Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

“Watch it,” he warns. “Play with fire and you’re bound to get burned.”

I can’t help but tease him. “Are you saying Puck is as hot as fire?”

He shakes his head as he leans down and kisses me. “I’m going to sweep you off your feet so good that whenever another man even looks at you, you’ll come running right into my arms,” he murmurs, his lips brushing over mine.

“Hmm,” I smile. “Confident.”

“Damn straight, babe,” he tells me. “Now, quit standing your ground and help me get this place ready. People will start pouring through the door soon and when they do, I want them to say this is the best damn party they’ve ever been to.”

“You read my mind.”

An hour later, I sit out by the pool with a drink in my hand, watching as Courtney and Bry dance a little too close to the edge. They wouldn’t want to fall in. I know we’re in spring now but it’s not exactly a warm night. That pool is going to be freezing. But then… it could be extremely entertaining if one of them were to fall in. Watching the other dive in to be the hero would be pretty entertaining too.

“What the hell is going on over there?” Brooke grunts as she falls into the sunbed beside me.

I look up and scan through the crowed bodies trying to figure out what or who she’s talking about. I follow her gaze to find Jackson grinding against Elle as she dances upon him. “Ugh, that’s not a sight I’ll ever get used to,” I laugh. “Jackson told me he has the hots for her.”

“Really?” Brooke laughs. “That’s going to be… entertaining.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I tell her. “Them together would be like…”

“Like you and Nate on steroids,” she supplies. “God, can you imagine what their break up would look like? There’d be shit flying everywhere.”

“Oh, my god,” I laugh. “They’ll start a riot and the school will be burned down.”

“Shit,” Brooke grunts. “The school? I’m more concerned about a third world war.”

“But, on the other hand,” I say, studying them as Jackson wraps his hand around her waist and draws her in. “They’d be a pretty cute couple. He looks like the kind who’d love her with everything he’s got.”

“True,” she murmurs as she also watches them. “Damn it. Why couldn’t I get a guy like that? I just had to go and get stuck with Maxen. I still can’t believe you invited him here.”

“First off, I had to invite him after you shot him in the nuts with a paintball, and seco-”

“His thigh,” she cuts me off. “I shot his thigh, not his balls. I just grazed the side of it. But I really wish I’d gotten his damn balls, maybe then he wouldn’t be able to keep slutting around with Holly.”

I roll my eyes and continue, “Secondly,” I say, ignoring her comments. “He’s Nate and Jesse’s cousin and this is their house.”

“So?” she grunts. “It’s your party.”

“Exactly,” I grin. “So, shut up and have a good time.”

Brooke rolls her eyes and collapses back into the sunbed while bringing her drink to her lips. “Fine,” she groans. “But just so you know, when my super sexy boyfriend and his marshmallow brother throw me an awesome party, I’m inviting Todd Hyde.”

“What?” I shriek. “No way, that loser played me in front of all his friends.”

“Damn straight, he did. I’ll even give him a VIP pass.”

I roll my eyes. “You know, even if this hypothetical party actually happened, Nate would beat the shit out of him before he even got out of his douchebag car.”

She shakes her head. “Who said Nate’s invited?”

“Oh,” I gasp. “You wouldn’t?”

“I would.”

I shake my head and laugh. “You’re trouble, Brookey Chookey.”

“Ugh,” she groans, getting up and pulling me up behind her. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“Try a million times,” I sing as we walk around the end of the pool and collect Bry and Courtney before they face their doom in the bottom of the freezing pool. We walk by Jackson and Elle and steal her away, all to Jackson’s disappointment of course, but that doesn’t stop him from tagging along like a lost puppy.

Next up, we make our way over to the outdoor table which has been covered from top to bottom in bottle upon bottle of alcohol and mixers. “Birthday shots,” Brooke cheers as the girls cheer right along with her. Brooke looks to me. “What are you having?”

“Ahhhh,” I say, looking down at all the pretty choices. “I don’t know. Surprise me.”

Brooke grins. “Ok, you asked for it.”

I wait patiently as Brooke starts mixing something that I’ve never seen or heard of before in my life. A moment later, she hands us all a teeny weeny shot glass. “Bottoms up, ladies.”