Broken #3 (The Broken Series - Book #3) Read online

  BROKEN #3

  Book 3

  By Claire Adams

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 Claire Adams

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  Chapter One

  Natalie

  An excavation crew was mining in my brain as I opened my eyes that morning. The sun was filtering through the windows, and poking my eyes with knives. I quickly closed them and tried again but the same thing happened. I may never be able to open my eyes again. Oh, God, this was a bad one. I closed my eyes again, willing the headache to go away. It was far worse than a headache; it felt like someone was trying to remove my brain without making an opening to do so first. It really was a bad one, and my head hurt so much that I thought I may throw up, and that was definitely not good for anyone. I didn't know what to do, so it was probably best to just keep my eyes closed and try to get more sleep. If I had to sleep the entire day to get rid of it, then it was a far better idea than staying awake and feeling the headache. Painkillers would probably be a good idea, however, before I went back into sleep land.

  I thought about calling Julie to get me some water and serious painkillers, she would know what to do to make the miners stop. She was a true veteran of hangovers, and she always had a cure. I was about to shout for her when I heard a grunt come from beside me. It was then that the night before flashed before my eyes in an angry red. Oh no. Oh, God, no. I was not in my own bed; I was in Jet's bed. That grunt came from him. I was sure of it, and dread filled me completely. Slowly the memories of the night before came flooding back―the wine tasting, Brenda's angry face, coming here in the cab, and the sex. Oh yes, the sex. Wow, we had a lot of sex the night before. I couldn't remember how many times we had done it, but considering how sore I felt, it must have been one hell of a night. Jet had a knack for being able to get me out of my clothes on a regular basis, and remembering the things we did made me want to propel myself out of his bed.

  I opened my eyes slowly again, hoping that it was all a bad dream ... or a good dream, however you want to look at it. I turned my head, and there was Jet, handsome as always, but currently snoring away beside me. There was no denying it, last night had happened just as I remembered it. I groaned inwardly and cursed myself. What on earth had I been thinking? Why hadn't I gone home to my own apartment? Why hadn't I left with Brenda? Instead, I went home once again with a guy that I had been trying to keep in the “friend” category for so long. I really need to stop drinking. Isn't that what everyone said after a disastrous night of drinking? They always woke up with regrets, and then vowed that it would never happen again, only to go out again the next night. Well that wasn't happening to me. I was on that brink of not being sure whether I could vomit or not, and there was no way I was going to have Jet hold my hair back while I threw up.

  I had to get out of there, and I needed to do it before either Jet or Kyle woke up. My clutch was on the nightstand, and I reached over and fumbled in it for my phone. It was 9:00 a.m., which would explain part of the headache I had. Why couldn't I have slept till noon? If I had, though, I would have had to experience one of those mornings that I always considered too awkward, meaning I would have to deal with Jet and/or Kyle. It was unlikely that Kyle would be alive at this hour, so I stood a good chance of getting out of there unscathed if I moved quickly. I had a ton of messages on my phone from Brenda and Julie, and they had plenty of exclamation points after them. Lots of people were unimpressed with me at the present time. Their messages had begun the night before and carried through till the morning. I would deal with them once I found myself a cab. After that happened, I could reply to the messages while I was on my way home. But I needed to get out of that apartment first; that was the main goal of the morning.

  My clothes were scattered all over the place, and it took me awhile to find them all. The last thing I needed was for Kyle to walk in and see me naked again, though I supposed that was unlikely, since he actually knew I was there that time. I wanted to die at the memory of him coming out into the living room and seeing Jet and I rolling on the couch together. He had been just as impressed with us as everyone else was. I silently slipped into my panties and clothing, and wished that I had brought a brush with me. My hair must have looked a mess, and I had nothing to apply fresh makeup with.

  My head was pounding and I did not want to have to rush out. I wanted water, drugs and sleep, not in that particular order, but I was certain that I did not want to be there when Jet woke up. I wished I could sleep for the entire day, but I needed to find my way back to my own bed first. Every time I was around Jet I behaved like an idiot―well, when alcohol was involved, anyway. I was not impressed with my behavior the night before. I never did stuff like that, and I was starting to think that maybe Jet was a bad influence. Sometimes that was a good thing if someone could bring you out of your shell, but waking up hung over and sore probably wasn't the best result of that.

  I quickly took a peek at myself in his bathroom mirror and groaned. I looked exactly as bad as I felt. My hair was a mess and I had bags under my eyes from no sleep. In fact, I could go as far as saying I could use a complete spa day to start looking normal again. As I was tiptoeing to his bedroom door, my phone buzzed. I looked up quickly, but Jet had not moved at all. It was possible that the guy was in a coma. If it wasn't for his intense snoring, I might have checked to see if he was still breathing.

  I looked at my phone, thinking that it must be Julie trying to track my whereabouts again. She was worried that I hadn't returned home the night before, but I was sure that she must have talked to Brenda and assumed where I had ended up. She was just mad that I ended up here; the question and exclamation marks told me all I needed to know about her mood.

  Shock hit my body when I saw that it wasn't a message at all, but that my ex-boyfriend Tom was calling me. Actually calling me on the phone at 9:00 a.m. I couldn't imagine what that asshole would want after all that time, but I wasn't about to find out while I was standing alarmed in Jet's bedroom. I turned the phone off so that I wouldn't wake Jet, and I slipped out his bedroom door, closing it behind me. Kyle's door was also closed, and I sighed with relief. As I was walking down the hallway I found pieces of Jet's clothing, marking our trail to the bedroom last night. Shirt, jeans, and oh, God, underwear. Mortified, I hurried to the front door, thankful that I was lucky enough to get out of there without either of the guys seeing me. I would hardly have been a sight for sore eyes for Jet when he awoke that morning.

  I made a slow progression down the stairs, and Tom came to mind again. I couldn't figure out at all why he would be calling me. He was off in paradise with my ex-best friend; why did he feel the need to call me now? Was he feeling guilty? Did he want to offer his apologies to me again? He couldn't think that he would get a good response out of me, so I had to give him credit for having the balls to call me after so much time had passed. I didn't want to hear any more apologies, though, and I had no interest in hearing him tell me again that he was meant to be with my friend. It sickened me that I had wasted years with a man, only to have him tell me he found his soul mate in my best friend. />
  I pushed open the front door of the building and stepped outside. As I stepped out into the bright morning sunshine, I shielded my eyes, and made a quick call for a cab to meet me a few streets down from Jet's place. I wasn't sure how long the cab would take to get there, but I didn't want to be caught by Jet outside waiting for one. I told the cab company where I would be, and was told it would be a 20- minute wait, which really wasn't that bad. It would probably take me that long to get to the street.

  I disconnected the call, and started walking towards my destination. As I made my way down the street, a group of college kids were walking toward me, and the closer they got, a few of them started giggling. They whispered as they looked me up and down, a few of them shaking their heads. They knew exactly what I looked like, and why I looked that way at 9:00 a.m. Anyone who was doing what I was doing at 9:00 a.m. was doing the walk of shame.

  I took the hit, walked with my head down, and avoided eye contact with the rest of them. I quickly passed them and made my way down the street. I turned to look behind me, and a few of the girls turned as well, and laughed at the sight of me. It was one of those moments when you wished you had travelled with an overnight kit, but again I should have ended up at my own place, not at Jet's. In fact, it made no sense for me to have been at Jet's, because his car was at my place. But maybe that was his plan―to come see me in the morning, just in case I sneaked out on him again. Maybe he knew me better than I thought. I didn't care what he did; I would not be answering the buzzer to let him in to see me today. I was taking the day off from spending any time with Jet. It was all about relaxation and removing the pain from my body and mind.

  I sighed gratefully as I saw the cab pull up to the curb. I got in, gave the cabbie my address, and closed my eyes for the entire trip home.

  Chapter Two

  Jet

  When I woke up that morning, I thought I would find a beautiful redhead beside me, one who was shy about the night before, but happy about it, too. Instead, I found myself alone, trying to figure out how that little vixen sneaked out on me once again. I was starting to think she was a ninja, as she was able to get out of the bed and get dressed, leaving me behind without me hearing a thing. I didn't know what I was going to do with her, but I was not happy at all that she had left. A note would have been nice, or even sending a text message that said, “You snore too loud.” Something, anything, to not make me think that I was totally and completely wasting my time hanging out with her. Because one think was becoming shockingly clear to me, and that was that I had no idea what was going on in that redhead’s brain. Just when I thought that I was starting to figure her out, she left me alone in my own bed, feeling like I was the one-night stand that got ditched.

  I checked my phone, realizing that I had slept later than I wanted to. I had to train that day with Coach and I was already feeling quite ill. I would have to grab a Gatorade out of the fridge and try to replenish what the alcohol had taken away from me that night. Pre-workout was something that I used occasionally. It wasn't part of my regular workout routine but I made note to make some for this workout because I would need all the energy I could get my hands on.

  Rolling out of bed, I quickly dressed in training gear and went to find Kyle. He was up finishing off his breakfast when he saw me walking down the hall.

  He smirked and shook his head, and I remembered how he had found Natalie and I the night before. I wasn't about to get in that conversation with him at that point.

  “Is she in there?” Kyle motioned towards my bedroom.

  “No, she left before I got up.”

  Kyle chuckled. “Man you are a glutton for punishment. That girl must have a golden pussy for you to chase her like you do.”

  I bristled. “I don't chase anyone, Kyle.”

  “Sure you don't. She would just rather do the walk of shame in the a.m. rather than hang out with you for the day.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Kyle, you have no idea what you're talking about. I had to train today, I couldn't hang out.”

  Kyle just nodded as he mopped up the rest of his egg yolk with his toast.

  “I need you to give me a ride to Natalie's, though, so I can get my car.”

  Kyle looked up and grinned. “Sure man, whatever you want.”

  I shook my head and laughed. “Seriously, shut up, man.”

  When I walked into the training center I was about 15 minutes early for my training session. Coach had messaged me and cancelled my regular training session, so I had call my brother down to kill an arm and shoulder day with me. I didn't see him there yet so I put my bag down and did some stretching before he arrived.

  I did three minutes of shadow boxing in front of the mirror, working my techniques. I wanted to make sure of what I was throwing and how often my hands dropped, and it was rare.

  “Hey, man, your technique looks good. Ready to smash some weights?”

  “You got it.”

  “No fights coming up anytime soon?”

  “Don't joke around man, you know I have no conference fights, I'm on the bench.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, yeah, won't be for long, I'm sure.”

  We headed to the weight area and I planned for us to do bicep curls and tricep extensions. I could do 120 each arm, and I loved seeing my veins pop. It was important to combine strength with MMA training so that your punches and kicks had power behind them.

  We did three sets of each one, grunting through our progression. I did drop sets next for bicep curls. I started at 100, doing a set of 12, and I then went to 80, and finished with 12. I went from 60 to 40, and ended with 20, which at that point felt like it weighed 100 all over again.

  “Those look sick, man. Set me up for those as well.” Craig said.

  “Yeah, I got you. What's your max weight?”

  “More than yours.”

  I laughed, and set him up with 110. “Don't get too carried away.”

  He jacked up his arms, and as he did his sets of 10, I lowered the weight for him. I kept pushing him to work harder when he was close to giving up. “Come on man, one more set, let’s go.” I set the last one to 20 and he killed it.

  We continued on with biceps and triceps and then moved on to shoulders. We did shoulder presses, chin-ups and push-ups. I was exhausted by the time we were done, and we went to the water cooler to grab some Gatorade. Craig and I sat on the bench, lost in our own thoughts as we chugged out drinks.

  “So, Jet, why didn't you come to that dinner with Dad? I invited you and your little girlfriend and you didn't show up. We were expecting you.”

  “She's not my girlfriend. And maybe all of you guys should just stop expecting me.”

  “Oh believe me; no one's expecting anything, Jet.”

  “Craig, just drop it, okay?”

  “I have been inviting you to dinner for months now, Jet. When are you going to show up to one? Don't you think this is upsetting for everyone? What about Mom, don't you even care?”

  “Oh come on, man. You know exactly why I don't come. If he wanted me there bad enough he would call me. Stop being his errand boy.”

  “I'm not his errand boy, Jet. I just think you should be at dinner just like the rest of us.”

  “It's not the rest of us. You don't get hounded the way I do.”

  “He just wants the best for you, Jet. Taking over the company isn't such a terrible thing.”

  “Then you do it.”

  “Seriously, don't be an asshole.”

  “I don't want that life. I am building the life I want, or don't you see that?”

  “What are you going to do when you retire from MMA? Don't you want something to fall back on?”

  “I don't need anything to fall back on. I'm making it to the big leagues, man. I am going all the way. I will have all the money I need.”

  “I'm going to see Dad in a few days. Why don't you come along?”

  I laughed. “You don't stop, do you?”

  “No, and I'm not going to.”

&nbs
p; I looked around the gym. In mid-afternoon the place was really busy, and I felt weird about having that conversation with Craig there.

  “When are you going to forgive him?”

  I groaned. “Craig, do we have to do this right now?”

  “Yeah, man, I think we do, because you won't deal with it any other time.”

  I sighed. “I don't want to forgive him.”

  “I have.”

  “Yeah, I'm aware of that.”

  “Shit happens, man.”

  “He cheated on our mother with his secretary. He wasn't even original about it. If that wasn't bad enough, he left that great woman we call Mom, and shacked up with that girl. He broke your mother’s heart, and you want to forgive? You want me to have dinner with him and his new girlfriend? You must be kidding me.”

  “He's my father too, and I don't agree with what he did. But I love him, too, and what happened is between Mom and him. I don't like being angry all the time, and you shouldn't be either Jet. At least talk to him about it.”

  “I don't know.”

  “Just come with me this time, please. Just come. Do it for me.”

  “Okay, I promise I will go this time. Just get off my back.”

  Craig laughed. “Thank God. I have to get out of here, but I will message you the details later. Don't blow me off.”

  I waved him off and got the hell out of the gym.

  Chapter Three

  Natalie

  Halloween was right around the corner, and festivities were being held all over campus. Decorations were up and people were out looking for costumes. Guys always bought the ridiculous ones, and of course, girls found a reason to dress completely slutty for one day of the year. I had never been one for dress-up, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Julie and Brenda had been talking about finding a party or going to the club, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to partake. I had done so much drinking over the past few months that I felt I was accruing brain damage. Look at the decisions I had been making lately―all bad news. Jet alone was the result of all my drinking, I didn't think I would have done half those things with him had I not been half out of my mind.