Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(27)

"But you were," I shot back. Brady frowned, but I saw that he was listening. "You were best friends with me and him. Kid and I…it was different. It wasn't what you and I had—have—but I missed him. A lot. I didn't realize it until I just saw him, but he didn't do anything to hurt me. It was those stupid girls. They said things…things about you, about me, about…"

"About what?" He pushed off the wall and grasped my wrists. "What'd they say, Rayna?"

"Just…" I shrugged and grimaced at the same time. I could still hear their voices.

"I want to know. And I want to know who it was."

"They said," I gulped around the knot in my throat. "They said that I just lay on my back for you. You take pity on me. They said my name was stupid and that we shouldn't be friends. You could do better than me." They said a whole lot more, but I didn't want him to know anymore.

Brady cursed underneath his breath and swept me against his chest. He held me tight, tighter than he'd ever held me before, and rocked me back and forth. I felt a soft kiss on my forehead before he whispered, "I am so sorry, Rayna. You are not any of those things. You are my best friend because no one else gets me. I don't need anyone else in my life except you. I know that. I'm sorry if I don't tell you that enough. And I'll deal with those girls."

I shook my head and pulled away. "I know you want to know who they are. And I know you're going to ask Clarissa, but I don't want you to. I need to deal with them on my own. That's why I was upset before. They made me feel like I wasn't good enough for you."

Brady yanked me back into his arms. "Rayna, I’m not good enough for you. It's never the other way around, trust me. If anything, that's what Kid makes me feel. I think that's why I want to punch him so bad."

I nodded against his chest and blinked back tears. I could understand the torment even though it wasn't true, on his side. When I wrapped my arms tighter around him, I lifted on the tips of my toes. Brady growled, the good way, and lifted me up so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. He pushed me up against the house's wall and leaned back to look at me. I saw the tenderness and the sincerity and I smiled softly, tracing his cheek with my finger. "Things are changing with us, aren't they?"

Brady nodded.

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to cry, laugh, or run. I wanted to ignore it. "Can we handle it?"

Then I saw the answer in Brady's eyes. He wasn't sure if we could. And my heart dropped.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When we rounded the house, Deputy Doug was parked in front of the house with his lights flashing. I couldn't help to wonder if he purposely wanted to make people nervous. Maybe he wanted to sober them up quicker. It worked with me.

"Hey, hey. It'll be fine." Brady squeezed my hand briefly before he sauntered to where Deputy Doug was straightening out of his patrol car. His tan uniform seemed more wrinkled than normal.

As his gaze met mine, I saw what I needed to know. Brady was about to be arrested again. And judging by how tight Brady's shoulders looked, he knew it too. I chose to ignore the carefree note in his voice.

Clarissa materialized at my side with her arms crossed. "Your boyfriend's going back to the tank. Wonder if he'll get charged this time."

I turned and saw that Kid was being helped out of the house with an arm around one of his cousin's shoulders and another guy on the other side. He met my gaze with an apology in his eyes, but his jaw hardened when he caught sight of Brady.

"I bet if you bat those gorgeous eyelashes at Kid, you can get him to drop the charges."

"It was his dad that charged Brady before."

"Kid's got power over his dad. He can pull the neglected child card. Hell, he used to all the time." Clarissa smirked.

I rounded on her. "What are you talking about?"

Clarissa grunted as she watched Brady being talked to by Deputy Doug. She seemed to lap up the drama. Then she focused, "Huh? You're socially neglected. Kid's been on his own for years. His daddy was always around for business functions, but when they were done—off to Affair in Neverland. Kid raised himself. I'm surprised you didn't know. I thought the three of you were tight back then."

"Brady and Kid were best friends. Not me. I wasn't included that much." I wasn't, but I remembered how Kid and I had started to become better friends at the end, before he left.

"Look!"

I'd already known, but I had hoped…then it deflated as I watched Deputy Doug open his back door and cover Brady's head when he climbed inside. When he sat back, he looked for me. I saw a flash of vulnerability in my best friend and blinked back some of my own tears. I rarely saw that side of Brady and only saw it now for a second before his usual cockiness flared back.

No one seemed surprised when Deputy Doug approached me, hand in hat. "I'm sorry for this, Rayna."

"They both fought."

"There are witnesses saying Brady threw the first punch."

"He thought Kid had hurt me."

Deputy Dog scratched his head. "I'm sorry, Rayna. I really am. You know how I feel about that boy, but Brady flares up. We all know this. Kid hasn't had that history. I'd suggest for you to be at the station in the next hour. I'm sure bail will be set. I know that grandmother of yours can be a firecracker, especially with Judge Bailor."