Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(20)

"That's not what I'm saying. Not at all." His eyes started to sparkle in anger.

"You wanted me to loosen up. You wanted me to come to the party. You want me…I don't know anymore. I don't know what you want. I can't make you happy. I'm tired of it. I don't fit in with this group. You know it and I wonder if you prefer it. Why'd you even bring me along?"

His fingers wrapped around my arm. "What are you talking about?"

I closed my mouth, but I already started. I might as well finish. "I think sometimes you're embarrassed by me because I'm not 'cool' enough to be your friend."

Brady threw his head back. "You're my best friend. How can you say that?"

"I'm not like Clarissa. I'm not beautiful. I'm not sexy. I can't…I can't be what I'm not, Brady."

He jerked me against him, but gentled immediately. Taking a deep breath, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Then he whispered as he bent to rest his forehead against mine, "You are my family, my best friend. I wouldn't be here without you, Rayray. I'd be in jail. And trust me; you are way hotter than Clarissa."

"Yeah, well…you have to say that. I can sic Viola on you and we both know who'll win."

Brady barked out a laugh and pulled me in for a hug. Relieved from the tension, I brought my hands up to his shoulders and hugged back.

"You're right. Your grandmother would give me an ass whooping. Let's hope it never comes to that."

Well, it would only come to that if Brady did something horrible, like get me pregnant—my eyes popped out and I gasped. Holy…

Brady leaned back. "What's wrong?"

I closed my mouth and shook my head. I didn't even want to think about it. But Brady hadn't used a condom. I overheard some girls talking about "pulling out," but he hadn't done that either. I wasn't stupid enough to think I could go to the doctor without Viola knowing. This was a small town. That meant…Brady might get his ass whooping a lot sooner than he thought. I'd have to tell Viola what happened, this was too serious for me to ignore. Looking down at my stomach, I splayed a hand over it. A baby, a little, little, tiny, tiny baby, might be in there.

I gulped. And I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that before.

"Hey!" Brady called from down the path. "What are you doing?"

My hand fell away from my stomach. "I'm coming. Hold on."

"There's a playground up here." Brady flashed a grin.

I grinned in response. I couldn't help it and sighed. I couldn't think about a baby, especially one with Brady. We were best friends. Nothing could hurt that. As I turned a last curve in the path, I saw him standing in front of three swings, an old metal merry-go-round, and a tiny rusty slide. I started laughing and was quickly whooshed off my feet. He picked me up and twirled in circles.

"I saw this place a long time ago. We haven't played on a playground forever. And it's all ours tonight."

I patted his hand. As he put me down, I taunted, "We both know who can get the highest."

Brady's smile grew wide at the challenge and he was in the swing next to mine in a flash, pumping his legs hard. Still, he wasn't a natural swinger like I was. It wasn't long before I looked down, high in the air, and stuck my tongue at him.

Brady pushed ahead. "I'm going all the way, Rayray. You're going to have to get the medical kit—" And then his swing flipped over. He fell off the swing, but reached out in time to catch the bar. His fingers wrapped tight and as Brady hung there, I screamed. And then I realized that Brady was alright, just hanging high in the air with no way down.

I went mad.

"You're an idiot! You're a complete moron, Brady Remington! I hope you break your legs when you get off because if you don't, I'm going to put you in the hospital myself. I hate—" I blinked back tears and pressed a hand to my pounding chest. I couldn't breathe…oh, God. A rush of emotions coursed through me and I felt my arms start to shake. My chest felt so tight. My heart was pounding.

"Relax, Rayna," Brady soothed. His grin dimpled again as he let go of the metal bar to fall gracefully on his feet. "I'm fine."

He wrapped both arms around me and drew me against his chest. "And we both know who can go the highest now, don't we?"

He did that to prove a point? My hand fisted…

Brady's eyes widened.

I swung wide, hard, and punched his jaw. His head clipped back and he fell two steps backwards. I pounced on him for another punch, followed with a swift kick underneath his legs. As he fell down, I got another hit to his chest and started to kneel on his groin. I'd been so worried, so scared. Before I could kneel down, I was lifted in the air from behind.

"Oh, God. Thanks, Matt," Brady choked as he looked up with tears in his eyes. "I forgot that I taught her that stuff."

I struggled against the chest behind me. The two arms held me tighter. "Let me go!"

Brady laughed as he stumbled to his feet. "You pack a punch. I should've remembered."

I yelled from Matt's chest, "You don't do stupid crap like that. What if I'd done it? What if I'd been the one hanging up there? What then, Brady? You would've—"

"Okay, okay." He signaled Matt to let me go. I hit the ground running and Brady swept me up in the air. I tried to hit him again, but he entrapped my arms. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to people getting freaked about that stuff. It usually…hell, I don't know."