Broken #2 (The Broken Series - Book #2)

  BROKEN #2

  Book 2

  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

  My eyes fluttered open reluctantly; oh God, they did not want to open. I closed them again slowly, and felt nausea roll through my stomach. I was groggy, and slow to move. I opened my eyes again, and found that I was not in my own bed, though I guess I hadn't been for a week. Still, I hadn't anticipated waking up in Jet's bed that morning. I rubbed at my eyes and considered falling back to sleep, until I realized I was the only one in the bed.

  Where was Jet? Why wasn't he sleeping beside me?

  The sun shone through the window, and I wondered what time it was. I glanced over at the clock Jet had on his nightstand, and it dawned on me quite literally that it was early. It was 7:30 a.m., where had Jet gone so early in the morning without leaving me a note?

  My head was pounding hard, as if little excavators were digging for diamonds in my brain. Ugh, I hated hangovers; they made me regret drinking so much the night before. I would say that I would never drink again after that moment, but I knew that would just be a lie. My throat was dry, and I needed to get some water immediately, and some painkillers, if I could find them. That would have to wait a bit, however, because the thought of moving made the nausea roll through my body once again. I really did not want to start vomiting in Jet's room―that would be mortifying, at best.

  Speaking of embarrassment, I thought about my actions last night, and blushed furiously. I must have been quite a sight showing up at Jet's place and throwing myself at him. I tried to remember how good the sex was, and had to assume that in my drunkenness I had made a fool of myself. I had no idea if I had been any good, or if he just got what he needed from it, and that was that.

  I had to assume I was a disaster, otherwise, why hadn't he stayed here with me? Instead I woke up alone, unsure of what he thought ... or felt after the night we had together.

  God, I was an idiot.

  I rolled over onto my side, frustration building up inside of me. Sometimes I allowed my emotions to rule my life, to the point where I made terrible decisions. Benny had suggested a one night stand would be good for me, that it might help me get over my ex. So maybe I should just chalk last night up to being a step closer to getting over my past. There was no need to worry about the future, or the fact that I made a mistake with Jet. Just enjoy the moment, and the fact that I hadn't thought about my ex in days, and just be happy with that.

  Why did I need to get drunk last night?

  What was worse was that I had allowed jealousy to propel me into the arms of a guy who would only use me and throw me away. I had thought he was trying to take a girl home for sex, and it turned out she was only his cousin. Why had I cared who it was, and what he was planning on doing with her? I had to stop obsessing over someone who wasn't meant to be a part of my life. I didn't want him to be a part of it, that was the most important thing.

  He was just like my last boyfriend. No. Thank. You.

  I could certainly blame alcohol for being in the position that I was in but it was more than that. I had to couple alcohol with stupidity, because that was the only explanation I had for my stupid behavior. Of all guys to end up in bed with.

  I had to get up and get out of there. I would no longer be crashing at Jet's pad; it was foolish for me to even be there in the first place. Especially now.

  I pulled off the sheet and went to get out of the bed, when Kyle opened the bedroom door and walked in.

  “Hey Jet, man are you getting up? I didn't hear your alar—”

  I grabbed the sheet and tried to cover myself up as quickly as possible, but how much he saw was hard to determine. My cheeks glowed a bright crimson, and I had a hard time meeting his eyes.

  “Oh God, I'm sorry. I had no idea anyone but Jet was in here. Uh, I didn't hear his alarm, so I thought he slept in ... or something. His door isn't usually closed unless he's still sleeping.” He was rambling.

  “Or there's a naked girl in the room.” I smiled awkwardly.

  “Yeah, or that, too. Sorry.”

  “Don't sweat it.”

  “It's Natalie, right?”

  “Yes, we met last week.”

  He looked sheepish, but had no problem with meeting my eyes. “Yeah, that's right.”

  I smiled with the sheet wrapped more tightly around me.

  “I've heard a lot about you.”

  I couldn't help but think that this was probably one of the most inappropriate moments to discuss such things since I was naked under a sheet and I was fairly certain he had seen more than one exposed body part.

  “Oh, is that right?” I said, not really knowing what to say.

  “Yeah, Jet talks about you a lot.”

  I couldn't even believe he was still standing there talking to me. He was either really slow, or he enjoyed being in the same room with me naked. Or maybe he just enjoyed making me uncomfortable. I decided not to respond, in the hopes that he would take a hint and get the hell out of Jet's room.

  There was an awkward silence between us before he said, “Okay, well nice seeing you again...”

  He smiled before he turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. I sat there momentarily, not being able to believe what had just happened. Hopefully the vision he had of me before I was able to cover myself with the sheet would disappear. I rolled my eyes, and decided to get the hell out of there while I could. I dressed quickly and lay back down briefly to rest my eyes before leaving. But I was still hung over and tired, and I slipped back to sleep without realizing it.

  Chapter Two

  Jet

  I pulled into a parking spot at the college, and got out of my car. I grabbed my gym bag and headed inside. I headed straight for the locker room to get changed. I grabbed my gear out of my locker and pulled my shorts and T-shirt out of my gym bag, and changed for training. I was meeting my brother, Craig, at the gym that day. We were going to lift some weights and get a little jacked. He was part of the MMA fighting team too, but was a lowerclassman. My brother and I were close, and we often trained and hung out together.

  I left the locker room, and headed out to the training area to find my brother. I saw my coach training a few guys, and waved to him as I headed to the weight area.

  “Hey Jet, how are you doing?”

  “Good man. Have you seen my brother?”

  He shrugged. “No. But I haven't been around the gym yet. He could have slipped by me.”

  I laughed. I waved him off, and continued on to the weight room. Once I arrived, I saw my brother setting up the bench press because it was chest and shoulder day. He was sliding plates on the weight bar.

  “Hey buddy. Already getting in there, aren't you?”

  “Yeah, can't waste any time. We are tanks, bro.”

  I laughed. I totally loved that guy. I patted him on the shoulder and went to assess the weight situation. We weren't bodybuilders but we lifted pretty well. I liked weight days. It was good for the ego to lift weights, and feel so much stronger.
br />   “Okay, you do the first set, and I will spot you,” I offered.

  “Sounds good.”

  He lay himself down on the bench and braced himself under the bar. I stood in front of him, ready to take the bar if needed. He brought it down slowly to his chest and pushed it up. He did a set of ten with solid weight before he sat up and we pumped fists. He did two more sets like that, adding weight each time.

  It was then my turn. I weighed a little more than he did, so I could lift more. He spotted me, and I took it to eight each time. When my sets were done, I went to the water cooler to get a drink. When I came back, he got 60 pound free weights for each arm and did chest presses again. We each worked those sets until we were dripping sweat off our bodies.

  “So how's life, man? What have you been doing these days? Haven't seen you in a bit.”

  “Not much, really. Training for the fights. Been out a few times, but mostly training, man. And of course school too, but let’s be honest, it's not my focus.”

  Craig laughed at that. “No doubt. Heading for the big time, man.”

  “You know it.”

  “So what about the ladies? I heard you screwed some art student,” he laughed. “Not really your regular type there, is it?”

  I didn't like what he said, and I bristled briefly, not saying anything. Fucking Kyle; I could almost kill the guy for opening his mouth, apparently all over campus. He didn't even hang out with my brother, and yet my brother had heard the same gossip everyone else had. I didn't like that my teammates knew about her, and assumed she was just some girl I banged one night. I certainly wasn't going to add insult to injury by continuing on with that kind of talk. There was no way I was going to continue on with the rumors, and make the situation worse. I was lucky that Natalie was still talking to me…and fucking me.

  “Let's not talk about the girls in my life. How about we talk about the chunky girl you are still dating. Why haven't you unloaded her by now?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Your girlfriend, man. Why are you talking about Natalie? Look at your girlfriend. She put on, like, 20 pounds since you started dating. Why don't you drag her in here? She used to be hot, but she's not anymore.”

  “Crystal isn't fat.”

  I laughed. “If you say so.”

  I could tell I was getting a rise out of him and it's exactly what I wanted―for the topic to get off of Natalie.

  “You're a dick, man.”

  “Ahhh, I'm just busting your balls. I love Crystal; you know that. But you should bring her to the gym sometime.”

  “Let's just finish this workout, and get the hell out of here.”

  I loved my brother, but he was easy to get to if I really wanted to. When he met Crystal, she was a sweet piece of work. All ass and tits, and everything was firm. They had been together for two years now, and she just gotten a little too comfortable in the relationship with her fighter boyfriend, and had eaten one too many bag of chips. She no longer went to the gym, and although it was true she wasn't fat, she could definitely stand to lose the 20 pounds she packed on. Craig was sensitive about the issue, because he didn't like the extra weight she had gained. They often fought about it because Crystal didn't like him bringing up her weight. Anyway, the two of them had issues, and if I ever needed to change the subject, bringing her up was a great way to do that.

  We set ourselves up to do chin-ups, and we worked at doing 25, which was a sick amount. When I finished my set, every muscle in my upper body burned, especially my arms that felt like noodles. Next, Craig did a set of 15 chin-ups, and then we went to do shoulder presses.

  We continued on through our workout, hitting chest, shoulders, and we finished up with abs. We continued chatting about nonsense, and the conversation never went back to Natalie, which I was relieved about.

  “When was the last time you talked to Mom?” Craig asked me.

  “I don't know, last week I guess. Why?”

  “Oh just wondering. She invited Crystal to some benefit, and she wants me to go with her. Are you going?”

  “I haven't heard anything about it, and if I had, I would have declined. I don't have time for that shit, man. Mom always has these benefits and charity things, and dressing up to go save the owls or whatever other crusade she gets on is fucking ridiculous.”

  Craig howled with laughter. “You got her right on the nose, man. I think Mom has too much time on her hands. She should have gone to work after we all grew up. Too many brunches with the ladies have gotten to her head.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. I feel for you, man. But you can always tell Crystal to go stag; it wouldn't be the end of the world. She would still get wined and dined. I think a plate at these events goes for like $500.”

  “Yeah, I know. It's crazy.”

  “Anyways, I'm fucking beat. Let's hit the showers.”

  Craig nodded, and we trudged out of the weight area. By now, my coach had left for the day, and there weren't too many of my teammates left around. I was looking forward to hitting the shower and getting cleaned up since I was covered in sweat, and I smelled worse than a pig.

  We got into the locker rooms, and I grabbed a towel from my locker. I stripped down, and put my sweaty clothes in the mesh pocket of my gym bag, so that I could take them home to wash later. I headed to the shower, and opened the door to turn on the tap. Warm water poured out, and I adjusted it until it came out hot. Steam started to rise out from the shower, and I stepped in. I quickly rinsed off before grabbing the bar of soap. I soaped down my entire body, scrubbing off the sweat and grime of the gym. I rinsed again, and grabbed some shampoo out of the bottle on the shower ledge. I scrubbed my hair and rinsed, not bothering with the conditioner. Now that I was squeaky clean, I leaned my head back into the showerhead, and let hot water course over my body, pulling some of the pain and soreness with it. There was nothing better than a hot shower after a hard workout. I believed it not only cleaned my body, but my soul as well. I just felt so much better prepared to take on the world afterwards. I turned off the faucet, and opened the shower door. I stepped out, closing the door behind me, and grabbed my towel. I quickly dried off, and went to find my clothes.

  I got clothes out of my gym bag and dressed before I checked myself out in the mirror and did a quick body flex.

  Man, I looked good.

  I checked my phone for messages while I waited for Craig to get out and get dressed. I heard the shower shut off, and he got out to dry himself off and get changed.

  “Hey, Jet, I'm going for lunch with Crystal and Dad. You should come.”

  I groaned inwardly, but didn't say anything. The last thing I wanted to do was to go have lunch with my dad. My dad was not a fan of my MMA career aspirations. He thought it was a cool hobby to have, but it didn't make any sense to him as a career. If I went to lunch with them, we would get into yet another debate about how I should take over the billion-dollar tech business he created from the ground up. Sometimes I thought that was all the old man ever talked about. I was bloody sick of it, and I had no intention of going into the family business, so I fervently wished my father would get over it, already. I loved my brother, however, so I thought I would go on his behalf.

  “Yeah, I guess that would be cool.”

  “Don't sound too excited or anything,” he laughed.

  “No, sorry it's not that. I just don't want to get into another argument with Dad. It's frustrating.”

  “Yeah, I hear ya. It won't be like that though, I promise. I'll stop him if he starts in on you again.”

  “I'll hold you to that, man.”

  “Hey maybe you should get Natalie to come. You know, since you guys are fuck buddies now. Dad would just love that you are dating an art student. It may even distract him from focusing on you at lunch.”

  I laughed along with him as we headed out of the locker rooms.

  Chapter Three

  Natalie

  I woke again, and realized it was almost lunchtime. I sti
ll felt pretty tired from the late night and all the booze, but at least the headache and nausea had left. The extra sleep had done me good, but it also didn't leave me with a lot of time to get to class. I rolled out of bed and checked myself out in the dresser mirror to make sure that I was suitable for public consumption. I had slept in my clothing, but they weren't really wrinkled so I decided they would do. I had to brush out my hair, though, because it looked like I had been shagged, quite well actually.

  I intended on sneaking out of the apartment and avoiding Jet's roommate, Kyle, at all costs. I had no intention of dealing with him, and I figured he got more than an eyeful of me that day anyway. I grabbed my purse, and headed to the door, swinging it open. Just at that moment, Jet burst into the room, almost knocking me over.

  “What is wrong with you? Do you have to ram into me every time we meet? Thankfully, I didn't have books in my arm this time.”

  “Sorry, I didn't expect you to be right at the door. I wasn't even sure if you would still be here.”

  “Would you have preferred to come home and have me already gone?” I glared at him, waiting for a response.

  “What? No. What are you talking about? That's not what I meant at all.”

  I felt fairly stupid, standing there in his room after the drunken escapades of the night before. I had pushed myself on him last night, and the result was sex, and I wasn't even sure if he liked it. He didn't appear to be overjoyed at the moment. Surely, I was good. I had never had any complaints before. Though, with Jet's track record, maybe I still had a lot to learn.

  “Oh, forget it,” I said.

  “Is everything alright? Did you sleep okay last night?”

  Sleep? He was asking me about sleep? Were we really not going to discuss the sex show I put on for him last night? Ugh, men!

  “Yeah, Jet, I slept real well last night. Thanks for checking up on that.”

  “Ah sarcasm; how original of you this morning.”

  “Where did you fly off to so early in the morning? It was a little odd to wake up alone this morning.”