Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(41)

"Hey, hey." Brady caught up and grabbed my shoulder. He stood closer, intimately close. "What's wrong? What just happened?"

I pressed my forehead to his chest. "I'm not pregnant."

"What?" Brady pulled my forehead away and looked down at me. "What did you just say?"

I couldn't look at him. "I'm not pregnant."

"Wh—huh? But you just said—"

"I got my period, Brady!" I whispered and then groaned as I pressed my forehead to his chest again. I wished to be anywhere except there, anywhere with tampons, no string bikinis, and no water. "I want to die."

When I felt his chest jerk, I thought it was from revulsion. Then when he choked back a snort, I jerked my eyes upwards. He wasn't disgusted. He was hysterical.

"This isn't funny!" I cried out. "Hey, stop it."

He shook his head and covered his mouth. Then he pressed it against my shoulder and tried to muffle his laughter. To no avail. "I'm sorry, Rayna. I am, but you got your period? You shouldn't be embarrassed. You should be relieved. You're not pregnant."

I grumbled, "That really tickles, you know. People are starting to look."

Brady swept me higher for a tighter hug.

"I thought you weren't too concerned about it."

"Are you delusional? Of course I was worried about it. I can't afford a kid. I just said that stuff to relax you. You looked like you could pop a champagne bottle open, you were wound so tight."

"Hey, lovebirds. I don't mean to interrupt the cozy twosome, but we might have something more pressing going on," Matt interrupted. When we looked up, he gestured behind.

Brady cursed when he saw Clarissa between Derek and Josh. She stood with a hand against both of their chests. Each looked fierce, but Josh was taller than Derek by an inch. Both boys were bristling and Kid was behind his cousin. He looked dazed and slightly embarrassed.

Then Clarissa glared at us. "Liddle helb, please?"

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's Kid's cousin." I frowned. "Josh. He was at the police station and he kissed me at that party. He's the one who called you a gorilla."

Brady cursed again. "Not him."

Matt waded beside us. "Derek Stout. He moved here two months ago."

"He's a douche. That’s why I don't know him."

"What do you want to do?" Matt crossed his arms over his Vikings chest.

"Why are they fighting?" Brady scratched at his jaw. His tribal tattoo seemed to jump out at me as his shoulders bunched in concentration.

"My guess, Clarissa."

"Remy! Brady!" Clarissa called out clearly this time. She fumed, "You're going to let them fight?"

Derek and Josh strained towards each other, but Clarissa seemed to have a firm hold on both.

"She's pretty strong," I noted. Her bicep muscles were showcased. They might've had an inch of fat on them. Barely.

Brady grumbled, "Why should we get in there and duke it out? That poser needs a beatdown."

"Derek or Kid's cousin?" Matt asked.

"Both. I don't care."

Matt studied Brady's reserved face for a moment and remarked, "You're awfully upbeat and helpful."

Brady jerked a shrug. "I don't care. Why are you asking me?"

"Because you have beef with Kid and that's Kid's cousin. Plus, it's Clarissa. She's our friend. What do you want us to do? The guys want to wade in, but they don't want to piss you off."

Brady sighed and then yelled, "Clarissa, just let 'em go at it. Get out of the way."

Matt murmured, "It's Clarissa."

"That's her problem." Brady gave them a dismissing gesture. "What does she expect when she flirts with every guy around? Some guys don't know her game."

Matt repeated, "It's Clarissa."

This time Brady groaned and jerked forward through the water. At his sudden approach, the guys jumped in action. Derek and Josh were quickly held back and Clarissa lost her balance. As she fell in the water Derek yelled at Josh, "What do you care? She ain't yours."

"She ain't yours either!" Josh surged forward, but was held back. I had no idea who held them, but I knew they were Brady's friends as all of them looked at him when he stopped by the group.

Josh strained against his holders, but Derek stopped and watched Brady with a quizzical look. Kid had stepped around Josh so he was beside Clarissa, but while she watched him with a hopeful look, Kid watched Brady. When I saw a sudden jaw clench, I knew that Brady was extremely aware of Kid's focus. He didn't like it.

"Okay. What the hell happened?" Matt asked as he stepped around Brady.

Derek opened his mouth, but Josh cried out, "He's spineless. That's what he is. You don't disrespect women like that."

Derek asked, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You swiped her boob, man. You don't do that." Josh strained forward, but I caught the slight relief in his eyes. That's when I harrumphed. The fight was fake. Josh didn't want to fight Derek.

Brady opened his mouth.

The group fell silent.

And he pointed out, "You kissed Rayna at Barthal's. Did you respect her?"