Hearts and Bruises (Hearts Series Book 1) Read online

  “Nora,” I said, holding out my hand to him. Surprisingly he took my hand in his. His engulfed mine completely, my tan a few shades lighter than his. He was definitely a beach boy.

  “Ethan,” he said. “What are your plans tonight, Nora?” My mind thought back to the two blondes I’d seen a few minutes ago. I wonder if he was chip loving Ethan. It was a common name but judging by his looks and that girl’s obvious devotion to him, I’d bet he was the Ethan.

  “You’re looking at it,” I said, waving my arm over the cart like Vanna, trying to walk away again. The last thing I wanted was to start drama as the new girl, and the one girl looked like drama.

  “There is a party at the beach tonight,” he said. “You should come.”

  “I have not found the beach yet, that’s on my to-do list tomorrow,” I said, walking farther down the aisle. People were walking by and looking me up and down while we talked.

  “I can drive you, or you can follow me,” he offered, completely oblivious to the other guy who slapped him on the shoulder as he walked by us.

  “I have to get my groceries home,” I told him. “Thanks for the invite though.” I started to walk away again.

  “How about I’ll follow you, you drop your things off, then follow me to the beach?” he suggested, his eyebrows raised.

  I scrunched my nose. I wasn’t really feeling a party tonight and I did not look anywhere near as dressed up as the girls I saw earlier.

  “I won’t take no for an answer, Nora. You’re my friend now, and it’s my job to introduce you to the people you’ll be in school with this year.” Ethan’s words rang true in my gut. Yes, I’d just met him, but he seemed harmless. And apparently, he liked that I didn’t know him. Still.

  “How about I’ll drop my groceries off, then meet you back here to follow you?”

  His smile grew wider.

  “Smart,” he nodded appreciatively. “You are a smart girl, Nora. We’re going to be great friends.”

  We walked to the checkout lines, going our separate ways. When I was done bagging my items, I rolled the cart to my SUV. Standing next to a parked Range Rover by the gas station, I could see Ethan. He stood a good couple inches taller than the other guys surrounding the vehicle. I noticed the two girls from the chip aisle were standing over there too. The one, Taylor, had her arm slung around Ethan’s waist. He hadn’t struck me as the type of guy who had a girlfriend though, and I noticed his gaze was on the other girl, Lily, who was sitting in the yellow convertible next to them. Interesting.

  I pulled away in the SUV and drove home the way Siri again instructed me would be fastest. At the house, I didn’t rush to put things away and before I knew it, I was closing the last cupboard. It was now or never. I quickly wrote a note to my dad before jumping back into the vehicle and driving toward the super-mart.

  The whole way I debated what I would do if no one was there anymore. I could go back in and rent a movie from the Redbox. Surprisingly, it was the thought that people would still be there that threw my stomach for a loop. My SUV crept back into the lot by the gas station and sure enough, three vehicles remained. Ethan was leaning against his truck and waved me down right when he saw me. A couple in a black Escalade were getting back in their vehicle and another blue truck was already occupied with three other guys and a girl who was chatting on her cell phone. I let my breath go when I noticed the yellow convertible was gone. Ethan walked up to my rolled down window.

  “Follow me,” he said, tapping my hood before climbing up into his Rover.

  As we wound our way out of the hills, I began to feel better that I had made this decision. As an only child, I often felt like the parent of my two immature parents. Their cycle of happiness, fighting, making up, and being happy again was a constant in our home. I mediated when I shouldn’t have been exposed to their problems at all. I stayed home often instead of playing longer with the neighbor kids to make sure both my parents were okay. I think my mom at least felt bad because she had always been telling me to step out of my comfort zone and not be the adult all the time. I smiled to myself wondering if she would approve. It still felt like a sledgehammer to my heart that she had chosen to leave us. That her problems were bigger than I realized. Just Dad and I, the man-child and the teenage-adult.

  It was a good half an hour before the shoreline came into view. The sun had already descended into the horizon when we literally pulled onto the sand and parked our cars by everyone else. I spotted the yellow convertible not too far away. As we got out, Ethan came up to me and tugged on my hand pulling me over to the others from the gas station.

  “Guys, this is Nora,” he said, shoving me forward. “Nora, this is Alex and his girlfriend Summer, and that is Cody, Jake, Pat, and Whitney.” They all nodded at me in hello.

  Summer waved and gripped my elbow. “It’s nice to meet you, Nora. Are you a junior or senior this year?”

  “I’ll be a junior this fall,” I said, relaxing more that at least one girl here was friendly. I had been to enough schools to know that a new girl somehow always seemed threatening to other teenage girls.

  “That is my best friend, Whitney. We’re both seniors, say hi Whit,” she said, poking her friend in the ribs.

  “Ouch!” Whitney said, shielding her sides. “Hi.”

  “Don’t mind her,” Summer said, shaking her head. “Her boyfriend is in college and moved away this week. They’ve been texting nonstop.” She laughed. I nodded in understanding. After our ninth move, I had tried a long distance thing that lasted three weeks before he told me he had cheated.

  “Long distance can be hard,” I said.

  “Thank you,” Whitney said, finally cracking a smile. “At least someone understands.” She nudged Summer back.

  “Does that mean you have a boyfriend, Nora?” Ethan asked as he stepped between Whitney and me and laid his arms across our shoulders.

  “No, that is an; ‘I have tried’ opinion,” I told everyone. Ethan didn’t remark on my comment, just gave me a wink.

  “Who needs relationships anyway!” he exclaimed and bumped fists with the blonde guy from earlier, Pat.

  “And that is why you’re single,” Summer said, pointing her finger at Ethan. Her boyfriend Alex had caught up to us as well and was holding her hand.

  “No,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “I’m single because I know myself well enough to know that there is a whole world of women out there waiting for me and I owe it to them to not be tied down when they meet me.”

  I shook my head knowing I had Ethan pegged when we first met. I knew he would be a great friend and just a friend.

  The bonfire I had been imagining was not at all what was happening on the beach when we finally got there. The party had been secluded from the road, at least fifty people were there dancing, there was actually someone set up with a small DJ table, and the fire was huge. It reached at least seven feet in the air. A few people stood around it, but the majority were next to the coolers and a small keg that was half buried in the sand. Red Solo cups were stacked next to the keg along with the infamous bags of chips.

  “Come on,” Ethan said, dragging me closer. “You need to meet people.” We started toward the keg. “You drink, Nora?”

  I shook my head no, although tonight might be a good time to start, judging by the looks we were attracting. “I’ll pour my own cup,” I said, reaching out to stop him.

  “Sure,” he said, stepping aside, a knowing smile on his lips.

  “Ethan! Finally,” the girl, Taylor, from the super-mart, said, standing in front of us.

  “Hey Tay,” Ethan said, motioning toward me. “This is my new friend Nora.” Heat crept to my cheeks. The shock on Taylor’s face was almost funny.

  “Hi, I’m Lily, and this is Taylor, my sister.” The other girl, Lily, had stepped in front and was shaking my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Nora.”

  “Thanks,” I said. My eyes moving back and forth between Ethan and Taylor who appeared to be in a silent battle.
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  “Ethan is right,” Lily said as she elbowed him out of the way. “You need to meet people.” She took my arm and I let her lead me away. We walked a good twenty feet before Taylor’s yells could be heard. Looking back at them, Ethan was grinning at Taylor, her hands were in motion and her face was red. Lily giggled next to me.

  “Trust me you do not want to be in the middle of that,” she said sighing.

  “Are they together?” I asked her.

  “Uh,” she said, tilting her head. “As together as the Kings get with girls, I guess. I don’t know, my sister has been saying Ethan was ‘the one’ since middle school.”

  “The Kings?” I asked.

  “Mmmhmm,” she said, taking a drink. “Ethan, his twin brother Elijah, and their cousin, Darrian King. The Kings.” We walked farther down the beach toward the fire.

  “I think I’m missing something. Is this like a cult school?”

  Lily started laughing at the look of disgust on my face. “Nora, you are a breath of fresh air. No, it’s not a cult school. There just are not many students, so everyone knows everyone. And the guys have a reputation. The fact that you came with Ethan tonight was noticed.”

  “Great,” I said, shaking my head. “A cult school.”

  “It’s not a cult, girl,” she said, laughing again.

  “Let me guess, the Kings are the most popular guys and every girl wants to be with them and they probably have, and the Kings are badasses who don’t care about anyone else?” I gave her a pointed look over the rim of my glass.

  “Worse,” she said, leaning closer. “Their parents own the two largest businesses in the city, all our parents work for the King family.”

  “Oh my God,” I said, trying hard not to laugh. “It’s the hugest cliché.”

  “We are going to be great friends,” Lily said, clinking my glass with hers.

  Lily introduced me to more of her friends, other girls who would be juniors this year like me. More than once I heard the King name mentioned and a few girls had been brazen enough to ask me how I knew Ethan. It was priceless to explain to them I met him in the tampon aisle and he asked me to the party. Summer and Whitney had joined us through the night, and I was introduced to most of their friends too.

  “Well,” Lily said, looking around from our seated spots by the fire. “I think you’ve met the entire junior class.”

  “What?” I asked. “Are you serious? How small is this school?”

  “I’m kidding,” she said. “I think our class is about seven hundred people, so you haven’t met them all yet.”

  “Seven hundred is small?”

  I looked around at the girls, all of them nodding their head in agreement with Lily. “Wow, in some of the places I’ve lived small is one twenty-five.”

  “Where have you lived?” Whitney leaned forward on her knees to ask.

  “Here and there,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I tipped the rest of my glass back into my mouth.

  “I’m going for a refill,” Lily said, standing.

  “I’m fine,” I told her. I’d already had three and knew I’d be pushing my luck if I had another right now.

  “I’m fine too,” Summer said.

  “I’ll go with you.” Whitney and Lily went back toward the keg. I could see that Ethan was still where we had left him, Taylor was now standing between his legs, but his gaze followed Lily as she made her way toward them. Interesting.

  “Looks like the rest of them are here now,” Summer said, nodding to where I had been looking.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Elijah and Darrian,” she answered. Her eyes tracked over my face.

  “I’ve heard they’re something else.” I turned back to her, not really interested in seeing the infamous Kings.

  “You could say that,” she smiled. “They’re actually decent guys. I’ve known them for a long time. Alex has been friends with all those guys since elementary school.”

  “That’s nice,” I said, the bitterness in my words making me cringe. “I mean to have friends for that long without people moving away or something.”

  “Yeah,” she said, looking at me speculatively. “It is. Have you moved a lot, Nora?”

  I nodded at her. “This is lucky number twelve.”

  “Wow.” She laid a hand on my arm. “I hope you guys stay in Araminta for a while.”

  “So far, me too,” I said, giving her a small smile. My eyes pricked with tears.

  “Come on.” Summer stood up wiping sand from her legs. “Let’s head over to everyone else.”

  I stood up slowly, my stomach swooped, and I wasn’t sure if it was the drinks or the idea of meeting more people. The farther away from the fire we got, the colder I became. Wrapping my arms around my chest, I mentally cursed myself for forgetting to grab a zip up or jacket. “Closer” by The Chainsmokers was playing through the speakers and I wanted to laugh at the irony of it.

  “Summer!” Ethan yelled, moving around Taylor who was suddenly looking at me like she wanted to scratch my eyes out. “You stealing my new best friend?” Ethan asked as he looped his arms around our shoulders.

  “Who’s your best friend?” the guy who had been standing next to Ethan asked. He was the mirror vision of Ethan at first look, but the moment my eyes collided with his, I could tell they were different. Where Ethan was light, Elijah was haunted. The corners of his mouth pulled up in a mocking grin as if he knew the conclusion I had reached. Still, he nodded at me in a friendly manner. “I’m Elijah.”

  “I figured,” I said, taking the glass Lily held out to me even though I wasn’t drinking more. “Nora.” He nodded again, his arm sliding around the stunning redhead next to him. They looked like a legit couple just as Alex and Summer did. Another difference between the twins, Elijah could do commitment and Ethan was a fuckboy.

  “Tara,” the redhead said, giving me a timid smile. I liked her as well already. I smiled back.

  “Nora,” I said again, nodding.

  “Well good, we’re all friends now,” Ethan announced as he took his place next to his brother again and picked up his beer.

  “Where is the third?” Whitney asked.

  “Arguing with the wife again,” Ethan said. Elijah snickered.

  “Wife?” The question left my mouth before I thought of how actually dumb it sounded considering we were in high school.

  “Pretty much,” Summer said, earning her a mischievous smile from Alex.

  “Lost again, new here.” I raised my hand.

  “Darrian and Mik,” Lily explained. “They aren’t together, but Mik thinks they are still. Their dads are partners and want the company handed down to family. They will most likely be married someday.”

  “Such a shame,” Ethan said contemplatively into his glass.

  “Just because their dads are partners, they have to get married? Why can’t they marry separately and be partners too?” the guy, Cody, from earlier asked.

  “Because if you’re a millionaire, you’d never know if someone wanted you just for the payout, so you marry another millionaire,” I said softly. The little trust fund I had sitting in the bank from my mom was untouchable until I graduated from high school. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. It was just a secret I held not even willing to tell my dad. I had seen how fast he went through what my mom had left him. While we had missed the change in my mom, she had been preparing to leave us by increasing her life insurance and transferring money from her life savings to my account. To me, it was blood money.

  “Or just never get married,” a low voice spoke from behind me. Five simple words caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Tingles ran down my bare arms and legs.

  "‘Sup man, you made it." Ethan slid in next to him giving him a slap on the back.

  "Wouldn't miss it, man." Even though the new guy spoke to Ethan, his grey eyes still locked on my green ones. My cheeks tingled, very aware that others were starting to notice the attention he was giving me.

  "This
is my new friend Nora," Ethan said, slipping his arm around me as well. "Nora this is my old cousin Darrian." And my stomach dropped. He was one of the Kings. The guys that all the girls were whispering about, the ones Lily told me ruled the city and all the parents in it. I felt slightly sick like I'd just been told he was a Montague. He must have seen the way my face was falling, his grin getting bigger.

  Darrian King. Cliché aside, this boy was everything I was not expecting. Ethan and Elijah were tan, Darrian was a few shades darker like milk chocolate. He stood a few inches taller than Ethan, over six feet. Dark jeans hung low on his hips, a plain white T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest. A silver chain dipped into the V of his shirt, standing out against his dark skin. His hair was cut short, a design etched into the one side behind his right ear. It was his eyes that did me in and almost...almost...made my knees go weak. They were light and grey, his face handsome and jaw strong. Small muscles jumped around his jaw when our eyes connected. Heat seared through me straight to my core. The new girl was staring at one of the Kings, but I didn’t care. And more importantly, I couldn’t make myself look away.

  "Awesome, cuz," he said, looking at Ethan for the first time. "Why don't you just invite anyone these days." My jaw fell open. Asshole. He weaved his way to the keg, a few of the other guys following him in stony silence.

  "Whew." Elijah whistled. "Ouch!" Ethan slapped him in the stomach.

  "Don't mind him," he said, nodding in the direction of his cousin. "He doesn't get out much."

  "That's probably a good thing," I replied loud enough for Darrian to hear. I turned and headed far away from the group.

  "Girl." Lily was laughing as she caught up to me. "That was great!"