Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(26)

Fists. Blood. Fighting….Brady.

"Brady drove my car here. I could probably drive it back, but I had five of those lemonades. I probably shouldn't…Brady's going to go to jail again. I don't know if I have enough money for his bail…"

"Okay," Clarissa gritted out. "One, those 'lemonades' are like Kool-Aid. You're going to be fine. Two, Brady just beat the crap out of Kid because of you. That whole fight was because of you. Three, you just laid down the law with Brady. If he doesn't tell you what the fight's about, you can't bail him out so don't start being a pu**y about it now."

"That fight wasn't about me."

"And roosters can fly over the moon." Clarissa threw her arms in the air. "You're socially deficient. That's why Brady won't bring you around more often. I always thought he was just keeping you to himself, being selfish and all that crap. Now I know better."

What? Brady kept me for himself? I blinked back to reality. "Oh my god, Brady's going to go to jail again!" Everything rushed at me.

"About damn time you woke up!" Clarissa snapped her fingers in front of my face and gestured to the house. "He's in there or trying. Go get him and cool him the hell down!"

I turned, stopped, and looked over my shoulder. "I don't know what to say to him."

Clarissa looked like she was going to scream. "Is he or is he not your best friend?"

He was. No question about it.

Clarissa saw my response in my eyes. "Then you know exactly what to say to him. Go do it before he puts Kid in the hospital again." As she shoved me, I broke into a run and ignored the garage. Brady wouldn't have gotten in that way. If they were smart inside, they would've locked all the doors. Brady would have figured that out so that meant he'd try for an open window or some other entrance. I rounded the house and found him cracking a window open.

"Stop it."

Brady ignored me.

"I mean it." I reached around and took the wrench from his hands. I didn't even want to think where he'd gotten it.

"Hey!" Brady snarled

"Hey!" I mimicked him and glared. "Stop. Now!" I threw the wrench as far as I could. It landed five feet from us.

"What the hell?" Brady roared.

I blinked back surprised tears, but shook my head. He never roared at me, but I remembered Clarissa. She'd been so strong. I could too. I knew him better than everyone else. "Do not talk to me like that!" I thrust my finger in his face.

Brady quieted. After a beat of silence, he asked, "What?"

I blinked…I hadn't thought it was going to work. I'd never 'talked' Brady out of anything. I was the one to yell at him afterwards, usually as I paid his bail.

"Are you stupid?" This was a good start.

"What?" Brady growled, irritated again, and he turned for the window.

"No!" I grabbed his shoulder and wheeled him back.

He braced himself so he wouldn't fall against me.

I wasn't aware of my own strength. "You don't roar at me."

"I didn't 'roar.'"

"You did."

Brady rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Rayna? I have an ass to kick right now. I'm busy."

"No," I proclaimed.

"No?"

"No!"

"Are you still drunk? Those things are weak."

"I have something very important and wise to say…" Though the lemonades distracted me…I shook my head. I was his best friend, tart girls be damned, and I puffed up my chest. "If you don't back away from that window, leave with me right now, and not punch Kid again—I will rip your pants off."

I held my breath and waited.

Brady froze and blinked, blinked some more, and then threw his head back laughing.

"It's not funny." I was all business here.

"That's not a threat, Rayray. I don't care if you take my boxers. I'll give them to you if you'd like."

I relaxed, a little. "I am being serious, Brady. I'm sure Deputy Doug's already on his way here. He can arrest you for assault and public nudity. You could be prosecuted as a sex offender."

"Not if my pants were taken by force," he argued, smirking.

I muttered, "You could take me serious here. I really don't want you to punch Kid again."

Brady stopped laughing and studied me for a moment. He turned to lean against the house and folded his arms over his chest.

I watched him, now nervous.

"Fine." He surrendered with a dramatic sigh. "But you don't know what's between him and me. You don't know what's at stake."

I lifted my chin. "Me."

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you know?"

"Just what was said. You think he's going to hurt me. He thinks you're jealous. It's obvious to everyone that the fight was about me. You both care about me. You both…" I was hesitant for some reason. "You're both my friends…"

A wall slammed over him. "I'm a little more than your friend."

Did he mean…?

"I'm your best friend. Kid hasn't even been around for two years, and you weren't especially close when he was here."