Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(42)

Josh choked and Derek looked even more confused. One of the guys hooted under his breath, "Oh man. He's dead."

"Okay." Clarissa decided to intervene as she stood up. Water glistened down her toned body when she held out her arms again. "Derek did not disrespect me, Josh. He was hitting on me. I don't need you to come to my rescue especially when it's not even real. You've wanted to fight someone since you came to town, but you're too scared to take on the real person you want to fight."

All eyes went to Brady and the air shifted. It went from entertaining to alarming.

I stood; my period could also be damned.

"Is that what you want?" Brady moved forward a step. "Do you want to fight me?"

Josh held his breath.

Kid froze too, but he waited.

Derek casted dumbfounded looks between the guys.

Clarissa shifted. "Okay, guys. I did not mean for you two to fight. We all know Remy's down for a fight, but since the law can't afford booking him one more time; I'm going to settle this. Brady, I like Kid. You got a problem with that?" As she said this, her eyes skirted towards mine.

"I don't care." Brady moved back a step.

"Wha—huh?"

"Why would I care if you have the hots for him?" Brady further clarified. "I just don't want him to have the hots for Rayna. She's my best friend."

Clarissa twisted her mouth into an ugly smile. "She's a bit more than that, don't you think?"

Brady narrowed his eyes. "Wanna say that again?"

I saw no hesitation when Clarissa narrowed her eyes back, crossed her arms, and stood firmly in her skimpy black bikini. "I know she's a bit more than your best friend. I'm not stupid."

"It doesn't matter what's between her and I. You should be grateful that you're still a friend of mine." Brady was tense as he moved forward again, one slow step. "Now, I'm going to be the friend I need to be for Rayna and I'm going to ask Kid for a ride out of here."

"What?" Clarissa's mouth dropped.

Everyone seemed startled.

I squirmed and clenched my legs tighter.

Brady ignored Kid's incredulous look and asked him, "You drove here, right?"

Kid jerked a nod.

"Can we get a ride? Rayna's place ain't far." Brady was polite and controlled…too much so.

"But…what? What about what I said?" Clarissa cried out.

Brady jerked a shrug. "I could care less. I don't have any idea what that stupid fight was about. I don't care. You have some notion that I'm supposed to care what you do with who. I don't. I don't think I need to spell it out anymore."

"What happened to us before? It's always been you and me on the party scene. I'm your girl those nights and now you start bringing her around?"

"Rayna's always been my best friend. This isn't new, Clarissa. We don't live in a big city. You've gone to school with her since first grade. I don't think I need to explain anything. And right now, she needs a ride out of here. We're leaving."

Clarissa jumped forward and clasped a hand on Kid's rigid arm. "I'm going too."

"What?"

"Hey now…" Derek said and moved forward. "I thought we could hang out? I thought you were into it?"

Josh announced, "She was using you to make my cousin jealous. She was doing that to make the King Gorilla jealous and now she's all huffy because it didn't work."

Derek turned towards him. "Why'd you care then?"

"I'm tired of everyone trying to play my cousin! And I'm starting to hate this town," Josh exploded. Then he stepped backwards and grabbed an inner tube. A second later, he sat down and pushed off with the current. "Give 'em a ride, Kid. I came to have fun and that's what I'm going to do from now on."

Kid watched as his cousin sailed away, but moved towards the bank. Resigned.

Brady watched him and stood very still.

I relaxed slightly when I saw the determination in Brady's eyes. I knew he was doing it for me and I hoped that he'd do his best not to start anything in the car. "Are you sure about this?"

Brady jerked a shoulder again. "It'll be fine."

I knew he wasn't sure, but I sighed when I felt another burst between my legs. When Brady touched my arm, I waded where Kid had already climbed up the bank and disappeared in the direction of his car. Clarissa darted ahead of us, but not before shooting a glare over her shoulder.

"I thought she liked me."

"Clary's not real good with girls, but she don't mean everything she just said. I think she actually does like you. She's just hurting right now."

Matt hurried over and asked, "Are you sure about this, Brady?"

Brady asked him, "Do you have a towel or something?"

Matt laughed and held out his bare arms. "I've got my trunks and my booze in that other tube. If you're sure about this, I'm going to catch up with my booze."

"Who's got a towel?" Brady hollered out.

After one was located and handed over, he gave it to me. I knew my face was a deep shade of red, but I stood up and wrapped the towel around my bottom. Everyone else shouted their goodbyes before they took off down the river, eager to catch up with their booze too. The only one left was Derek, who still looked confused.