Puck: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 1) Read online

  © 2020 Sheridan Anne.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Cover Design By: Sheridan Anne

  Photograph By: Expensive

  Proofread By: Heather Fox

  Editing & Formatting By: Sheridan Anne

  Introduction

  Courtney

  He’s the boy at school who could ruin it all.

  He’s the guy who would lead you down a dark alleyway, show you the time of your life, and then forget your name while you struggled to breathe.

  And now, his eyes are on me.

  Puck Jones is every woman’s dream come true, but for me, he’s nothing but a nightmare.

  Puck

  All through high school, Courtney has avoided me like the plague and I’ve never thought twice about it.

  She wasn’t even on my radar until she went and turned those big blue eyes my way. She gave me enough attitude to knock me on my ass and now I can’t seem to keep my eyes off her. As the saying goes, I want exactly what I can’t have…

  Someone should warn her that I always get exactly what I want.

  No matter what.

  WARNING: The Broken Hill Boys Series is a Young Adult / New Adult Romance filled with LOL moments, teenage angst, and of course, all the swoon-worthy moments I know you’re all dying for. This series is based upon the supporting character from The Broken Hill High Series. For maximum enjoyment, it is recommended that you read The Broken Hill High Series before commencing Broken Hill Boys.

  The Broken Hill Boys Series is made up of five Novellas, each approximately 30K words and written in Dual POV between the two main characters.

  This series is recommended for mature readers due to cursing and sexual content. If this offends you, then steer clear of this bad boy romance!

  For everyone else, dive in and have fun!

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Where to Next?

  Author Biography

  Other Series by Sheridan Anne

  Chapter 1

  Courtney

  Bodies grind up against me as I search out my best friend’s hand. Where the hell is she? One minute we were dancing among the sweatiest bodies known to man and the next, it was as though the crowd had swallowed her. She’s just…gone.

  “Brylee?” I call out over the music, hoping she hasn’t wandered off or been stolen away by some dude with a man bun. After all, she has drunk way too much to be left out on her own at a party like this. If she has wandered off, then I better start searching. Brylee has a slight habit of snooping and getting herself into trouble at parties like this.

  We start our senior year on Monday morning, so this party is our final goodbye to the incredible summer we’ve just had, and hello to another year of hell.

  I guess ‘hell’ is taking it too far, but when you’re a student at Broken Hill High and have guys like the Ryder brothers and skanky cheerleaders to constantly watch out for, it’s not exactly a walk in the park.

  Brylee’s hand comes shooting out and latches onto my arm with her red fingernails digging into my skin. I glance back to find her silently begging me to save her from being mauled by a bunch of too drunk football players.

  I grab hold of Brylee and give her a hard yank, pulling her away from the man meat before leading her out of the room and into the kitchen. “Did you see that?” Brylee howls with laughter. “Those guys were so hot.”

  “Those guys were not hot,” I tell her. “They were two seconds away from offering you a gang bang.” Brylee’s brow arches in curiosity and intrigue and I shake my head. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Brylee is a good girl, and not just the ‘listen in class and make sure curfew is never broken’ kind of good girl. She’s a full-on academic whiz who’s been dreaming about getting into Yale her whole life. She's the kind of good girl who's plan B for school is freaking Harvard. Me? I’ll be lucky if I get into community college, but if I do, I’m sure it’ll be by accident.

  As we make our way into the kitchen, I find Tora and Brooke currently acquainting themselves with the drinks table and they twirl around just as we reach them. “You made it,” Brylee says, throwing her arms around Tora before doing the same with Brooke.

  “Of course, we made it,” Tora laughs. “As if we’re going to miss this.”

  I can’t help but agree. After all, it’s not just the back to school party, it’s also the end of summer party hosted by Josh Henderson, the hottest quarterback Broken Hill High has ever seen. Half of the girls at school have been dying for their chance to get inside this place, and the other half, well I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already been.

  Though right now, that lucky girl just happens to be Tora. Well, sort of. Josh seems to be hitting on her at every chance he gets, but for some reason, Tora just hasn’t made the move to make it happen with him.

  We continue chatting as Tora and Brooke turn back around to start pouring everyone drinks and I look over the selections. I was supposed to be the responsible one tonight, but this is my last chance to really let loose before school starts. I’m sure Brylee really wouldn’t mind if we walked back to my place instead of driving, it’s only five minutes from here.

  With that decision made, I go to reach around Tora for the bottle of Midori when a big body steps in my way and plucks the cup right out of Tora’s hand. She gasps and goes to hand the guy his ass when we all look up and see who it is.

  Nate Fucking Ryder.

  He’s crowned the king of Broken Hill High and has been a pain in Tora’s ass since we were twelve. Nate has always gone above and beyond to prove that he can make her life a living hell, but it’s not him who has my attention.

  It's Puck Jones that steps into me, blocking me in between his tall frame and the countertop. He's Nate's just as fucked up best friend that I've been in school with since kindergarten.

  Truth be told, I’m pretty damn sure I’m the only person in Broken Hill who still knows his real name. That’s just how long we’ve known each other, but I’m sure he wouldn’t remember.

  Puck was the reason I didn’t run out of class in tears on my first day of kindergarten. He was the boy who could see that I was scared and took my hand. He walked in with me and sat with me the whole day, making me smile and giving me the confidence to be brave.

  Ever since that day, he’s never spared me a second thought, but for some Godforsaken reason, I’m always extremely aware of him.

  As if sensing my eyes on him, his gaze falls down to mine and his eyes narrow. He looks at me as though I’m some kind of stranger or a puzzle that he doesn’t care to work out, but all I know is that we’re locked in each other’s gaze, both unwilling to be the first to look away.

  My cheeks begin to flush with the intensity of his eyes upon mine and something tells me that he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.

  It’s like drowning in a pool of blue opal. Damn, I’ve never noticed just how blue his eyes were before. They’re startling and it’s impossible to look away, especially with that tanned skin and dark, messy hair that has me wantin
g to run my fingers through it.

  What the hell is this and why is my heart racing so damn fast?

  Puck Jones is a tall glass of hard liquor, completely and utterly dangerous, which is probably why most of the girls around the school are so into him. Though it’s not just him, it’s all five of the boys; Nate and his brother Jesse, their cousin Maxen, and of course Jesse’s best friend, Tyson.

  Anger instantly sweeps over me and I find myself desperate to slam my fist into his gut for the little sad kindergartener who was left without a friend, but laying an unwanted hand on Puck Jones, or any of his friends for that matter, would not be wise.

  These guys are not the kind to back down from a fight, even against a girl. No matter what, they always get their way and they always get what they want.

  Before I have a chance to ruin my whole senior year, Nate’s shoulder charges into mine and I wobble back a step. His girlfriend, Ashley barks out a sharp laugh as Puck’s hand shoots out. He captures me around my wrist and steadies me on my feet, leaving my skin burning from his touch.

  The words ‘thank you’ are on the tip of my tongue, but before they have the chance to be spoken, he disappears into the crowd, leaving me gasping for breath.

  What the hell was that?

  I’m left feeling breathless and as Brooke checks that Tora’s doing alright, I pour myself a hard drink and throw it back.

  Sorry, Bry. There’s no doubt about it, we’ll definitely be walking home tonight.

  Brylee cheers as the shot flows down my throat. Despite her goodie-goodie ways, there’s nothing she loves more than having shots at a party and letting loose, she loves it, even more, when we get to do it together.

  Usually, we make a deal that one of us gets to drink while the other stays sober. It’s rare that we get to party together, but tonight, I’ve changed the rules and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.

  With Tora feeling better about her Nate encounter and no one picking up on my Puck one, we head back to the dance floor and make it our bitch.

  The four of us have been friends all through high school but my friendship with Brylee goes way back to elementary school when I tripped on the playground and got covered in mud. She tried to help me clean up, and in doing so, we both ended up worse than what I started. We've been inseparable since our lunchtime detention that day, making this whole Yale and Harvard thing so much worse. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to get in, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when that happens.

  We dance until our legs get sore and even then, we continue on. The night is incredible and the liquid courage pulsing through my veins has made it possible for me to put Puck to the back of my mind.

  Josh Henderson makes his appearance once he’s got Tora in his sights and we all laugh as he makes his way across the dance floor. A path seems to clear for him wherever he goes and I watch in amusement as the cheerleaders try grabbing for him.

  Josh steps up in front of Tora and hardly gives her a chance to say hello before his lips are crushing down on hers with his tongue forcing its way inside her mouth.

  I watch in disgust. That looks wet, like really wet.

  Brooke, Brylee, and I watch the show each with a different expression on our face. Brylee watches on in awe, thinking just about everything is romantic while I cringe at the way Josh seems to be eating her face. I mean, Josh is hot, but what he’s currently doing to Tora definitely is not. Brooke laughs beside me before giving Tora an encouraging thumbs-up, always down for a little action.

  There’s no way in hell Tora is enjoying that. My thoughts are confirmed not a second later when she pulls back from him and he grins down at her. He murmurs something I can’t hear over the music before disappearing back into the dancing bodies.

  “What the hell was that?” Brylee squawks.

  Tora shakes her head and I can’t help but notice the way she discreetly wipes his saliva off her face. “I have no idea.”

  “Tell me it was better than last week?”

  She shakes her head as Brooke falls into uncontrollable fits of laughter. “Holy shit,” she pants, wiping the tears that pooled in her eyes. “I think I just peed myself.”

  With that, Brooke takes off and Tora groans as she watches her best friend walk away. “Shit. Can you guys go with her so she doesn’t get herself in trouble? I’m going to grab some fresh air.”

  “No problem,” Brylee says moments before Tora turns on her heel and walks off in the opposite direction.

  Knowing Tora will be fine, I grab Brylee’s hand and take off after Brooke. After all, out of the four of us, Brooke is the one who’ll end up bent over the pool table with a guy taking advantage of her as the rest of the senior class watches on with phones recording.

  Not ten minutes later, we have Brooke safe and sound as the three of us find our way back to the drinks table. Just as we reach it and start pouring ourselves some more drinks, an arm swipes across the table, moving everything out of the way before Maxen Ryder, Nate’s cousin, pulls himself up on top of it.

  He stands before the whole party with a beer in hand and nearly every person in the room screaming out, ‘chug, chug, chug.’ Not one to back down from the challenge, he throws back his beer as more are thrust up at him.

  He gets through them when Brooke throws her arm over my shoulder and stares up at him. “Fuck, he’s hot,” she slurs before slapping a hand over her mouth and launching herself back to the bathroom.

  Chapter 2

  Puck

  I drop down into Nate’s matte black Camaro and instantly turn up the music as he hits the gas, making my body slam back into the chair.

  Fucking Jesse. He should know better than to dare his brother to do stupid shit like this.

  Tonight has been a fucking wild night. It’s an awesome party despite the fact that it’s being hosted by a douchebag like Josh Henderson. There are only a few days before school is due to go back so you bet your fucking ass that we’re going all out tonight.

  Nate’s Camaro drives up over the curb and speeds towards the back entrance of Josh’s massive property. People dive out of the way, desperate not to be crushed under Nate’s tires, but he’s relentless. There’s no way he’s backing down from this dare, not now, not ever, especially when it was handed to him by his brother.

  Josh’s manicured grass is ripped up under the tires and I put my window down as Nate flies through the backyard. Girls squeal out in terror as guys all-around bark out their approval.

  Nate reaches the fire pit and within the blink of an eye, he’s spinning around it. The back of his Camaro whips around and I can’t help but laugh. I have to give it to the guy; he sure knows how to drive.

  My hand flies out the window and I brace myself against the side of the car, watching as Nate smirks to himself. He might think he’s some kind of a hard ass, but there’s no denying that he doesn’t get a thrill out of this bullshit.

  As the Camaro whips around I can’t help but notice the line of muscle that has formed near the back door of Josh’s home and I grin to myself. The whole football team has come to say hello, clearly not liking the fact that Nate is currently tearing the shit out of their quarterback’s lawn.

  I grin, lifting my beer to my lips. Looks like I get to knock a few heads together tonight, but then there’s a good chance these fuckers will pussy out. They’re all about the show. They talk a big game, but when it comes down to it, they’ve got nothing.

  As my eyes skim over the football players, I come to the end of the line, only to find one with his back to me. Josh Fucking Henderson. I’ve never liked that guy. He’s the very definition of an entitled ass. We all have money, but Josh is the fucker who had a silver spoon in his mouth since the day he was born. If he wants something, he takes it. I guess that’s why he currently has Tora Roberts pressed up against the brick wall of his home while she does her best to pull away.

  I bark out a laugh knowing how this is going to go. “Looks like your girl is in tro
uble,” I tell Nate, unable to control the smirk across my face. There’s nothing I love more than fucking with Nate Ryder, especially when it comes to Tora Roberts.

  Nate’s eyes flick to mine with his brows creased before following my gaze and taking in the sight. If anyone else was in the car with us, they’d assume I was talking about Ashley, the girl Nate’s been using to hold the others off, none would have the slightest inkling that it was Tora I was referring to, especially after the way Nate has publicly made her life a living hell.

  No matter how much he denies it, me, Maxen, Tyson, and especially Jesse know all too well that he’s got a soft spot for her. He can’t lie to us when he’s talking about Tora, it’s all in his eyes. He’s been in love with her for years.

  Fury seeps into Nate’s features as he presses down harder on the gas and the tires begin spitting up chunks of grass and mud as the engine roars. I laugh out. I fucking love this shit.

  The sound of the engine finally draws Josh’s attention and a wicked grin spreads across Nate’s face. He doesn’t say a word, but he doesn’t need to. It’s written all over his face; game on.

  Usually, I’d be giving Nate a lecture about fucking with Tora, but I honestly couldn’t give a shit tonight. I’ve drank way too much and all I can seem to think about is the way Courtney was staring at me earlier.

  I don’t know why it fucked with my head so much. Screwing with Courtney is not a good move. Don’t get me wrong, she’s fucking gorgeous and I don’t doubt that she has some sort of magical pussy that would make me feel like a fucking king, but she’s bad news.

  Courtney is the girl who wouldn’t give up the goods unless you’re promising a future to go with it, and honestly, I’m so far from interested in that shit. It was just the way she was looking at me…I don’t know, there was a fire in her eyes and it was almost like she had so much more she needed to say

  No girl has ever had the audacity to do something like that and truth be told, I fucking liked it. No, I loved it. I’ve never been so lucky that Nate nearly knocked her the fuck over and broke whatever connection was between us before I had the chance to slam her up against the wall and take her right there for the whole fucking senior class to see.