Broken Hill Hurt (Broken Hill High 3)

The thought of the candles falling and starting a fire in the bathroom soars through me but I shake it off. I can’t live in fear. I need to keep on going or I’ll never enjoy the little things in life.

With the candles burning, I tie my hair up into a high bun and turn the light off before sliding into the bath with Nate’s phone on the ledge.

I relax down into the water and I instantly feel like a million dollars. The hospital needs to invest in this kind of rehabilitation for its patients. I’m sure they’ll see a hell of a lot more happy people walking around.

Mom comes in moments later and hands me my cup of tea before placing my Kindle down on the ledge beside Nate’s phone. “You know,” she says. “Just in case you need it.”

“Thanks, mom,” I say with a smile. “Love you.”

“Love you too, honey,” she says as she stops in the doorway and looks back at me. “I’ve never been so happy to see you home before,” she tells me. “You had me so damn scared.”

“I bet,” I tell her. “I promise, I’ll never get myself caught in a fire again.”

“That’d be great,” she says with a smile before walking out and closing the door.

I finish off my tea and the second it’s down the hatch, I reach for the phone. I bring up Jesse’s number and hit call. Nate’s voice comes through the line a moment later and takes away the sting my father left behind. “Babe,” he says. “Is everything ok?”

“It is now,” I tell him. “I’ve had better days.”

“Was it that bad?”

“He called me a disgrace and basically said I’ll never amount to anything, not unless I pull my shit together.”

“I’ll kill him,” Nate promises

“Don’t,” I say. “He’s right. My grades are slipping and I’m a complete fuck up at the moment. I’ve been partying way too much, I got a suspension, I bitch slapped Phoenix, I-”

“Ok, ok, ok,” he cuts me off. “I get your point, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to amount to anything. You’re the most determined and motivated person I know. If you want to be a lawyer then I bet my balls that you’ll do everything in your power to make it happen.”

“But my grades are slipping,” I remind him. “I won’t even get into a college like this.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll study with you.”

“You mean, I’ll study while you work on the Mustang?” I laugh as I swirl the bubbles around with my finger.

“Isn’t that what I said?”

“You’re an idiot,” I tell him, before letting out a breath and debating whether I should tell him about dad’s not so subtle request when I realize that no matter what, Nate has my back. I shouldn’t need to hide it from him. “Dad thinks it’s because of you,” I say with a scoff. “He thinks I’m changing myself so you won’t get bored with the good girl. He wants us to break up.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he spits. “Your dad is fucked up, babe. I hope you didn’t inherit those genes.”

“I think I’m good,” I smile.

“What are you doing?” he questions. “Mom’s signing my discharge. Do you need me to come around?”

“As badly as I want you to, you should probably go home. I bet your mom is dying to tuck you in bed and fuss all over her special little guy.”

“And yours didn’t?”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “I’m in a bubble bath with fancy-ass oils sipping a chamomile tea. She even bought me my Kindle and I bet she’s probably mushing up my dinner so it doesn’t hurt.”

“I’m sorry, what? All I got from that is you’re in the bath,” he teases.

“Of course, you did,” I smile as I lean my head back against the edge of the bath and close my eyes while I listen to the soothing sound of his voice.

“Call me back,” he says with a smile in his voice. “We’ll FaceTime instead.”

I can’t help but laugh. I should have seen that coming. Of course, the goofball wants to get an eyeful of me butt naked. “In your dreams,” I tell him before changing the subject. “What does Puck like?”

“Tell me you don’t mean sexually?” he grunts.

“No,” I laugh. “I mean, what’s he like to do? What’s he into? He saved my life and I want to do something nice for him.”

“Shit. Are you saying I should probably do something nice for Jess?”

“Well, yeah. He made it possible for me to rock your world again. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Damn,” he grunts. “I do have to do something nice. But not too nice, the dick broke my rib and it fucking hurts.”

“Shut up about your rib. I would have broken every single one of them if it meant saving your life.”