Broken (Reapers Reign, #1) Read online

  “Knox! Knox! KNOX!”

  The sound of my name being called pulls me out of the trance that is Sarah-Jane. I come back to the now. Jamie starts hassling me, “Geez, dude, where have you been? For weeks now your head’s been somewhere else.” He aims a punch at my stomach. I fly at him, pulling him into a headlock, dropping him down, back onto the grass.

  “God, you can say that again!” Kash chimes in. “He’s been all over the place at work too. And at training, so Pa says. You would know, Jamie, if ya didn’t puke ya guts out every week.” I have to admit a smirk falls over my lips before I turn on my baby brother.

  “Shut up, Kash! Stick your nose back in your books, will you?” I snap at Kash, as I squeeze tighter around Jamie’s neck. He taps on my arm for me to release my lock. I don’t know what he’s trying to say so I let him go. He sits up, rubbing his throat.

  “I said, do you guys wanna go to the game on Saturday night?”

  God knows how, but he has managed to hook up with one of the cheerleaders. She wants him and a group of the boys we hang with to come along to the game. Then, there is an after-game party the jocks are throwing. Some of her friends want to see what it’s like to be with the bad boys. Good luck to the poor naive things. The boys will chew up their cheerleading uniforms and spit them out, stomp on their fragile hearts and send them back to mommy and daddy with more issues than their Teen Vogue magazines.

  I don’t have any plans for tonight, just early training in the morning. I consider Kash’s comments about getting my head in the game. Pa doesn’t have the time to take out of his day to mess around with me. He’s my trainer, manger, the whole works. He used to box in his younger days, in Italy. He was good too, then he meets Nan after a fight one night, falls in love, marries and came to America when Nan was pregnant, for a new start. The American dream. He’s as happy as he was the day he married her, now he’s living his American dream.

  Kash is right; my mind hasn’t been in it as of late. It’s been preoccupied with a sweet little lady whose eyes haunt me. Looking over to where she was sitting not two minutes ago watching me, I see her making her way towards me. Before she reaches me, I see Tammy grab out to stop her. I lean down, pick up my bag and pull in Jamie and Kash, wrapping my arms around their shoulders. I flick her a wink. As she flusters, I have an undying need to walk away even though my mind travels to how I want to hear her story. There is one, under all that pristine lace. That, I’m sure of.

  I’ve seen the way she stares at us. The way her thoughts wander when she is spoken to. How those eyes of her glaze over and she twirls her hair when the jocks and prissy pack harp on about God knows what. In some funny way, she doesn’t look like she fits in, yet she seems to try hard to. My heart wins out over my head.

  “Yeah sure, why not?” I respond to Jaime, as we walk away. “We really don’t have anything better to do. It’ll be a laugh if nothing else.”

  And you never know, she may just be there, maybe I can see what she’s like outside of school. Maybe she’s a little less on edge. To tell the truth, I’m looking forward to it. Maybe now I can get her out of my system and focus properly on my training.

  “Let’s go, boys!” I say, slapping their asses as we turn and had towards Jamie’s pickup, “Kashie, are you coming, or do you have a date with your books?” God, that boy needs to get out, loosen up, and chill a little. I totally get what he wants to do and I’m proud of him for it, but some days I do wonder how he’s my twin.

  Sarah-Jane

  I get up early on Saturday and go for a run. I need to clear my head. I told Tammy that I would meet her at the game since she’s cheering tonight. I’ll just watch the game from the bleachers and meet up with her after. All week I haven’t been able to shake Knox from my thoughts, even more so since our little stare down the other day and that wink. That wink did things to my insides. It has me all giddy and girly-like, just thinking about it. I love running. It has a calming effect on me, just like dancing did; but with running it doesn’t have the pain that dancing does. Dancing I did for Brad. Ballet, it was what he wanted his baby sister to do. To be in The Nutcracker. The next big thing. He had so many hopes and dreams for me and then, in a blink of an evil eye from my father, and a mouthful of hurtful words, it all came crashing down. Brad killed himself alongside his boyfriend and I stopped dancing. The love was no longer there. Why dance, when there is no one there to watch you or encourage you?

  MMAUFC fighting is what Knox does and, by god, it’s freaking hot. Out on my run, I come across him and an older guy, doing some sort of sparring in the park. Holy hell, he is to die for. A stunning lean machine, so intense, strong and capable. The way the sun glistens off his sweat, it sparkles as it runs down his face and neck. Watching the way his body moves is heaven. My breathing hitches in my chest as I watch him pull his wet T-shirt over his head, revealing the most amazing torso. Rock hard abs leading down to a sexy V, a trail of hair leading from his belly button to under the waistband of his shorts. I swallow hard as I watch him bring up the bottle of water to his lips, gulping it back. Oh why do I wish I was that bottle? My cheeks redden at the sight of this man. He has shaken me, more than he has any other time. He looks so dangerous, full of muscle and heat. Man, nothing like the guys at all the other schools I’ve been to. Isn’t it funny how people can come across so different at a place that screams at you to fit in and act normal?

  I so hope that he comes to the game tonight, or at least the after-party that Clarke, Dan and a few other boys from the football team are throwing. I did hear Lisa say that she had asked Jamie to come. Jamie and Lisa are dating and really to be honest I’m not too sure how that came about at all, the cheerleader and the bad boy. Well, there is hope for me then, despite what Tammy says. In some strange universe, polar opposites attract. He’s friends with Knox and Kash. The cheerleaders had asked Lisa to get Jamie to bring some of the boys from his group with him Saturday. I’ve been told a few of the girls are hoping to get themselves a date with a bad boy who knows what he is doing. God help them, they really have no clue, do they?

  They better stay away from Knox. That’s all I care about. I couldn’t give two shits what they want from the other guys; just the thought of them trying to get their painted nails into Knox though grates on something in my bones.

  So here I am, running, thinking like that’s going to help me. I haven’t felt this way since before Brad died. I haven’t really felt much of anything, so I’m now relishing the thought that I may just be getting a little bit of myself back, the bit that feels, laughs, enjoys life and all that it has to offer. Not this cold, lonely feeling that I have been carrying around for the last year since losing the sunshine that made my life a warm fuzzy ball of happiness. The change in how I’m feeling and the fact I’m now smiling is all thanks to a guy that doesn’t even know it yet. Come to think of it, he doesn’t even know who I am... Glances and stolen looks, smiles and winks across the school yard and cafeteria kinda don't count...

  Running home, I smile all the way as Knox’s sparring to and fro with an old, kind looking man, plays over and over in my mind. The way his body moved, the way his muscles flexed, hot damn. Jogging up the stairs to our home, I head straight to the shower in my room. Turning the water round to hot and grabbing a towel and my bathrobe as the steam fills the room, I peel out of my sticky clothes before stepping into the shower. I stand under the warm, powerful stream of water; cleansing and caressing my body, thinking about what to wear tonight. The last football game I went to was with Brad. My heart aches at the thought. So much has changed, so much is different here I am stepping through life without him, without his big brother love. I’m alone and it hurts a lot to know that there is so many things that I now have to alone lord help if Mr and Mrs Briggs stopped fighting long enough to play fake families we may actually come across as normal. My body hurts thinking about the pain we all seem to sprinkle over each other. But tonight is different for more ways than the fact that my brother isn’t with me th
ere is a party after the game and shit yes it will be my first ever party I want to impress. I have never been one to dress up or worry too much about how I look, beauty comes naturally to me. Well, that’s what Brad used to say to me. Then again, maybe he had to say that, being my big brother and all.

  After picking through my wardrobe several times, I settle on black jeans with rips in the knees, a white tee and blazer, paired with white Chuck Taylors. I put on some BB cream, a little blush, plump up my lips with a cherry red lip gloss, tussle up my hair and let it fall in soft curls around me. I’m ready to rock and roll, to forget for a while, who I am and where I have been.

  Tonight, I’m going to enjoy myself. I’m going to introduce myself to Knox Ambrose and see if I can break through that bad boy layer and lose myself in him, as I do each night in my dreams. The girls say he doesn’t care for women, they haven’t seen him with anyone since he started at Waimea College. Well, I plan to change that.

  God, I love my confidence! It seems to be oozing out of me at home, I’m not too sure that’ll be the story if he’s there tonight, though. False bravado, we all have it in our heads, rarely ever in actions. Well, me anyway, I sure don’t. I’m Sarah-Jane Briggs, the quiet, ever so polite senator’s daughter with the fake smile and shy eyes. The daughter of a mother who drinks in the dark and a father who is barely home. A sister to a brother who was gay and killed himself with his boyfriend on a cocktail of our mother’s meds and liquor from the home bar. What a fine example we are.

  Knox

  I saw her running today; headphones in, a cute pair of shorts and a simple tee on. She makes running look sexy; and hell, she makes breathing hard.

  Pa had asked me to train hard today, he thinks I’ve been slacking as of late. He wanted to know what had gotten into me. Jamie wasn’t training today so it was just Pa and I. Stepping up is what I needed to do. The big fight’s not too far away now. It’s fucking hard though, when she is there in your sleep, in the waking hours and everywhere in between. Beautiful and sexy, pure and intriguing, shy yet confident even if she walks with her shoulders low and her eyes hidden. I see her. We all do. It’s hard to miss such a beauty in a dimly lit place. She shines on a rainy day and sparkles on a hot one. Her smile takes your breath away and that laugh, oh that laugh travels on the air, tickling at your senses. The way her soft, petite voice sings out around and over the bustling nose of schoolyard banter, you can get swept up in it and lost and not ever want to find your way back home. For as long as you can hear that voice you won’t want to be anywhere else.

  I want to be the reason she laughs. I just have to grow a pair and speak to her. Why am I finding this so hard? It's not like me. I’m Knox Ambrose. Women throw themselves at me. Maybe that’s it? For so long now, it’s been giddy little school girls or the un-classy ones that hang out at the arenas during fight night that want a piece of a fighter. I’ve been pushing away fake bimbos for so long, I’ve grown accustomed to it and it’s hard to break out and try to let what I can only imagine as a pure soul into my world of hot Italian anger and fighting. My hands make people bleed, my body is toned and built for speed, precision, and pain. I’ve turned myself into a beast for one thing only; to be the best in my game. To get to the top, one broken jaw at a time. But hell, this little lady has all my lines blurred. She has me wanting to wrap her up in me and lay her down, to thrash that sweet, tight body with my hard soul, till she is shattered to tiny pieces and can’t remember her own name, then I’ll kiss her back together again just to redo the damage, one thrust at a time.

  Smiling, I watch her, she has no clue just how fucking hot she really is, running in those short shorts and tight Tee. My cock twitches at the sight and the thought as I just jump foot to foot, not really doing anything but staring over Pa's shoulder, moving to the sound of his counting, until I’m brought out of my reverie. No longer is he counting, instead he is snapping his fingers in my face. I hear him, “Knox, Boy, Knox, it’s not like you Knox, to let things slip. You’re dancing, not sparring.”

  “Hmmm,” is all that comes from my mouth as I watch her bend over to drink from the water fountain, a cheeky wee ass cheek popping out from under her shorts. We are going to have to talk about what is acceptable clothing to be wearing out. Shit, love, you’re in New York and fit as fuck.

  And then he turns, spotting where my eyes have wandered off to. This girl doesn’t even notice that all the men within a mile are looking her up and down; a fact that makes my blood boil. So along with the clothing, I’ll be making sure that I’m her running partner from now on. How can someone you don’t even know affect you in this kind of way? I need to know how she cast this spell over me; it’s like she attached an invisible wire to slowly but surely pull me into her. This, I need to ask Pa about.

  Just as I’m about to, he pops up and says “ah yes, my boy, that right there is why you have been miles away? Well, we knew there would come a day that the gods would lay down a friend for you. Your Nan will be happy that this day has come. She prays for you both to find your soulmates and given how lost you seem to be when she is on your mind, I’d say that you have found the lady.”

  Pa pulls me down onto the rocky border that surrounds the garden in the park, my eyes follow the beauty as she jogs away from us, her hips swaying, her high blonde ponytail bouncing as she goes and that ass has me licking my lips. Reaching into my bag, I search for my bottle. I need water, and fast, to cool down this raging heartbeat, along with my dick that can’t handle the torture of her sweet body.

  Pa and I sit for a while and talk about how I feel about the girl I know so little about. We talk about how drawn I am to her; this invisible pull. She’s like an addiction I need to feed. Pa enlightens me a little and tells me to just take my time, not to rush love. That she is a stranger I don’t want to miss. She has been put in my path, and for a reason. The gods have a plan and I’m to wait it out, to watch and go with my heart, not my head. Let me tell you that piece of advice is easier said than done because both my heads, just want to pound her sweet ass till she has passed out from the pleasure; and each time she goes to walk for the next fucking week, she knows just who has been there. Life is crazy and I’m crazier. She has me fading, wanting, and needing. It’s not the same sort of need for blood or glory I feel in the ring, a thirst for blood that takes me. It’s nothing like the rush I get from cracking a jaw, breaking a nose or snapping an arm in an arm bar, It’s the way she has me needing her taste, seeking out her smell and wanting to fade into her body. Jumping up, I pull the sweet old wise man to his feet with a small kiss on his cheek. That’s enough thinking for now. She’s always in my mind.

  “Let’s keep going, hey?” I say with a smile, adjusting the front of my shorts.

  We train for a little longer and I find solace in it after my talk. He’s wise, my Pa, and I’m thankful for it. He’s not only been my Pa but my father, mentor, and hero my whole life. I let my mind go and just count 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3 as I jab the mats on my Pa's hands, circling like a lion who has found its prey, working out my moves, my tactics of how I will destroy your body and leave you broken in the square octagon we all call home.

  When we get home, I ask Kash if he wants to come tonight as I walk by his room. I throw my bag down near my door and reach for a towel. I need a shower. In between our adjoining rooms. Turning the shower on, I’m sure I hear him speak, “What’d you say, brother?” I yell out as I hop in under the water.

  “I’m coming,” he shouts back. Blow me down, he is fucking putting the books down for once! This will be interesting. So many girls watch Kash and he’s so damn blind that he doesn’t see it. It’s priceless, really.

  While I’m getting dressed, I hear Jamie and Pa talking shop. Then I hear Jamie telling Nan that she’s as beautiful as ever. That should get him a Sunday dinner. He does that every week, cheeky bugger. It’s not like he’s starving. He eats here and at his own house, all week long. God knows where he puts it, the lucky son-of-a-bitch. I have to train fifty t
imes harder than him to stay this lean.

  “Stop it, you’re making an old lady blush,” says Nan. Then, like always, she invites him to dinner. With a kiss on the cheek and a rush of her apron, she’s off back to the kitchen. It’s like a movie playing on repeat every Saturday, the same banter, the same comment, the same sound of her apron. I wouldn’t change it.

  I smile and head down. I’m dressed like always – jeans, faded, ripped and worn; a white tee, black leather jacket and a pair of black Doc Martens. I punch Jamie in the arm as I pass him, saying “God, man, stop hitting on my Nan. Pa might just take you out back and whip your ass, moving in on his woman like that.”

  I Wink at Pa, who looks up from his paper, smiling at me and winking at Jamie “Yes, boy, watch it! Forty-two years I’ve been married to that woman and forty-two whips are what you will get.” Same banter week after week. I turn to Nan, as she brings out yet another plate of food, and give her a wink; she smiles and returns to the kitchen. We eat before we head out. Nan won’t let you leave the house without eating at least your whole body weight in food, God bless that lady. The Gods did well the day they made her.

  I thank Nan and kiss her sweet face goodbye. On my way, out the door, I call back to Pa “We won’t be late, I promise to look after your car. And I might even look after Kash if I must since he’s venturing out into the great big world.” I Slap Kash’s back and laugh as he gives me his best attempt at the evils, which just give me more reason to laugh.

  I flick him a wink, his calming grin spreads over his sun faded face and warms my heart. I have a feeling this could be an interesting night. Kash is with us, for once. As is Jamie and the cheerleaders, God help them. And my very own heartache that is Sarah-Jane Briggs. Time to go see if I can get under her skin and ebb into her thoughts like she has done to me for the last few weeks.