Page 19 of Wild Hearts

“Why?”

Shrugging, I roll back onto my back and close my eyes. “Tired, I guess.”

Jordan tries to sit up, but groans, clutching at his head again. “Nope, sorry man. I’m not moving any time soon. It feels like I have a four-piece band taking up residence in my head right now. I think Harley stayed over, though. I heard some muffled voices from his room.”

I grin. Harley and I have been staying over at the Rossi’s since we were kids, which is why we’ve each got our own room in their eight-bedroom monstrosity of a house. Alfonso and Maribel Rossi treat us as if we’re their own children. It’s been nice to have someone to go to after Dad left us.

I climb out of bed and pull on my denim shorts, buttoning them up before shrugging into my rumpled white t-shirt. “You coming?”

I’m met with silence and turn my head to see that Jordan has fallen asleep. I chuckle and shake my head, then go hunting for Harley. There’s no one upstairs, and both Lachy and Harley’s rooms are empty, so I make my way down to the kitchen where the smell of bacon and eggs makes my stomach rumble.

My sister’s boyfriend is standing over the stove, while Harley is in front of the marble island bench pouring coffee. Ivy, her hair sitting atop her head like a bird’s nest, is sitting across from Harley scrolling through her phone.

“Want some?” Harley asks, looking up as I plop down on the stool next to my sister.

“Yes, please.” I moan softly as I take a sip of liquid gold. The Rossi’s have a state-of-the-art coffee machine with so many different flavours. Whatever it is that Harley made, it’s like heaven on my tongue.

“Hey Brady.”

I nearly choke on my coffee as Ellie Foster, Principal Foster’s seventeen-year-old daughter, strolls into the kitchen wearing only underwear and what I assume to be Harley’s shirt, considering his naked chest on display in front of me.

I avert my eyes from her half-naked body. “Hey, Ell.” She stalks up to Harley with confidence, pulling his head down to meet hers in a kiss that is wildly inappropriate for the breakfast table.

Harley’s flirting with danger if he’s hooking up with our old high school principal’s only daughter. She has three older brothers who play Rugby for the Blue Haven University Raiders, and I can’t see them being happy about her slumming it with a Breed. Harley’s dad is currently serving two years for involuntary manslaughter after driving under the influence and killing their mum. Harley is living with his older brother, Tom, who also served time for selling narcotics.

I clear my throat as I accept the plate of food Lachy places in front of me.

“What happened to Wren last night?” Ivy asks as I start shovelling food into my mouth.

I use the same excuse I gave Jordan. “She was tired. She tried to find you, but I told her to just take my car. Speaking of–” I look over at Harley who has since extricated himself from Ellie’s clutches. “Any chance you can drop me and Ivy off at Wren’s apartment so I can pick it up?”

“Yeah, sure.” He nods, earning a pout from Ellie in return.

“Babe,” she whines. “You said you’d take me to Angel’s Beach.”

I hide my smirk by filling my mouth with more food. Angel’s Beach has nothing on Blue Haven’s main beach, so it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to be hanging around with her anywhere they’re going to be spotted. Yeah, this is not going to end well for him.

“It’s just a small detour, babe,” he replies, wrapping his arms around her stomach. He attempts to kiss her neck, but she shoves him away.

“It’s not a detour. It’s totally the other way.”

“Ell, chill. We’ll drop them off and we’ll go to the beach. Go get ready.”

Scowling, she grabs a bit of bacon off his plate and leaves the kitchen, stomping up the stairs like a child. I glance at Ivy and she lets out a snort of laughter.

“Shut up,” Harley growls.

Lachy smacks his best mate on the shoulder. “I hope you know what you’re doing. If her brothers find out about you two–”

“IfPrincipal Fosterfinds out about you two...” Ivy adds.

“They won’t.” Harley glares at us.

“They won’t hear it from me.” I mime zipping my lips. “But these two are right. If her family finds out, you’re gonna be in trouble.”

He shrugs with a smirk. “It’s totally worth it.”

Ivy groans and throws a piece of bacon at him. I pull out my phone and shoot a quick text to Wren, letting her know we’ll be picking up my car soon. It’s just an excuse, really. She knows we’re coming, but I’m craving the adrenaline rush of seeing her name pop up on my screen.

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