attempt. I cringe as my weight settles on my ass and I don’t doubt he just saw that. “I can’t say the same for my dignity though.”
“It’s fine. Trust me, none of these assholes are going to say a word.”
“Thanks for helping me up,” I say with yet another genuine smile. “You know after you finished laughing.”
“I wasn’t about to let you sit down there for the rest of the day. Besides, it looked kind of painful. I can take a look at it if you want? Double check for bruising and all that, just to be on the safe side.”
I shake my head, feeling my cheeks flame. “Trust me, I don’t need you to check it to know that it’s going to be bruised. I’m pretty sure it already is.”
“Really?” he questions with a hint of panic in his tone. “Do you want me to take you down to the nurse for some ice?”
“No,” I laugh, imagining just how humiliating that would be, and especially on top of everything else that’s been going on over the past few minutes, ice on my ass would be the cherry on top. “It’ll be fine.”
Puck grins before nudging my elbow with his and I find myself doing it right back with a cheesy as fuck grin, and despite my worries walking into Miss Blakely’s room, I realize that there was absolutely nothing for me to fear. Flirting with Puck feels as natural to me as breathing.
Conversation flows between us and I find him flirting right back, constantly reaching out and touching me in some discreet type of way. He smiles as though he’s truly happy to see me and by the end of homeroom, I realize that maybe he’s not the asshole I’ve always assumed him to be. Maybe he’s something so much more.
Chapter 7
Puck
I roll my eyes as I watch Nate watching Tora. He’s so fucking tormented by her. His whole world revolves around her and what’s worse is that he doesn’t even know it. At least, I don’t think he does. Though, if he does, it’s not something he’s bound to admit any time soon.
The past two weeks of school have been insane where those two are concerned. Somehow, he’s moved her into his home, he’s made sure she’s had enough lunch every day, been constantly aware of her, and now this.
I don’t even understand how tonight has even happened. One minute, we’re all showing up at Nate’s place, ready for an easy Saturday night, chilling with the boys, the next minute, there’s the biggest pool party Broken Hill has ever seen, and naturally, Jesse is the fucking king of it.
I sit with Nate, watching over the party, talking shit. Courtney showed up with Brylee a few hours ago and the girls have been sitting with Tora and Brooke ever since. Well, to be fair, it’s really only Tora she’s sitting with as Brooke has been making out with Maxen ever since he sat down at the end of her sunbed.
I’m not going to lie; I’ve struggled to keep my eyes off Courtney since the second she walked through the door. The past two weeks with Courtney have been surprising. Day one was fun, but day two was completely different. She was a whole new person who sat down beside me in homeroom. She flirted and laughed, her arm would brush past mine every chance it got, and fuck me, I’ve even started to think that maybe we have a bit of chemistry. All I know is that she’s not the shy good girl that I always assumed she was.
Who am I kidding? I think I might even like the girl.
I get excited when she walks through the door, I search her out in the cafeteria, and I even spend parties like this trying to keep track of her.
We were at a party at Maxen’s place last night which was probably a little wilder than any of us had planned for. Courtney came along with Brooke and Brylee and I thought last night was going to be the night where I finally got to seal the deal, but it was as though she was playing some sort of game with me. Every time I came near, she’d skip away and every time I’d look her way, she’d find another guy to latch herself onto. I fucking hated it.
I was acting like a jealous boyfriend and that shit didn’t sit well with me. I’m not the kind to obsess over a chick like this. She either wants me or she doesn’t, but I’m not playing her bullshit games just to find out.
I don’t know what to do with her, at first, it was all about staying away from the good girl, but she quickly proved me wrong. Then it morphed into having a little fun and getting her into bed, but now…I don’t know. I think that’s changing.
Any other chick, I’d have gotten it over and done with by now, but there’s something different about her. I know once I do it, whatever this flirtation we have between us is over, and I’m not sure I’m ready for it to end.
Maybe I even want more…
Nate grumbles something about dickhead jocks and I realize that Josh has joined the girls. I hold back a laugh at how Nate goes from relaxed to tense in the space of two seconds. Josh has been sniffing around Tora for weeks now and Nate can’t fucking handle it.
We watch as Josh tries to go in for a kiss and Nate’s hands ball into tight fists, he goes to stand but not a second later, Tora pushes Josh away and tells him to fuck off. Hmm, maybe the girl has a backbone after all.
Nate instantly relaxes and before I know it, the three girls are up off the sunbeds and dancing around the pool with the rest of the drunk chicks, flaunting their bodies in string bikinis.
“What’s going on with you, man?” I ask Nate as I grab my beer and bring it to my lips before thinking better of it after drinking a little too much last night. Besides, if I’m going to go talk to Courtney at any point tonight, I want to have a clear head. Her quick wit and snappy comebacks are not something to be frowned upon. She’s handed me my ass too many times over the past two weeks and when she attempts to do it again, I’m going to be ready for it.
Nate shakes his head, leaning back in his chair. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Right, so you’re just going to act as though watching Tora fend off dickheads doesn’t make you want to fuck someone up?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbles, tearing his eyes off Tora to make his blatant obsession seem a little less obvious.
“You’re into her,” I state as though it’s a hard, well-known fact.
Nate scrunches up his face and shakes his head. “Nah, man. It’s not like that. We’re just…”
He lets the words trail off, probably having no clue what they are to each other. “Right, so the reason you’ve tormented her for the past five years is because the very sight of her makes your skin crawl, because you loathe the fact that she breathes, that you-”
“Alright, fuck. I don’t hate her, it’s not that. She’s…I don’t know, she’s Tora,” he hangs his head and lets out a breath as though the next words out of his mouth are the hardest words he’s ever spoken. “She’s fucking gorgeous.”
“Yeah, man. She is. So why the hell do you treat her like shit?”
Nate brings his beer to his lips and takes a long drink, watching her off in the distance. “It’s complicated. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t understand.”
I shake my head. He knows perfectly well that if he tried to explain it to me, that I’d have no issue understanding it. He’s just too pussy to admit to himself what’s really going on as it would mean that he’s already fucked up the one thing that he wants most in this world.
I go to call him out on it when Jesse's voice rings out over the party. I search around for him but after a quick glance, it’s clear his voice isn’t coming from anywhere on my level.
Nate and I look up and both instantly start shaking our heads in exasperation. Jesse and Tyson stand on the roof of the second story level, right above the pool, soaking up the attention of their adoring fans below who begin chanting, ‘jump, jump, jump, jump.’
On and on it goes. There’s no doubt that the boys have every intention of jumping otherwise they wouldn’t have gone up there in the first place, but they’re both moronic showmen. They love the attention and the crowd loves them just as much.
Jesse grabs his shirt in each hand before simply tearing it from his body and every chick in the place goes apeshit. A grin splits across my face knowing that everyone is going to be talking about this stunt for weeks to come or until he gives them something else to talk about.
Nate gets to his feet as he pulls his phone from his pocket, already preparing to call emergency services. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had to call and it’s certainly not going to be the last. “If I have to call an ambulance again, I’m going to fucking kill him myself.”
“Chill out,” I tell him. “Jesse’s made that jump a million times. He’ll be fine.”
“He fucking better be because I don’t want to be the one to have to explain this to my mother. She’ll have my fucking balls for this.”
Before Nate has the chance to put a stop to Jesse’s recklessness, he turns around launches himself right off the roof in a perfect, showstopping backflip. He crashes down into the water and has only a second to move his dumbass before Tyson is crashing down beside him.
The boys swim to the side as Nate and I watch them with impatience. Surely, they’re going to grow out of this stupid bullshit one day, but then, it’s more than likely they won’t.
As the guys get out of the pool and have their flock of groupies hurry around them to remind them how fucking awesome they were and fawn over how incredibly hot they looked doing it, I can’t help but notice someone stepping into view behind them.
“Hey, did you see that?” I murmur to Nate, indicating with a nod behind Jesse’s right shoulder.
Nate follows my gaze and his expression hardens as he takes in Jackson Millington, the biggest dickhead in Haven Falls. “What the fuck does he want?” Nate mutters, watching him carefully, only to realize that he’s brought half of the Haven Falls’ losers along.
Noah Cage, his twin sister Tully, and their friend Rivers are here, and I have to give it to them, they’re not so bad, not like the rest of the guys they go to school with, but it’s not like they were invited. None of them were. “Do you want me to get rid of them?”
Nate watches Jackson through narrowed eyes as Jesse and Tyson make their way over. “What’s going on?” Jesse laughs. “Did you see that? It was fucking awesome. I have to try that shit again.”
“Fucking stupid is what it was,” I tell him, making him scoff at my remarks. “Did you notice we had a few party crashers?”
Jesse nods, naturally already in line with what’s going on while Tyson raises a brow and turns to figure out who the fuck we’re talking about. “This dick just won’t give up,” Tyson murmurs. “Just let me at him. I’ll teach him what he gets for crossing into our territory.”
“No,” Nate says. “No one is doing anything. I don’t want a war tonight. Just keep an eye on him.”
“The fuck?” Jesse looks closer at his brother. “You sure, man?”
Nate nods. “Yeah, if we’re going to start a fight then it’s not going to be in our home where our things will get trashed and mom will be left to clean up after us. Besides, if the cops get called, we’re all going down. When a war does go down, it’s going to happen on their turf where the cops are most likely to turn a blind eye.”
“Good point,” Jesse says, turning so he can watch Jackson. “What happened to Max? Is he still fucking around with Brooke?”
“Mmhmm,” Nate grumbles. “I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing with that one. They’re not a good match.”
“Good match?” Tyson laughs. “Maxen doesn’t do ‘match.’ If anything, he’ll just fuck her for the night and never call her again.”
Nate presses his lips into a tight line and nods. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Damnnnn,” Jesse grins, drawing out the sound and cutting off his brother. “Jackson brought a few midnight snacks with him.” He looks over at the rest of us. “Bet I could take them both off him.”
Nate shakes his head as I look back at Jackson and realize that Jesse is right, the two chicks with him are hot as fuck, but they’re not my type. My type is currently shaking her ass with a drink in her hand and looking like every man’s wet dream. “Leave the girls alone,” Nate says. “Besides, I’m pretty sure the blonde chick is his sister, and I told you, we’re not starting a war tonight, and fucking the dude’s sister is definitely starting a war.”
Jesse rolls his eyes before slinking away to grab himself another drink as me, Nate, and Ty drop back down into our seats.
As usual, Courtney catches my eye and I watch her move her body as she watches me right back. We must stay locked in this moment for ages before I notice Nate getting up beside me. I follow his gaze to see Jackson currently hitting on Tora and don’t doubt that Nate is well on his way to putting him in his place. Though he should be careful because he claims he doesn’t want to start a war, but making some sort of claim on Tora to get rid of Jackson very well could be starting a war, only that war would be with Tora.
As if knowing that shit is about to go down, Courtney and Brylee step away from Jackson and Tora and start swaying with the other dancers. I find it impossible to tear my eyes away from her ass, that is until she turns to face me, biting down on her lip and giving me the sexiest little smirk, knowing that my eyes were already on her.
How am I supposed to resist her? I need to taste her lips on mine. I don’t think I can wait any longer. If only she were ready. Every damn time I look at her, I see it in her eyes that she wants to play. She wants to dig her claws in and never let me go, but that’s not me. She might think she’s okay with a one-time thing, but she’s not. She’s a relationship girl and until she’s ready to put her emotions aside, I won’t be touching her. Though, that doesn’t mean I can’t let her rub that perfect body of hers all over me and show her the best damn night of her life.
I throw back what’s left of my drink and rise out of my chair. Courtney’s lips pull up into a smile and her eyes shine with excitement.
She’s so damn beautiful, but fuck, she knows what she’s doing to me. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted someone before. She’s a little firecracker, wild and fun, and I don’t doubt that same personality is going to shine through while between the sheets.
; I don’t know what it is or where this need to act like a fucking dickhead comes from. Why the hell am I so scared to allow myself to be with someone? To be with her? The word ‘commitment’ makes me feel constricted, like a weight is baring down on my chest and I find it impossible to breathe. Maybe it’s the way I’ve watched my mom in an unhappy marriage my whole life, or maybe it’s the way that I can’t seem to ever finish something I’ve started. Whatever it is, it’s turned me into this guy who finds it physically impossible to let someone in. Why the hell is this chick challenging that? But more importantly, why do I want her to?
I stride toward her just as a body moves in beside her. She gasps for a moment and flinches away from the touch and it takes me all of two seconds to realize that it’s Noah Cage, one of the guys from Haven Falls.
He doesn’t look like he’s trying to make a move or anything, but he’s still got his hands on the merchandise and right now, it’s not sitting well with me.
Some chick that I’m pretty sure was trying to fuck Tyson over the summer break appears out of nowhere, latching onto Noah’s arm and attempts to pull him away. Noah groans and it’s as though this chick wants to have some kind of claim over him, and it somewhat reminds me of how Nate is with Ashley, she’s just some chick hanging around to keep the others at bay.
Noah shakes her off as I step up to Courtney and slide my arm around her waist. Her back straightens and as much as I want to revel in the feel of her warm skin against mine, I have something else that needs to be dealt with.
Noah looks at me, trying to work me out and I don’t doubt that this kid is dangerous, but he’s also not the type to come into someone else’s party and start shit unless that someone had done something to deserve it, and right now, I don’t think we have beef with these guys. “This one’s taken,” I explain, hoping I don’t have to put this guy in his place.
Puck: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 1) Page 5
