Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

“Wait, wait, wait,” Courtney says. “We need to toast.”

“To what?” I grunt.

“Yale,” Brylee cheers, throwing her hands up in the air and spilling most of her shot over her shoulder in her excitement. I mean, we’re all excited for her to be going to Yale in a few months, but at the same time, it’s a bit of a sore spot that she’ll be moving away.

“Hell no,” a deep voice says behind me as an arm shoots beside me and picks up a filled shot glass. Nate’s other hand curls around my waist as he holds his glass up. “To Tora.”

A grin rips across my face. “To me,” I cheer as the girls follow along.

I bring the glass to my lips and tip the shot back. The strange pink liquid burns my throat and makes me cough and sputter like an idiot. “What the hell did you put in that?”

“It’s called a pink pussy shot.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I grunt. “I’ve had one of those before and that was not it.”

“Oh,” she sighs, looking down at the concoction of bottles before her. “I could have sworn I got it right.”

“Who cares?” Elle laughs. “Let’s do another one.”

Brooke shrugs as a brilliant smile takes over her face. She takes all the glasses back and gets busy getting us all trashed.

“Come on,” Nate says when he’s decided I’ve drunk way too much for his liking. He tugs on my arm and drags me away towards the people dancing by the fire pit.

“You’re going to dance?” I gasp as a giggle comes up and lets me know how good my happy buzz is.

“No,” he laughs, rubbing his thumbs across the top of my knuckles. “You’re going to dance and grind that sexy body of yours all over me while I watch you move.”

“You’re such a perve.”

“You fucking love it.”

He’s right. I do.

I melt into him as he takes my waist and spins me around. I press my back up against his chest and feel nothing but pure muscle behind me. I start moving my body and his hands begin roaming all over me, turning this dance into something else entirely. I mean, if I don’t get a hold of myself, I’ll be climbing him like a tree and begging him to take me right here in the middle of the dance floor.

Nate leans over me and presses his lips to my neck. “I fucking love you,” he tells me.

My hand runs down his arm until I clasp my fingers between his. I squeeze his hand and turn in his arms, keeping our joined hands between our bodies. My head tilts up and he instantly catches my lips in his. “I love you, too,” I tell him, bearing my soul to him so he sees just how deeply I mean it.

He smiles against my lips and I know he feels it, just like I do. I know there are hundreds of bodies around us, half of which I’ve never met before in my life, but right now, it’s just me and Nate. He’s the only person who exists in my world. He always will be.

“Is this party over?” he questions. “I’m ready to take you to bed.”

I grin up at him. The party has been going for maybe two hours and I plan on partying well into the night. “Good things come to those who wait.”

“They better,” he groans, pressing his hips into me and showing me just how bad he wants my body.

I groan at the touch. I mean, if we disappeared, would anyone really miss us?

“Come on,” I tell him, taking his hand and leading him away from the dance floor. “I need to cool down before I strip off and jump you right here.”

Nate adjusts himself so the other partiers don’t get a glimpse of what he’s working with and I have to smother a grin. “You know,” he says, “usually, I’d hate the idea of anyone seeing your body, but right now, I really wouldn’t mind.”

I shake my head at him as he falls down into a chair and pulls me down on top of him. I feel him through his jeans, still hard and ready to go which makes me wonder how damn uncomfortable it would be for him having me squished down on top of him. But then he goes and grinds himself against my ass and I reconsider. He’s not uncomfortable in the least.

As we sit and people watch, I can’t help but notice Jesse off in the distance with a particular blonde wrapped in his arms. “Look,” I tell Nate, indicating with a nod of my head to his brother.

Nate looks up and watches Jess for a moment. We both take in how gentle he is with her. How he runs his fingers down the side of her face as though she were so precious, he could die without her. Usually at parties when Jess is with a girl, he’s dominating. He makes it clear what his intentions are and he always gets what he wants, but this is a different side of Jesse I’ve never seen before. He truly cares about Kaylah and it’s written all over his face.