I was tapping my finger on the desk in Mr Woods’ class; man, school sucked.

“Would you stop that?” Jax slammed his hand down over my finger. “Only you could make such an annoying noise.”

Rolling my eyes, I took a shot at him, “Someone’s nervous about the presentation.”

“I’m not nervous,” Jax removed his hand off my finger.

“I think someone’s a little nervous,” I taunted, enjoying the way Jax’s jaw was clenching. “Public speaking not a strong point?”

“I don’t get nervous,” Jax exhaled sharply, and sent me an annoyed look.

“I think you do,” I stated matter of factly, and began tapping again.

Jax shot my finger an annoyed look and then glared at me. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”.

Shrugging my shoulders, “Don’t take your fear of public speaking out on me.”

Jax huffed and I grinned to myself. It was just too easy to stir him up.

“You ready Jackson, Amber?” Mr Woods asked us as he stood to the side with his clipboard.

“Ready as ever,” I replied with a grin. “I can start us off if you like Jax?”

Jax grunted, which I assumed was his reply. Clearing my voice and straightening up, I smiled at my dense classmates.

“Good morning everyone.” My smile got slightly bigger. “This is mine and Jackson’s report.” I handed the piece of paper over to him.

Jackson took the paper and gave it a once over “Amber and I analyzed a soldier whose name was Captain John H Miller.”

Jackson stopped, flipping the page over in his hand, and then turning to glare at me, lowering his voice. “Where’s the rest?”

“That’s it.” I lowered my voice to match his.

Jackson’s eyes narrowed into slits. “What do you mean that’s it?” he hissed under his breath.

“I had to use the Internet to get that, be grateful,” I shot back under my breath.

“Is there a problem Amber, Jackson?” Mr Woods frowned.

Jackson scoffed.

“Isn’t that the name of a character off Saving Private Ryan?” A girl with glasses piped up from the front row.

“Yeah, she’s right. Tom Hanks plays the character,” a boy next to her affirmed.  

I narrowed my eyes at both of them “Well, it’s based on a true story.”

“No it’s not,” the boy argued with me. I rolled my eyes; man, I could throttle this kid.

I could hear Jackson grinding his teeth. “You had one job,” he hissed under his breath.

“I did more than you did. I researched that,” I hissed back, while pointing at the piece of paper he was holding.

“Amber, Jackson, are you going to continue with your report?” Mr Woods asked, sounding annoyed.

“You mean you stole a name from a movie,” Jackson scoffed at me. “You really put in effort.”

“How was I meant to know it was a fictional character? It had a picture of soldiers next to it!” 

“Unbelievable.” Jackson tossed the piece of paper back to me.

“Amber, Jackson?” Mr Woods snapped.

“We’re finished,” I replied coldly, and smoothed out the wrinkles on the paper, which Jackson had crumpled the corners of.

“Are you two seriously telling me that that’s your report? Those few sentences? And that the soldier you chose just happens to be the same as one from a hit movie?” Mr Woods snapped. “I cannot believe you two! Seats now. See me after class.”

Jackson shot me a glare over his shoulder as I followed him back to our seats. “One job, that was all I gave you. One job,” he muttered under his breath.

Rolling my eyes, I slumped down in the chair next to him. “You are over-reacting.”

Jackson grunted and crossed his arms, watching as another pair stood at the front of the class, ready to begin their speech. I glared at them, realizing it was the same pair who had done me in earlier...

“It’s their fault,” I cursed in their direction, “if they had kept their mouths shut...”

“Yeah, because then your one line would have scored us a pass,” Jackson grumbled next to me.

“I think they did it on purpose,” I said, ignoring his lack of faith in my work. “They wanted us to fail.”

Jackson shot me a plain look. “You‘re kidding me right?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Let’s see how they like it.”

Jackson grunted “Can you ever take responsibility for your own actions?”

“Shut up, they’re starting,” I hissed under my breath, turning all my attention to them. “They enjoyed interrupting us. I want to return the favor.”

“They didn’t interrupt us, we were finished.” Jax let out a short breath. “I really didn’t need this.”

“Would you shut up? I can’t hear.” The pair began, and I tapped my foot on the ground in anticipation, and that’s when they said it.

“Our soldier’s name is James Lee Williams.”

“Objection!” I shot up from my seat and pointed a finger at them.

“Amber, would you sit back down. This isn’t a debate,” Mr Woods snapped at me “You’re already in trouble as it is.”

“Well they are lying! Am I not allowed to point that out?” I stated, arching an eyebrow.

“We are not!” the girl spat in my direction “We did our assignment, unlike some people we know.” She placed a hand on her hip.

“Well, why is your soldier’s name the same as the one from the very popular Xbox game?” I said firmly, planting both hands on the desk.

“What Xbox game?” the boy next to her shot in my direction. Bummer, I should have said a movie’s name. This guy looked like the type who spent an unhealthy amount of time in front of a TV screen.

“Halo.” That was a game right? Damn, why did I say an Xbox game!

The boy narrowed his eyes at me and got this weird freaky smile on his face. “There isn’t a character in Halo with that name.”

“I beg to differ.” I saw the annoyance flicker across his face as I continued.

“I would know,” he scoffed and stood proudly. “I own the game.” The girl next to him shot him a proud smile.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I shot back at him, wiping that proud look from his face. Jackson let out a small grunt beside me.

“Enough Amber, sit back down,” Mr Woods ordered me.

“Mr Woods, I think we should really Google this. I think they have cheated.”

“The game is based on aliens,” the boy snorted. “Do you know nothing?”

“Did you just snort?” I suppressed the laughter in my chest. “Here I was thinking only pigs did that.”

“Amber, SIT DOWN!”  Mr Woods roared.

I pointed an innocent finger at myself. “I haven’t done anything!” I then pointed my finger in the boy’s direction “He did, the one re-enacting animal noises!”

“SIT DOWN NOW!”

Grumbling, I slumped back down in my seat. Well that was unfair. Shooting the boy a dirty look, I brought my elbows up to the table and leaned my chin in my hands.

“That was a show. Feel stupid now?” Jackson hissed in my direction.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Did you see the kid’s face? Priceless,” I said. As I turned my head slightly, I saw Jackson’s lips twitch ever so slightly.

“God this is boring,” I mumbled, glancing at the clock “I’m not sitting here for another hour and a half, listening to drool.”

The boy and girl began their speech again, and to me, now was as good a time as any to get kicked out.

“Mr Woods?” I rudely screamed across the classroom. I saw the vein in his temple throb.

“Amber, remain quiet.”

“I can’t.”

Mr Woods slammed the clipboard down on the desk and turned his full attention to me “Why?”

“Because what I am hearing is completely and utterly boring.”

“That’s it. Get out and go to the Principal’s office now!”

Smiling, I got up from my seat, noticing Jackson’s smug look. “Jackson dared me to say it,” I fired in Mr Woods’s direction. If I was going down, he was coming with me.

Mr Wood turned his attention to Jax.

“Don’t bring me into this!” Jackson shot up at me.

“Well Jackson, you can join Amber. Get out, both of you, now.”

Smiling, I walked to the front of the class, with Jax grumbling behind me. Walking past the couple, I brought my hand back and slapped it down on the pieces of paper the boy was holding.

I smiled proudly as I watched the papers float down to the ground, scattering everywhere. “Oops, clumsy old me,” I smiled innocently.

I continued walking, ignoring their empty threats.

“You’re a real brat, you know that?” Jackson scoffed as we walked out into the empty corridor, slamming the door closed behind him.

“I got you out of class, didn’t I?” I said as I shot him a grin over my shoulder. “You should be thanking me.”

“Yeah, now we get to wait out the rest of the period in the café,” he shot back at me.

I rolled me eyes. “Screw that, let’s go.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?” I turned to face him, frowning. “You want to go to the rest of your classes?”

Jackson gave me a blank look, like I was beyond stupid. “It’s part of my parole,” he informed me.

I couldn’t help the grin that was beginning to spread across my face. “Did you do something naughty?”

“Shut up.”

He began to storm away from me with his hands in his pockets.

“So you are like, on school arrest?” I asked, pushing for more information.

He didn’t answer.

“Ok well, I have an idea,” I said lightly, trying to keep pace with him. “I am sick, and you have to take me home.”

Jackson scoffed, “Did you have to think about that one?”

Crossing my arms, I replied, “It’s better than your ideas, like always.”

Jax pushed the main door open, and as I skipped down the stairs behind him, fresh air slapped me in the face, immediately lifting my spirits. “Where we going?” I asked.

Jax ignored me as he continued to walk in the direction of the school car park. “We’re using my idea, aren’t we?” I grinned, and skipped up to his side. “Told you it was gold.”

Jax rolled his eyes as he stopped at his bike. “Do you ever shut up?”

“Not when I know I’m annoying you.”

Jax straddled his bike and handed me his helmet. He kick started the bike. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I swung my leg over his bike and sat down behind him. I gulped; man, he had a good body. I never saw him work out though; did he go to a gym?

As we began to pull away, I wrapped my arms around him. I attempted to suppress the feelings rising inside of me from clinging to his toned body. Why did Jax have to be so damn

Well, it didn’t matter how attractive he was, I wasn’t going there. Ever.

***

“So, I heard you got kicked out of class again huh Amber?” Troy asked me from across our dining table as we ate tea.

I turned sharply and gave Jax a dirty look. “Traitor.”

Jax shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat. He had been acting weird since we’d got home. We had spent the whole day together - we did lunch, then I dragged him to the mall. Come to think of it, he’d begun to get weird after I dragged him into the changing rooms, because I didn’t like the looks the retail assistant was sending me; man, that guy was a creep, I shuddered as I remembered.

Had I made him uncomfortable? I mean, he’d turned his back to me while I’d changed.

Then it occurred to me; how could I have been so stupid! The mirrors!

“Amber?”

I turned my attention back to Troy “What?” I was suddenly in a state of terror.

“Do you want to explain?” he took a sip of his beer.

“Do I have to?” I narrowed my eyes, “Can we not just drop it?”

“Will it happen again?”

“No dad, it won’t,” I mocked.

“Amber.”

Letting out a small sigh, “It won’t happen again, ok?” I stabbed the piece of steak on my plate. “Geez, get off my case.”

Troy seemed to have dropped the subject, and he began to focus on his meal. I stole a glance in Jax’s direction. He was eating with his eyes glued to his plate. Man, had he seen everything? It was my own fault, dragging him in there.

I remember my bra getting caught in the top I’d tried on, and I’d had to take it off. As the image came back to me, I began to choke on the piece of steak in my mouth.

A hard hand slammed across my back, and I spat the piece of steak into my plate.

“Can’t you chew your food properly?” Cole pulled his hand from my back and returned to his own meal.

Blushing, I pushed the plate away from me. I was no longer hungry; I couldn’t get over what I’d done!

“You finished?” Tyler asked, frowning at my close-to-full plate.

“Yeah, I’m not hungry. Big lunch,” I lied and got up from my seat. I wasn’t brave enough to look in Jax’s direction. I just hoped he’d keep his mouth shut.

“What are you doing tonight? It’s Friday night. No weekend plans?” Adam asked, attempting to make conversation with me.

“No plans,” I replied quickly, too quickly in fact; which is why everyone’s eyes snapped in my direction, apart from Jax’s.

“Ok… what have you done now?” Troy asked, putting his fork down.

“What? I haven’t done anything!”

“You’re lying,” Cole said, looking me up and down “Your voice is doing that thing, where it goes higher and borders on shrill.”

“My voice doesn’t get shrill,” I snapped at him, “And I haven’t done anything. I just want to go to bed.”

The boys all exchanged glances with each other.  They seemed to believe me because Cole turned back around in his seat and started eating again.

Exhaling sharply, I turned to leave the room.

“Oh, just a heads up Amber.”

Coming to a halt in the door way, I turned my attention back to Troy. “Yeah?”

“We are having a party here tomorrow night. It may be a bit… large.”

Excitement began to bubble up inside me. “Am I attending this party? Or am I to be locked up in my room?”

Troy shrugged. “You can if you want,” he stated.

“Can I drink?” A real Saturday night was within my reach! I couldn’t believe it. I longed to have a conversation with someone other the stupid students from that hell hole called school.

The boys exchanged another look amongst each other, as if they were sharing a conversation through their eyes.

“Don’t see why not, we will all be here,” Troy said slowly.

I couldn’t stop my excitement. I fist pumped the air. “YES!”

Cole scoffed. “Child.”

Rolling my eyes, I walked out of the room, but truth be told, I was so excited I had something to look forward to.

***

I threw another shot down my throat. Man, had I missed this! Shaking my hips and waving my hands in the air. This was what I called a good Saturday night.

The music was pounding through the speakers; its thick beat rumbled through the whole house.

We danced. We grinded. And his hands hadn’t stopped exploring my body. The only reason I hadn’t pushed him away was because he was devilishly handsome and reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on whom.

Pulling away for air, I leaned my head on his shoulder. Why hadn’t I seen this guy before? My back arched and I pressed my chest into him as he kissed down my neck.

“Want to find a room?” he whispered hotly into my ear, while nibbling my earlobe.

Pulling my hands away from his neck, I found his hand and began to drag him through the crowd of people.

I was being a whore right now, wasn’t I? But hey, I hadn’t been with anyone since Blake, and it was time to move on; maybe a fling was just what I needed.

Walking up the stairs with him in tow, I was glad I hadn’t crossed paths with my brothers in a while. As for Jax, he was going out of his way to avoid me. Last I’d seen him; he was locking lips with a blonde.

“What’s your name, cutie?”

I turned my head over my shoulder. This guy couldn’t keep from running his eyes up and down my body. Looks like not hitting the gym off late hadn’t done too much damage.

“Amber,” I sang back, turning on my heels and placing a hand on his shoulder, at the top of the stairs. “Yours?”

“Jason,” he answered, with a cocky grin on his face.

Raising an eyebrow at his sudden smile, I turned back and dragged him in the direction of my room.

As I placed a hand on my door knob, Jason spun me around, kissing me with force against the door. I gave up trying to open the door and, smiling at his bold move, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

He moved a hand down my back and, when it rested on my lower back, me pinned to his chest, he expertly flung the door behind me open.

Flipping me around, he kicked the door closed with his foot, not breaking our kiss. I heard the dull slam of my bedroom door. Grinning against my lips, he gripped both my thighs and brought me up in the air, wrapping my legs around him. Pulling his lips from mine, the cheeky grin on his face made me smile.

“Now babe, don’t forget my name. Jason. You can scream it all night.”

Laughing with him, I shook my head lightly and then pressed my lips back against his. I didn’t care about tomorrow, or how bad I may feel.

I let myself get lost in the feel of his touch.

***

My eyes fluttered open and a small groan escaped my lips as I brought my hand up to comfort my head. I hated the morning after an amazing night.

Turning to my side, my head fell comfortably on a hard chest. Jason’s. His arm was lightly wrapped around my waist, as he slept on his back.

A small smile crept on my lips. He was one of the funniest guys I had ever met, and he really had kept me up most of the night.

My bedroom door flung open and I screamed; a toe curling scream. Jason bolted up, pulling his arm from under me. My jaw snapped shut, sending my teeth into my tongue. I rolled onto my back, pain shooting through my mouth.

I saw Jason do a sweep of the room, looking for a threat. Finally, his body seemed to relax as he took in the person in the doorframe.

“Shit, Jax. Mate, what you doing?”  Jason ran a hand thought his shaggy blond hair and let out a relief coated sigh. I couldn’t help but stare at his tanned, well-built body.

Cocking my head to the side, I looked around Jason’s bare back. Sure enough, Jax stood in my room, grinding his teeth, his eyes narrowed.

“Why are you in my room?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Why are you naked?” he shot back.

Gulping, I glanced down at myself and cursed as I reached for my sheets.

Jason, however, had thought about this a second before me, because he’d already flung my sheet over my body.

“I will only be a sec mate,” Jason replied in Jax’s direction as he pulled the covers off himself and searched for his clothes.

Wait. They knew each other?

Jason pulled his jeans up and then turned to frown at me “Wait. Did you say this was your room?”

“Are you dense?” I asked seriously. “Whose room did you think it was?

Jason chuckled lightly to himself as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. “I thought we just crashed it.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked around Jason, at Jax. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you in my room? You know it is rude to just burst into someone’s room.”

Jax rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “We didn’t know where you were.”

“Well, good thing you started your search in my room,” I replied sarcastically.

“Oh you found her. I was…”

Tyler poked his head into my room, giving Jason a once over before grinning in my direction. “Did you get lucky last night, Amber?”

Groaning, I fall back into my pillows, keeping the sheets tightly wrapped around me. “Could you all piss off?”

Tyler’s laugh ripped through my ears and I shot a glare in his direction. “Some of us are hungover you know.”

Jason leaned across and planted a kiss on my forehead. I blushed slightly; that was incredibly sweet. “Thanks for last night cutie.” He sent me a charming grin.

“Amber just got the kiss of death,” Jax grunted.

Jason rolled his eyes and sent me a wink as he pulled away from the bed. “Oh cutie, do you want my number?”

I suppressed my smile “I don’t do phone numbers. Sorry.”

“Burnt.” Tyler laughed. I saw the smirk on Jax’s face, which fueled my next move.

“But, in your case, why not?” I smiled at Jason.

Jason sent me a wicked grin, as if he knew why I was doing this. 

“You can get my number off Jackson. I was forced to give it to him a while ago.” I smiled sweetly after seeing the annoyed look that crossed Jax’s face.

“You call him Jackson?” Jason asked with an eyebrow raised. “The parents don’t even call you that.”

Jax gritted his teeth and turned his back to walk away. Jason grinned as he followed him out. “See you Amber, nice to have met you,” he shot over his shoulder before walking out of the room.

Tyler however, had other ideas, as he strolled into my room, planting his butt on the edge of my bed.

“And you would be in here, why?” I asked him, holding the sheets up to my chest. “You know I’m not dressed right?”

Tyler shrugged his shoulders and shot me a smirk “You and Cole are more alike than I thought.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You can go now,” I said, pointing a finger in the direction of the door.

“You both woke up with last night’s mistakes in your beds;” Tyler chuckled lightly “Didn’t peg you as the type Amber.”

Holding the sheet to my chest with one arm, I threw a pillow at his head.

“ADAM!” Tyler screamed with amusement as he dodged my attack. I was horrified to watch my other brother walk through my door.

 

“GET OUT!” I screamed.

“Amber woke up with Jason.”

Adam scoffed “You didn’t?” he took in my face for a moment then scanned the messed up bed. “Of all the guys… ” he said, shaking his head.

“Would both of you get out of my room? I AM NAKED!”

“Who’s naked?” Troy strolled into my room, like he owned the joint.

“GET OUT!”

Troy gave me an annoyed glance. “I am guessing you’re the nude one.”

Letting out a sharp sigh, I screeched. “Everyone get the hell out of my room! NOW!”

“She slept with Jason,” Tyler piped in, humor in his voice.

“Why does it matter who I slept with?” I frowned “Why do you keep telling people that?”

“You know who he is right?” Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I know his name. Jason.”

Tyler, Adam and Troy all shot glances at each other, before bursting out laughing; I felt like it was at my expense.

“What is so funny?” I snapped crossing my arms over my chest. “Clearly I am missing something.”

I glared at my brothers; they looked so childish. If you only looked at them when they laughed and disregarded the tattoos and scars, they were awfully cute and endearing.

Troy seemed to pull himself together, as he said, “This is just too good.”

Rolling my eyes and huffing, I added, “Fine, don’t tell me.”

“I’ll give you a hint Amber.” Tyler’s laughter slowly dried, but the grin still wide on his face. “His last name is Johnston.”

I frowned. What did that have to do with anything? But then it hit me, like a cold slap across my face. My eyes went wide. “He’s Jackson’s brother?!”