Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(24)

"You can tell me what happened, you know."

Kid was concerned. He was the complete opposite of everything I'd just overheard and the dam broke. I started sobbing, but this time I wasn't able to brush away the tears. They came fast. They came hard and I looked like a complete idiot.

"Rayna." Kid touched my shoulder. "Whatever's wrong, you can tell me. I'm not Brady's enemy. Trust me. That's the furthest thing here, but what's wrong? I can help."

I shook my head. I considered telling him before, but that'd been insanity. No matter what, I was still loyal to Brady first. Even if it was for the best if he and I weren't friends, I couldn't turn around and befriend Kidrick. That wouldn't look right and it would've hurt Brady even more.

"Hey, I mean it. I can help. Trust me."

I managed to compose myself, though I still sniffled, but I looked deep into Kid's eyes. They looked solid, a little fearful, and kind—this wasn't good. Not good at all. I wrung out, "Take me back to the party. Please."

"Listen…did Brady…?"

"It's nothing. There were these girls and…" I couldn't say anything more. I didn't want to even repeat what they'd said.

Kid leaned. "I can guess what they said. Rayna, don't listen to them. They are shallow meaningless little tarts. Trust me. I've had my fair share of run-ins with girls like them. I don't know what they said, but it's always the same."

I held my breath.

Kid continued, bitter, "They probably said a bunch of crap about how great Brady is and what the hell does he see in you? Am I right? I know I'm right. And you, you're so innocent. Forget what they said because those girls don't even deserve this much attention. They just want a piece of what you have."

"They were right about some things."

"No," Kid cried out. "You are better than them. You are better than everyone, Brady included. He'd agree with me."

I heard what he said. I wanted to believe what he said, but it wasn't true. I wasn't good enough for any of them. I whispered without thinking, "I should've stayed home, like always."

"No, not like always," Kid snapped. "I'm sorry." As he rubbed a tired hand over his jaw, I saw the frustration in him. "Brady should know better. This is because of him."

Huh? "No. Those girls were the ones that—"

"No," Kid cut me off. "I'm not—this isn't you. I'm not mad at you. I know I haven't been around for two years, but you're the same. Nothing has changed. I'm just—Brady knows better. He should've been with you or he should've…we're going to the party, and Brady and I are going to have it out once and for all."

As he started the car and slammed it into gear, I saw the shadows over his face and realized those were the bruises from before. He'd been in the hospital and I hadn't even remembered until now. Brady had put him in the hospital. And I was in Kid's car, upset. Kid was angry at Brady. I knew that Brady would be worried and wondering where I was. Clarissa would've told him I was upset. Suddenly, all my craziness and melodramatics about not being friends with Brady vanished in a heartbeat. I was scared for an entirely different reason now.

CHAPTER TEN

Kid swerved into Clarissa's driveway and slammed on his brakes, just shy of hitting a group outside the front patio. Their drinks were thrown as a few jumped out of the way, but he didn't care. He threw his door open and stormed out. His jaw was set in stone.

"Kid!" I scrambled out of the car after him. My heart jumped into my throat

Just as he turned the corner that led to the patio, Brady came out of the front door. He stopped. When his eyes snapped to mine, I saw them narrow, linger. I gulped. I knew he saw the tears, but it was too late to brush them away.

Oh dear…

Brady pointed at me. "Did you make her cry?"

"You shouldn't talk! Where were you when I found her on the road crying?" Kid yelled back.

I stopped dead in my tracks and felt the bottom of my stomach drop.

And everything went from bad to worse. A look of hatred passed over Brady's face and with that, he rushed to meet Kid head-on.

No other words were shared and my best friend threw the first punch. Kid dodged and countered with an upper cut, but Brady caught the wrist and slammed his elbow in Kid's face.

From there, it was chaos. People screamed. Some ran. Some froze. And some even cheered.

Kid fell to the ground, was delivered a lethal kick to his face and then some guys rushed to pull Brady off. They got as far as pulling him five feet. When Kid got back on his feet, Brady threw two off and lunged forward to slam him into the garage door.

I jumped at the crashing sound, but couldn't say a thing. I couldn't yell for them to stop. I couldn't run in there. I couldn't plead. I couldn't do a thing. My hand was frozen to my mouth and I just watched. Shocked.

When Brady bent and flipped Kid over a fence, Clarissa joined the group. She braced herself in front of Brady, hands to his chest, and yelled at him to stop. Guys were trying to pull him back, but no one succeeded. Brady ignored Clarissa and shoved the guys off his back. Then she shot me a look and screamed, "Do something!"

Brady forged ahead with Clarissa still pushing against his chest. Her feet dug in, but it didn't matter. He walked forward as her feet slid backwards on the gravel.