“Of course, I did,” Courtney whispers as a blush creeps over her beautiful face, making me wish I could reach out and pull her into my arms. I hate that she’s spent the last few hours worrying about me.
Nate clears his throat, stealing my attention away from my girl. “Puck,” he says giving me that tone that says it’s time to get down to business. “Who was it?”
I let out a sigh, feeling like shit that I wasn’t able to work it out. I should have been better than that. “I don’t know,” I tell him with regret. “They hit me from behind. I don’t really remember much more than that.”
“Fuck,” Nate curses. “Whoever the fuck it was better watch out.”
“No,” I demand, wishing I could sit up and face him man to man. “This one is mine.”
“Fuck that,” Maxen says. “You can hardly fucking move. Your arm is broken, man. You won’t be throwing punches any time soon. Just leave this shit up to us.”
I let out a frustrated huff and look up at the ceiling, slowly counting backward from five to rein in my anger. “I guess I don’t have a fucking choice then.”
Tora goes through my options and explains how I should be talking to the school and despite how badly I don’t want to do that, I don’t doubt my mother has already made the call. In fact, I should be going over what happened as the cops will probably be here soon to take my statement.
Nate grows fidgety beside Tora and now that he’s satisfied I’m not about to die, he’s more than ready to get this shit handled. He looks across at Jesse and then to Max before turning to Ty and making me groan once again. “I know that look.”
“You’re good if we go?” Nate says with a cringe. “We’ll stay if you want.”
As much as I’d like them to stay, I also want to know who the fuck did this, and if anyone is going to get the answers, it’s my boys. “No,” I sigh. “Go. I want to know who did it and I want them to pay.”
Nate nods and a moment later, the boys start heading for the door, leaving me to suffer through an endless gossip fest with the girls. These chicks are cool and all, and I’m thrilled to have Courtney here with me, but fucking kill me. Listening to this shit is worse than getting jumped.
Tora gets a call from Nate after a few hours who explains that they got absolutely nothing and with night falling, my parents send everyone home, but Courtney hangs back, silently waiting until the door closes, finally giving us the first bit of privacy we’ve had all day.
She steps into me, running her fingers down the bruising across my jaw. “Are you really okay?” she murmurs, still looking horrified that this has happened.
I reach up and catch her hand in mine, ignoring the pain that shoots through my arm. “I’m fine,” I tell her, squeezing her hand. “Better than fine.”
“You’re a shitty liar, Puck.”
“It made you smile though.”
Courtney rolls her eyes but has a hard time wiping the grin off her face. “I kind of hate you. You know that right?”
“Uh-huh. You hate me so much that you let me fu-”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” she laughs, covering her ears and pretending as though nothing happened, though she can’t deny it, no matter how hard she tries. That moment was fucking perfect and I’ll be there to remind her every moment of every day.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever felt a chick come so hard. You were squeezing me so-”
“PUCK!” Courtney shrieks in embarrassment, throwing herself down on the bed beside me and slapping her hand over my mouth. “Will you stop? Someone could walk in and hear you.”
“Let them hear,” I tell her, curling my good arm around her waist and pulling her in tighter. “It was fucking incredible and you know it.”
A pink flush spreads over her cheeks and she looks away, unable to handle this intensity between us. “I think I should probably go so your mom can stop pretending that she’s holding it together.”
I shake my head despite the way it makes the pain scream in the back of my neck. “You’re not going anywhere, not yet, babe.” With that, I tug on her waist until she falls down into me.
Courtney blanches as her hands shoot out to catch her fall, but I’ve got her. There’s no way I’m letting her get hurt, not now, not ever.
I bring her down until her face is hovering just above mine. Desire grows in her eyes and for a moment, I fear that she’s going to chicken out, but she closes the gap. She brings those rosy lips of hers down on mine and gives me the softest kiss I’ve ever felt, and I know that without a doubt, the second I can, I’ll be making her mine.
Chapter 12
Courtney
Fuck, I hate hospitals. They’re an endless reminder of bad times for me. First, there was my aunty who suffered through the burn unit after a horrendous house fire when I was a kid, then my grandfather passing of liver failure two years ago, and now Puck.
I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I haven’t been able to leave his side since the second it happened. To be honest, I’m surprised his parents haven’t kicked me out, but even if they did, I don’t think I’d have the strength to leave.
I hate seeing him like this and all it’s done is prove to me that I was right – I am falling in love with Puck Jones. In fact, I think I’m well and truly already there. He’s captured me in a way I was never expecting and it scares the absolute shit out of me.
Puck has said it a million times; he’s not the commitment type, but his actions over the past few weeks have proved otherwise. I’m certain that I’m in love with him and I’m pretty damn sure that he feels the same way. He holds my hand every chance he gets and makes sure I’m seated right beside him, always in reaching distance. He gives me these bright, beaming smiles that make my heart race, and every time we’re alone, he somehow gets his lips on mine.
He’s sweet in a way that I didn’t realize he was capable of, but he’s also fiercely protective in a way that shocks me to the core. Growing up, I hated this guy. I was positive that being with someone like him would be the worst thing I could ever do, but I’m realizing that I’ve never been so wrong.
Last night he was discharged from the hospital and I was worried that visiting hours for me would cease, but his parents have welcomed me into their home and allowed me to stay by his side. Had that been my parents with a guy like Puck, they would have told him to stay far away from their little girl, but Puck’s mom and dad are different. Maybe I’m the ‘good girl’ they’ve always hoped would be able to rein in their troubled son, whatever it is, I’ve never appreciated it more.
I drop down onto Puck’s bed, crossing my legs as I prepare to start searching through the endless options on Netflix, knowing there’s no way in hell we’ll actually end up watching it as his tongue would probably be somewhere around my tonsils. I know we're just hanging out and we’re nothing official, but for some reason, I’m really struggling to keep my hands off him, despite the fact that he’s trying to recover from some pretty nasty injuries.
Puck’s hand slides across the bed and around me until his fingers are brushing across the curve of my ass. “What’s going on?” he murmurs into the quiet room. “You’ve been extra quiet today.”
I shrug my shoulder and let out a breath. “It’s nothing.”
“Babe,” he says a little more firmly to make a point that he’s not fucking around. “What’s bothering you?”
I roll my eyes at his newfound need to always know exactly what’s going on with me. “It’s Bry,” I tell him. “She reminded me that she should be hearing back from colleges soon and it’s just kind of hitting me that she won’t be here much longer.”
“Why’s that? Where’s she applying?”
“She wants Yale, but Harvard is her backup.”
“Shit. They’re hard places to get into.”
“I know, but if anyone can do it, it’s her. She’s not just a pretty face, you know? Brylee is going to take the world by storm and I hope she gets in, but it’s just going to suck witho
ut her here.”
“Hey,” he says, giving my ass a firm squeeze. “I plan to be stealing all your spare time anyway so really, there’s nothing to worry about.”
I roll my eyes, but can’t help the grin that stretches across my face, making me look like a love-sick idiot. “Really, now?” I laugh. “You think you have what it takes to be able to hold my attention and make me forget that I’m missing my best friend?”
“Babe,” he says with a grin of his own. “Don’t pretend that you don’t already know just how fucking good it can get. You don’t need to worry about forgetting Brylee, you need to worry that I’ll have you forgetting your own fucking name.”
“Big talker,” I laugh. “You’re pretty damn confident there. How can I be sure you didn’t just have luck on your side that night? After all, you were lucky that I let you anywhere near me. Maybe you were just lucky that you hit all the right spots.”
Puck grabs me and pulls me in hard against his side, making me fall back to his bed in the process. “You want to test that theory? I’ll show just how fucking ‘lucky’ I can be.”
“Stop,” I laugh. “I’m not screwing you while you’re in pieces.”
“Come on, Court. I’d hardly call it pieces. I’m not even that hurt. I’m fine.”
“You’re the furthest thing from fine,” I point out. “Besides, you can hardly move and I’m not risking climbing on top only to break you some more or have your mother walk in wanting to help shower you or some bullshit like that.”
“I’m more than capable of showering by myself,” he tells me with a roll of his eyes. “Though, you’re welcome to join me if you want.”
“You’re such an ass,” I remind him for the tenth time today. After all, fending him off has become quite normal over the past four days. Who would have known that getting jumped and being stuck in the hospital for three long days would have that effect on a guy?
My phone chimes on the bed beside me and I reach to scoop it up. I get comfortable in Puck’s arm while being careful not to hurt him with my movements, though that doesn’t seem to be something that bothers him. Maybe he’s some kind of machine that doesn’t register pain or maybe he’s just trying to act tough for the sake of appearing like some kind of fearless leader.
I bring my phone up and open a text from Brylee.
Brylee – HOLY FUCK! Shit is going down at that Haven Falls party. Apparently, Phoenix just outed Tora for having an eating disorder! How fucking crazy is that?
My mouth drops open. What the actual fuck?
Courtney – That’s insane. Phoenix is an idiot. I don’t believe it. Besides, Tora is fine. I think we’d know if she was sick!
“What’s going on?” Puck murmurs, nudging my thigh.
“Phoenix is starting trouble at the party in Haven Falls,” I explain, shaking my head while letting out a frustrated groan. I mean, haven’t we all had to handle enough shit over the past few days? The guys have been desperately searching for some answers to put Puck’s mind at ease about who did this shit to him. They’ve practically interrogated everyone at school and now have expanded their search into Haven Falls. We couldn’t possibly deal with any more bullshit, but apparently, Phoenix thinks otherwise.
I really feel for Puck through. It’s been hard keeping him in bed over the past few days. He wants nothing more than to get out there and find the dickheads who hurt him and give them what they deserve, but with a broken arm, bruised ribs, and injuries from head to toe, he’ll be stuck here for a while. He just has to have faith in his friends that they’ll come through for him, but then, I guess it’s just not the same as doing it yourself.
Brylee responds with her usual chatter and I instantly get distracted while Puck takes over control of Netflix, but to be honest, I don’t know how long this is going to last. Puck doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to lay in bed for weeks on end watching movies. Eventually, he’s going to get bored and force his way out of his home, despite doctor’s orders.
I’m not surprised when the opening credits for ‘Transformers’ appears on his big ass television. I mean, fast robot cars with guns, Megan Fox, and a kickass robot war, and this movie has easily got to be every guy's fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely into dudes, but that one scene with Megan Fox leaning over Bumblebee’s hood. Damn. I’m down for that.
Just as I knew it would, ‘Transformers’ completely sucks us in and it’s not until Tyson dives through Puck’s bedroom door that I realize we’ve been watching the movie in complete silence for at least an hour. “What the fuck?” Puck grunts as Tyson comes barreling in.
For some unknown reason, I find myself jumping away from Puck as though what we were doing is somehow taboo, but the next words out of Tyson’s mouth have me forgetting all about it. “We fucking got them,” he cheers as though he just had the best fucking night of his life.
“Who?” I demand. “The guys who got Puck?”
“Damn straight,” Tyson says proudly, grinning at Puck like he’s waiting for a medal. Puck stills, watching Tyson intently, desperate for information. “You should have fucking seen us, man. We took them down. Those fuckers won’t ever show their faces again.”
“Who was it?” Puck demands as he tries to get up into a sitting position while getting frustrated that he still doesn’t have the answers he’s after.
“You’re not going to fucking believe it,” Tyson says with a sparkle in his eye as though he’s about to make Puck work for the answer.
“Tyson. Just fucking tell me already.”
Ty sighs. “Josh Henderson and two of his fucking goons from Haven Falls. Brooke and Tora overheard them discussing it at the party. Apparently, they had some kind of plan to knock us all off one by one.”
My eyes widen in horror as I reach forward and grab hold of Puck’s hand. How can people be so horrible? Nate and Tora have had issues with Josh in the past and while Puck isn’t completely innocent, he certainly didn’t do anything to deserve this.
“Fuck,” Puck spits. “Josh Henderson? Are you fucking sure?”
“Yeah, Nate got every last detail out of him. He was the fucker who did that number to your ribs.”
“It doesn’t make any fucking sense. I haven’t done shit to Josh. I’ve fucked up a few of the Haven Falls guys over the past few years, but nothing to this extent,” he says, indicating down his body.
“I know, man,” Tyson agrees. “Josh said Jackson was the one who put them up to it. Said he paid them to do it.”
Puck’s brow arches as he watches Tyson for a silent moment. “Nah,” he says, shaking his head. “That’s bullshit. Jackson is a fucking dickhead but think about it. Josh is from Broken Hill, he has money, and Jackson is a lowlife from Haven Falls without a cent to his name. He couldn’t possibly have come up with the cash to convince Josh to go up against us, let alone two others. Jackson didn’t do this. This is Josh trying to weasel his way out of a bad situation.”
Tyson cringes. “Well, shit. If you’re right, maybe we fucked up…just a little.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I question anxiously.
Tyson scrunches up his face and looks back at Puck. “Nate didn’t take a second to think it through like you did. He just acted.”
“Fuck,” Puck sighs. “What did he do?”
“He sort of set fire to Jackson’s car. Though, I’m surprised you don’t know about it already. You should have been able to hear the explosion from here.”
“What?” I shriek with wide eyes. What kind of people have I just got myself involved with? Maybe I should have gone to this party after all. It sounds like the best fucking party of the year, though I don’t think anything could have really beat Jesse’s birthday a few weeks ago. Now that was a good party.
Puck is quick to jump to his best friend’s defense and shrugs his shoulder. “Oh well, Jackson deserved that shit after he ran Nate off the road the other week. An eye for an eye, right?”
Tyson just grins. “There’s more.�
�
“What? How is there more? What the fuck was going on at that party?”
“Phoenix,” Tyson declares.
“Oh, you mean, outing Tora about her eating disorder? Yeah, we already head about that.”
“No, not that,” he says, shaking his head and making me sit a little straighter. There couldn’t possibly have been more bullshit going down tonight. “Phoenix is Jesse and Nate’s half-sister. She blurted it out in front of everyone and Tora lost her shit and started beating her ass. There’s probably a fucking video going around somewhere.”
“Are you kidding me?” I shriek, pushing up onto my knees as my eyes bulge out of my head. “There’s no way!”
“Scouts honor,” Tyson says with a chuckle, dropping down onto the end of Puck’s bed and letting us know that’s the end of the gossip he’s been dying to share. He lays back onto the bed and looks up at his hand, opening and closing his fist. “I swear, you fuckers should have been there. It was an epic night. Though, I think I fucked up my hand knocking that dickhead out.”
I shake my head, unable to catch up with everything that’s been said, but Puck apparently doesn’t have the same issue as he grabs his phone, presses a few buttons, and brings the phone to his ear. The call rings out as he drops his hand back into his lap. “Nate’s not answering,” he informs us.
“No shit,” Tyson grumbles. “He’s probably just working out that his dad was screwing Phoenix’s mom while cheating on his. Jesse isn’t going to handle this well.”
“Wait,” I say, looking around at both the boys. “Didn’t Jesse get with Phoenix before school went back.”
Tyson grins while Puck looks as though he’s about to be sick. “That’s fucking disgusting.”
“I know,” Ty laughs. “I have a feeling there’s going to be a few fights in our future though because there’s no way I’m letting the fucker live that one down.”
I shake my head and turn back to Puck who seems to be going way too quiet for his own good. “Are you okay?” I question as Tyson falls victim to ‘Transformers.’
Puck: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 1) Page 9
