by Tijan
But…I don't know. I just know that my dad doesn't like your grandmother and he's never told me the reason."
I slumped back. I wanted answers and I didn't get anything. "Nothing makes sense anymore."
"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.
"Rayna!" Clarissa screamed again.
This time, I broke out of my paralysis to hurry ahead. I wasn't sure what would work, but I stood beside Clarissa and tried to push him backwards.
"Brady, please. He didn't do anything. It was…Brady, listen to me!"
He was made of cement and my hands were starting to hurt, but when I looked up, none of it mattered. His eyes sparkled from rage and I recognized the cut of his jaw; he was determined. He was beyond anything I could say and then I heard Matt call out, "Didn't you lay him out before? Do that again. He won't hurt you."
Clarissa looked worried. "I don't know about that…"
I glanced backwards over my shoulders and saw Kid on the ground. He hadn't gotten up and Josh was on the sidelines. He stood there, still, but it wasn't from indecision. He watched Brady and then met my gaze. Then he jerked his gaze and shouldered his way into a crowd until I couldn't see him. I looked at Kid again. He was alone, injured, and not moving.
That's when I decided to grow some balls of steel.
I pushed off from Brady's chest and folded my arms. Clarissa looked at me, dumbfounded, but I ignored her and tilted my chin upwards. I was going for the defiant look and to my surprise, Brady stopped just in front of me. His chest was touching my elbows, but neither of us moved. He was focused over my shoulders, where Kid was now starting to get back to his feet, but I felt the jerking movement of Brady's chest. If he jolted forward, he would've pushed me down. Since he didn't, that meant Brady was listening to reason.
I spoke in a soft voice, "Stop. Now."
He growled.
"He didn't make me cry. He made me feel better. And you have no right to attack him without finding out what he 'did' because he didn't do anything!"
Brady still glared at Kid. "Oh, he did something. He did something and it's not even about that. It's what he's going to do, Rayna. You don't even—"
"So tell me!" I screamed, forgetting who was around us. Right then and there, it was me and Brady and he was keeping a secret from me. "I won't bail you out again if you don't tell me why you're in there. I won't do it. I won't talk to you. I won't do anything."
Brady tore his gaze from Kid's and met mine. When he saw my seething promise, the hatred stopped and then a wall slammed over him again. "Rayna, don't. Not now. I can't—"
"Oh, yes you can! You will or I'm going home."
Brady measured me.
I lifted my chin up further and tightened my arms over my chest.
"You were crying…"
"Becau
se some really awful girls said some really awful things about me. Kid found me when I was walking on the road and gave me a ride back. That's why I was crying."
He opened his mouth, speechless, and then closed it with a snap. I caught a glimpse of remorse for a second, but it was replaced with another burning emotion. Anger, maybe? I couldn't recognize it and that didn't sit well with me.
"I don't care if he cured cancer. I don't want him around you. I don't want him talking to you, giving you rides, —"
"—comforting me?"
He seethed for a beat and gritted his teeth. "I don't care if he made you feel like Mother Theresa. He's not good news and he's only here to hurt—"
"Hurt who, Brady?" Kid taunted as he wavered on his feet. He sent a bitter smile. "Why do you think I'm here? Who am I going to hurt?"
"You're going to hurt everything! You're going to hurt her."
Kid surged forward, "No. You think I'm going to hurt you, not her. You're scared. This is all about you, about your jeal—"
Brady picked me up with an arm around my waist and moved me to the side. I was deposited on the ground and Brady launched forward. He hit Kid again and again.
"Oh my god—" Clarissa bit off before she rushed around me. Matt and two other guys grabbed Kid from Brady, and shoved him into the house. The door was slammed shut and locked. Brady jumped onto the patio and tried the door handle. When it didn't budge, he jerked it. When he saw it wasn't going to open, he looked around and rushed around the garage door.
I stood there dazed.
"You can shut your mouth," Clarissa muttered.
I closed it with a snap. "Did you…did you just hear all that?" I pointed towards the house, in Kid's direction.
"He's gotta be pissing blood by now."
"What…?"
"Did you see that beatdown? How is he not pissing blood?"
"No." I shook my head. "What do you think Kid meant by all that? Brady's not jealous. Brady doesn't have anything to be jealous about."
Clarissa snorted and rolled her eyes. "Are you this dense in real life or is it the booze?"
"What did Kid mean by that? Brady…why would Brady be jealous? But…I should sit down."
"Wow. You really heard nothing I just said, did you?"
I sat down on the grass. "I should go home. I've been out way too late. Too much these past two days…"
"You're hopeless." Clarissa bent, grabbed my shirt, and yanked me up to press her nose an inch from mine. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"
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 pussy 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?"