Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

Jackson shrugs and gives me a tight smile. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you anyway,” he tells me. “Might as well do it now.”

My brows pull down in curiosity. “Go on then.”

“I wanted to tell you that I’m done chasing you,” he says. “From now on, you and I are strictly friends. I won’t keep hitting on you or showing up at your place. I mean, unless you want me to.”

“Ok…” I chuckle. “Where did all this come from?”

“I just… I get it. You’re not getting over Nate anytime soon, no matter how much of a douche he is and after spending time with you over the past few weeks, I’ve realized you’re a cool chick. I want to be friends with you, but that’s it.”

“You sure?” I question, holding onto the relief just in case he’s playing some sick joke.

“I’m sure,” he tells me. “Besides, I kind of have the hots for Elle. You know she used to be a cheerleader, right?”

“Yes,” I laugh as I finally let the relief overtake me. “You know I’m the reason she’s not, right?”

“What?” he grunts with a raised eyebrow. “How dare you.”

“When she was a cheerleader, she would have dated you in a heartbeat.”

“And what about now?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

He goes to say something which I’m sure was probably going to be sarcastic, but a black Range Rover screeches to a halt in front of my car. Not a second later, Nate is storming out of the driver’s seat with Jesse following behind, desperately trying to pull him back.

Jackson flies to his feet before I’ve even realized what’s going on.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Nate demands, getting in Jackson’s face. “You wait until my back is turned to try and take my girl?”

“Nate,” I yell, trying to push myself between the two guys. “Stop.”

“Your girl,” Jackson spits as though the word is dirty, “got her tire slashed. I’m fucking helping her.”

Nate’s eyes fly down to mine. “Is that true?”

I nod my head eagerly. “Yes.”

His eyes harden and I watch as a deep jealousy takes root right down in his soul. “Why’d you call him? You should have called me,” he tells me with a low voice, wanting this to be a private conversation, but with how close Jackson is on my other side, I don’t doubt he can hear every word.

My eyes search out Nate’s as I place my hand upon his chest, hoping it manages to soothe him in some way. “I was in the middle of calling you when he drove past. I didn’t call him. He’s helping me.”

Nate lets out a hard breath and I see him visibly starting to relax, though it’s not by much. His eyes lift to Jackson and I watch as his jaw clenches. “You can go.”

Jackson looks down at me before flicking his eyes up to Nate and then to Jesse who has somehow managed to stay quiet through all of this. “Yeah,” he scoffs, shaking his head as though Nate’s little performance was pathetic, and he’d be right. It was. “Whatever. I’ll see you later, Tora.”

With that, he walks back to his car and I watch as he drops down into it. ‘Sorry,’ I mouth, giving him a tight smile.

Jackson nods his head and a second later, he’s pulling away from the curb and screeching down the road.

I turn my glare on Nate. “You had no right.”

“Excuse me?” he scoffs in disbelief.

“You heard me. I’m a big girl, Nate. I can take care of myself. The guy was just trying to help me out and you came in like a raging bull and made him feel like shit for even bothering.”

“So, what? You’re suddenly team Jackson now?”

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but he’s actually nice to me. I don’t have an issue with him anymore.”

“You’re shitting me, right?” Nate scoffs. “The guy has been trying to get in your pants since day one, and have you forgotten about that Haven Falls party?”

“He’s apologized for that a million times, and as for getting in my pants, he likes Elle, not me, so you can back off. I love you, Nate, but right now, I really hate you.”

“Shit,” Jesse groans, deciding now is the time to speak up, but not to worry, he slowly backs away from us until he’s circling my car, taking a look at the damage for himself.

“Tora,” Nate groans as pain flashes behind his eyes. “Don’t. You don’t mean that.”

I shrug my shoulders as I honestly don’t know if I do or not. “Can we just… get out of here?”

He lets out a heavy sigh and looks away from me before walking forward to get a look at the car with Jess. “Shit,” he sighs, talking to Jess. “She fucked up the rim.”

“Mmhmm,” Jess agrees. I don’t exactly understand what that means for me, but from the looks on their faces, it couldn’t be good. “I’ll call a tow.”