Broken Hill Hearts (Broken Hill High 4)

“Yep,” he grins, clearly very proud of himself. I walk forward and get a good look at it. He’s put so much detail into this thing, it’s unbelievable. “There are still a few little things I want to do, but they can wait.”

“Holy shit, Nate,” I say in disbelief. “This is incredible.”

He steps up beside me and reaches in through the open driver’s side window to pop the hood. “Look at this.”

I walk with him around the front of the car and look at the engine which he boasts about. I have no idea what he’s talking about, so I smile and nod because I know deep down, that’s what he wants from me.

“What did your mom say? And Jess? I bet they were so proud of you.”

“Actually,” he grins. “I haven’t told them yet. The second I finished, all I could think about was showing you.”

My heart fills so much that I’m terrified it’s about to burst. “Did I tell you that you’re incredible?”

He pulls me into him. “You may have mentioned it a few times.”

I grin up at him. “Are you going to take me for a ride?”

“Hell yeah.”

Before I know it, he practically throws me through the open window and climbs in beside me. He looks across at me as he turns the key in the ignition and the car roars to life.

I feel the vibration of the engine right up through the seat and into my bones. A brilliant smile spreads across his face and I can’t help but burst into laughter as I watch him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.

It’s moments like this that I live for. Seeing and experiencing things like this with the man I’m so deeply in love with is what I call living. Now all I need is for him to bend me over the hood while the engine vibrates like that. Damn.

Nate hits the gas and he drives down the driveway and out onto the road. He stars heading to his place when he takes a different road. “Where are we going?” I question.

“Where do you think?” he grins, nodding down at my phone in my hands. “Call Jess. Tell him to meet us at the races.”

My stomach drops. “You’re going to race?” I question, already knowing the answer. I mean, the last time I saw him race, the car flipped three times before coming to a devastating end. We nearly lost him. I picture that moment nearly every day that goes by. It’s not exactly something that’s easy to forget.

“Of course, I am,” he says. “Why the hell wouldn’t I? I didn’t just rebuild it so it can drive me to school and home every day.”

“Yeah, ok,” I say, holding my tongue.

“What?” he questions, reaching across the center and taking my hand. “What happened last time isn’t going to happen again.”

“You can’t know that,” I tell him. “No one could know that. They’re called freak accidents for a reason.”

He squeezes my hand. “Do you trust me?”

I look up at him. “You know I do.”

“Do you trust me to back off if I thought something like that was going to happen again?”

I consider him for a moment before nodding. “Yeah,” I murmur. “I do.”

His eyes light up in victory but it slowly seeps back out again. “If you’re really not comfortable with it, I won’t race.”

“Are you kidding?” I grin. “I’ve seen your face when you race. You live for this kind of stuff. No way am I taking that away from you. You just have to make sure you win without getting your ass kicked in the process.”

He scoffs as he looks across at me. “When do I ever get my ass kicked?”

“Well,” I laugh. “There was that one time…”

“You’re an ass,” he tells me

I can’t help but laugh as I relax back into the seat and bring up Jesse’s number on my phone, knowing with one call, he’ll get the whole world here to see this.

Half an hour later, Nate and I stand in front of his Mustang as people all around gawk and stare as though their king has returned from the dead. Nate leans against the hood with me pulled into his chest as we watch the race down on the track.

There’s a white Camaro speeding around and from memory, I think that’s Nate’s kind-of-friend, Noah, who goes to Haven Falls. He’s pretty cool and allowed us to beat the shit out of a bunch of guys who had jumped Puck a few months ago. His only request was that we move the fight outdoors, which Nate happily obliged. It just happened to be the same party that Phoenix’s dirty little secret came out and the one where Nate ‘accidentally’ blew up Jackson’s car.

What a fun night.

I’m so glad that shit is in the past.