Page 5 of You Had Me At Thirteen

Jordan had been fighting for a few years before I started, so when I needed a hand getting in, he helped organise it all. There were two fights before mine, with one of them ending gruesomely, with a snapped tibia. The guy went to kick his opponent in the thigh, but came up against his shin instead, snapping his leg. As he stepped down, his leg buckled beneath him. The adrenaline had stopped him from feeling the severity of his injury, but once his full weight landed on it, it was like watching rubber bend.

Anyway, Koby’s face paled before he threw up all over the cage, then passed out. Jordan smoothed it over with the organisers, as the cage had to be cleaned mid-session. To say the crowd was pissed is an understatement. If it wasn’t for Jordan, Koby would have been kicked out, or even thrown into the cage himself.

I remember the distinct stench of Koby’s vomit when I stepped in to fight an hour later. He copped shit for the next two weeks, and now every time it gets brought up, he sulks like a baby.

Koby scowls. ‘Some friends you are, you’re all fucked.’

Emerson wraps an arm around his shoulders. ‘Poor baby, we’re just joking, dickhead.’

I throw an M&M at Koby’s face, but he ducks and gives me the finger before looking over at Matilda and her friends again.

‘So, Matilda?’ he says, slapping his thigh. ‘Doesn’t she hate you?’

Good one, arsehole. Way to change the subject.

But, yes. Matilda Maxwell is one woman who doesn’t fall at my feet. She just picks through my insides with her eyes. And if I said it didn’t piss me off, I’d be lying. It’s not like I’ve tried to get with her, though. We’ve lived next door to each other for five years now, and she’s barely spoken to me. The longest conversation we’ve had was the one we just had in the hallway. When those brown eyes locked onto mine in the hall just now – although full of annoyance, and as much as my brain hated it – my dick stood up in salute. It took every ounce of energy not to stare at her full chest or her full lips.

But she’s kidding herself if she thinks there isn’t something between us. A pull, an energy. Whatever you want to call it. She felt it. My cock felt it, and it’s only a matter of time before I have that smart mouth wrapped around it.

I mean, maybe that’s what I need to do. Fuck her out of my system. I can separate my emotions from the physical. I’ve done that my whole life, so I’m sure I can keep the physical with Matilda just that, even if she stirs something unfamiliar inside me.

But I’ll have to get a hold of whatever that shit is if I’m going to pursue her. Is that fair to her? Probably not, but life isn’t fucking fair.

‘I want your car,’ Will says, a huge grin spreading over his face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so widely before.

I look at him, tilting my head. ‘What?’

He lifts a shoulder. ‘When she kills you.’

Emerson snorts. ‘Fuck yes. Those legs could squeeze the life out of any man. I wouldn’t mind dying that way.’

I glare at Emerson, but he’s too busy pretending to jack off to notice the murderous rage building inside me. He’s one of my best mates, but I’ll enjoy smashing his face into the ground if he even thinks about touching Matilda.

They all know she’s off-limits; this knowledge branded into their brains years ago when I moved in next door to her. Once I settled in at my new school, the boys came over for the first time, and at thirteen years old, girls were at the top of our priority list.

She was gorgeous back then as well, with her dark brown eyes and blond hair falling to her waist. I knew she watched me. I watched her too.

I’d warned them back then that they were to keep their hands off. I didn’t blame them though when they stood there, mouths open, slowly blinking at her when she stepped out onto the front porch in her denim shorts and bikini top.

The thing is, she gets more beautiful the older she gets, and now, at eighteen, I’m not sure I can stay away any longer.

If it wasn’t for Hughes pairing us up, I would have left her alone. Maybe. Now she’s in my direct line of sight, and fuck if I don’t want to see what’s under that school uniform of hers.

‘What’s the deal, anyway?’ Koby says, snapping me back into the conversation.

I run my tongue over my top teeth. ‘We have an English assignment to do together.’

Emerson whistles. ‘Damn, lucky son of a bitch.’

‘Only if she doesn’t cut his dick off,’ Will says, his hand doing quick work on the page in his sketchbook.

When I glance back over at her, she’s storming away and flipping off her friends. I have some work to do with that one. Feisty doesn’t even cut it. Although, I sense the tough act is a front.

But I’m always up for a challenge, especially when females are involved. And to be honest, it’s been a while since one has made me work for it.

Unbeknownst to her, Matilda Maxwell has just put herself on the top of my to-do list.

THREE

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