Broken Hill Havoc (Broken Hill High Series 5)

I let out a sigh and collapse back into the couch, this time actually sitting on it and not being used as Jesse’s play toy. I listen to the sound of Brooke’s car taking off out the front and roll my eyes. How could I have missed that her car was out the front?

“She’ll come around,” Jesse tells me, throwing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into his side as I make myself busy sulking.

“I know. It’s just taking longer than I thought,” I whine. I let out another sigh. “I better get going. I told Nate I’d be home when he gets back. You guys want to come?”

Jesse scoffs. “And watch you and Nate fucking on the couch? No thank you.”

I shrug my shoulder as I push up off the couch. “Your loss,” I tell him.

I walk out the door and get myself back home just in time to see Nate’s Mustang pulling up behind me. “Where have you been?” he asks, meeting me on the path and walking with me towards the house.

“Reminding you brother that he’s still my favorite little guy.”

“Is he all good?” he questions.

“He held me down and threatened to fart on me.”

Nate laughs as he opens the door for me. “He’s good.”

“Yeah, I’d say so,” I agree.

“Is he coming over?”

“No,” I laugh. “He doesn’t want to watch us screwing on the couch.”

“His loss,” Nate grins. “I was going to screw you on the counter.”

I roll my eyes as I walk I through the house, quickly realizing that Brooke isn’t here, though I have no idea where she would have gone. Home to visit her mom, perhaps? “Have you eaten?” I ask Nate as I open the fridge and start looking around.

“Depends,” he says, coming up behind me and taking my hips. “Are you going to cook for me?”

I turn in his arms. “If you were hoping for the perfect little housewife to cook and clean up after you all the time, you’ve picked the wrong girl,” I tell him. “But, if you ask nicely, I’ll cook for you. I can’t guarantee it will be any good though.”

He lets out a sigh as he watches me with sparkling eyes. “How about I cook?”

“That sounds like a smart plan.”

He laughs and moves me out of the fridge before diving in and pulling out ingredients that I didn’t even know we had. “Where’d all this shit come from?” I question, sitting down on the stool to watch him work.

“I bought them.”

“You mean, you brought them from your mom’s house?”

“No,” he grins. “I bought them from the store.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Nate Ryder went to the store himself? No. Not possible. Tell me, did you push your little shopping cart around and chat amongst the stay at home moms? I bet they would have had some great recipes to share.”

“Shut up,” he laughs before pulling out some pots and pans and getting started on whatever the hell he’s cooking. He fills up a pot with water and puts it on to boil. “Are you just going to sit there and watch or are you going to help?” he questions, looking over his shoulder to peer at me.

“You said you’d cook.”

“I say a lot of things,” he laughs. “Now, get that sweet ass over here and start stirring.”

I roll my eyes and get over there before he decides to take it into his own hands. We work side by side, teasing each other the whole way through, reminding me over and over again just how damn happy I am. You know, even though other things seem to be screwed up for me right now, I’ll always have Nate right by my side, constantly pushing me to be the best possible version of myself.

We dish up some food and I make sure to make an extra for Brooke when she comes home later, just in case she’s hungry.

Nate leads me over to the table and we sit down to eat. “Did you get your studying done this morning?” Nate questions as he fills me a glass of water.

“Sure did,” I tell him.

“Really?” he says, raising a suspicious eyebrow at me. “You had shitloads to get through.”

“I know,” I laugh. “I kind of gave up after the first few hours. I can do the rest tomorrow.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I smile. “I’d rather spend the rest of the day with you. After all, I wouldn’t want anyone to accuse me of forgetting to live my life.”

Nate rolls his eyes. “I’m just trying to look out for your best interests.”

“I know, and I love you for it.”

“Speaking of your best interests,” he says, making me look up at him suspiciously. “Have you seen Josh?”

I shake my head. “No, and I don’t want to.”

Nate takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “I feel fucking helpless,” he tells me. “You’re on campus every day, from sunrise to sunset, and I’m at work. He could get to you at any time and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”