Broken Hill Hurt (Broken Hill High 3)

Nate steps into me, still with the French fries far out of my reach and leans in so his lips hover just over mine. “I fucking love you,” he murmurs for only us to hear before his lips press down. I kiss him back and melt into him. His free arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me in hard against him. I feel his phone vibrate in his pocket but he ignores it to kiss me again. “And I fucking love it when you’re on top. But just so you know, when it comes to you, I’m going to take you any way I can.”

I pull back with a smile from ear to ear. “You’re so romantic,” I tease.

“Shut up,” he laughs as he brings his hand down and finally hands me the French fries, though, not before stealing another. I take them greedily and watch as he digs in his pockets and pulls out his phone.

He checks his message and an excited gin takes over. “Fuck yeah,” he grunts.

“What is it?” I question, biting into a French fry.

“He’s gone.”

“Dude,” Tyson says as he walks past us. “You should at least pretend to sound upset about it.”

Maxen scoffs. “He’s excited because it means he can go back home and start working on the Mustang.”

Now it’s my turn to scoff. “You mean, now he can use the extra space for the stupid car lift he bought last week.”

Nate grins like a kid in a candy shop. “It’s not stupid.”

“Of course, it’s stupid,” I laugh. “The car doesn’t even have an engine yet… or wheels.”

“But it will,” he beams with pride. He bought his new Mustang two weekends ago and since his dad has been packing all his things, all the boxes have gone straight into the garage leaving no room for Nate to start working on the car. He’s been moping around like someone stole his puppy. It’s sad really, but now that his dad is gone, that’s going to change. I can already see that it’s changing. “Come on,” he says, taking my free hand. “We have to go.”

“What?” I grunt. “Can’t I finish my French fries?”

“Bring ‘em with you,” he says, walking to the table and grabbing my phone and bag.

“Where are you going?” Jesse says.

“Where do you think?” Nate says. “This Mustang ain’t going to build itself.”

Jesse rolls his eyes but grabs his phone off the table. “Alright. I’m in.”

“Yeah, I’m down,” says Puck as he also grabs his things. Max and Tyson follow as the girls start looking around, wondering what the hell is going on.

“This isn’t a group project,” Nate scoffs with an amused grin.

“It is now,” Puck grins as he walks towards the door. “I’m thinking red.”

Nate starts shaking his head, horrified by the idea even though it’s blatantly obvious that Puck’s teasing him. I mean, everyone knows black is Nate’s color. His clothes. His car. His heart. Well, at least his heart used to be. I like to think it’s all fluffy and warm now. He’s like winter – cold as fuck on the outside, but the second you step inside it’s toasty warm.

Nate follows Puck out the door with me in tow and before I know it, we’re all out the front of Carter’s Coffee House, watching Jesse try his hardest not to allow Nate to steal his car keys, though, we all know he’s going to fail. Nate can’t stand not driving.

We drive down the long driveway to find Trish standing out the front, waiting for her boys.

I smile as I look at her. I’ve never seen her so… carefree. She’s in a dress, but not her usual type of country club dress, this is flowy and floral. Her hair is down and she wearing pink lip gloss, and man, does it look good on her.

I look to Nate as he watches her. His eyes are hard but I know he sees it, and I know he’s happy. Who wouldn’t be? His mom has put up with so much BS from Caden Ryder and now she’s finally free. And what better time to be free? She has two perfect boys who are going to show her that her best years are still ahead of her.

Nate brings Jesse’s Range Rover to a stop and presses the remote control for the garage. As it raises, we all get a good look at the new family member. An old Mustang sits before us, desperately begging Nate to bring it back to life; which I have no doubt he will do in a big way.

Nate gets out of the car and with an excited grin on his ridiculously handsome face, he walks straight for it.

Chapter 2

As I drive into the parking lot of Broken Hill High on Monday morning, I find nearly the whole school crowded around the front of Jesse’s Range Rover. I drive as quickly as I can without hurting anyone and bring my R8 to a stop beside his car. Even this close, I still can’t see what the hell is going on, all I know is the second I open the door, the noise instantly assaults me.