Broken Hill Havoc (Broken Hill High Series 5)

“I’d dare say they’ve been forced to shadow us all night.”

“What?” she questions, looking across at me with drawn eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Trust me, it does.”

“What are you talking about?”

I cringe, realizing I haven’t spilled on the whole Josh thing and decide there’s no better time than the present. “Ummm…. well, I sort of saw Josh on campus.”

“Josh?” she gasps wide-eyed. “As in the douchebag who tried to have his way with you in the broom closet?”

“Yep, the one and only.”

“Fuck. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, you sort of thought I was trying to get in your boyfriend’s pants and honing your grudge holding skills.”

“I think this kind of trumps that.”

“Me too, but you wouldn’t give me the time of day to tell you about it. Quite frankly, you’re a rotten bitch when you’re holding a grudge.”

“Shut up,” she laughs, knocking my shoulder. “You’re worse.”

“Bullshit. I glared once.”

“You yelled at me,” she defends.

“Nu-uh,” I shake my head. “I yelled at Lukas and you just took it personally.”

Brooke rolls her eyes and I find myself turning towards her in the grass. I reach out and take her hand, getting back on topic. “Anyway, Josh goes here so just be careful ok. He hasn’t got anything against you, but he might be a douche because you’re my friend.”

“Ok. I’ll keep an eye out for h… Oh,” she gasps. “It makes sense. That’s why the boys are shadowing you. Your over-protecting captor put them up to it.”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “Nate hasn’t admitted it, but that’s my guess too.”

“Geez,” she sighs. “I wish I had an over-protective asshole that looked out for me like that.”

“You don’t think you do?”

“What?” she grunts.

“You’re going to pretend Maxen didn’t come running the other day. He was here to help move us in, he’s here now. That kid has got it bad for you.”

“Nah, we’re just friends. He’s trying to make up for being an ass in high school.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know, Brookey. I’d dare say he wants you back.”

“It’s not like that,” she insists.

“Brooke,” I say, giving her a meaning look. “Our walls are paper thin,” I remind her. She cringes, clearly knowing what I’m talking about, so I continue on. “I was trying not to, but I heard your whole conversation the other night and I know he didn’t specifically say it, but he still loves you in his weird twisted way.”

Brooke lets out a heavy sigh. “Do you think so?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how I feel about it yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going to fall back into his trap,” I tell her. “I can see it in the way you look at each other. That old attraction is still there. I just don’t know if you should trust him to give it another go. Maybe he has changed like he was letting on, or maybe it was just some ploy to get you back.”

Her eyes cast away from mine. “I know, I was wondering the same thing. But… I feel that he’s different. You know the other night he didn’t even try to hit on me. The old Maxen would never have missed the chance to try and all night he hasn’t looked at another girl. I mean, he’s not acting like the dick head I knew from high school.”

“Just… be careful ok. If you’re actually going to consider this, just make sure he’s being honest first. I don’t know if your heart could take another beating.”

Brooke squeezes my hand with a promise in her eyes. “I swear, I’ll be caref-”

A voice rings out loud across the yard, cutting her off. “Found them,” Jesse hollers in a proud as fuck tone.

“Shit,” Brooke sighs.

I try to scramble away, but not a moment later, I’m hauled up over Jesse’s shoulder as Brooke is dragged along behind him. I don’t even bother fighting it. To be honest, we were lucky to get away at all.

Our capture was just a matter of time and clearly, time has run out.

Chapter 17

A loud rumble wakes me and has my face scrunching up in the most un-lady-like way known to man. My eyes peel open before instantly closing again. I do not appreciate that brightness seeping in through my window so damn early.

I hear a slighter rumble and my mind whirs with the possibilities. What the hell is that noise? It sounds like someone’s dragging furniture from one end of the house to the other.

I groan to myself. Brooke better not be rearranging furniture at a time like this. I know she’s all about making changes in her life, but now is not the time for her to start. Besides, if she wanted to make some drastic changes, I highly doubt moving the furniture is going to help with that.

Holy crap. Every single time I wake up after a night of drinking, I make a vow that I will never do it again. Ever. Yet somehow, l always seem to forget, right at the crucial moment.