Bradford Brawler (Bradford Bastard 2)

“You’re literally asking me to achieve the impossible,” Chanel deadpans. “I don’t think Logan Morgan has ever had a conversation in his life where either his ego or attitude hasn’t gotten in the way. I mean, is he for real? The asshole literally always thinks he’s right. I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to be with him. This was such a mistake. I should have known, but the moron had me all swept up in his stupid, sweet words. He’s like a Venus fly trap. Lures me in and then BAM! Just when I least expect it, he eats me … and not in a good way. Though don’t be confused, when he does eat me, it’s fucking amazing, A+ material. The guy has the tongue of a demon because nothing that feels like that could be heavenly.”

I raise my head off the table and just stare at her. “Are you fucking kidding me? Go and fuck him in his car and make up already.”

“What?” she screeches. “Have you not listened to a damn thing I’ve been saying all day? He’s the one who should be making up with me. Not the other way around.”

“Then fuck in your car instead.”

Her brows furrow and she looks at me as if trying to work out how the hell that changes anything. “What … huh? What does it matter whose car we’re in?”

“I don’t know,” I groan. “Go and test both theories. See what works.”

Chanel rolls her eyes as Arizona drops down beside me. “Feeling any better?” she asks, grabbing a bottle of water and taking small sips.

I shake my head against the table, which turns out to be a big mistake. “Nope. You?” I ask, smirking at the reminder of how her night turned out.

“Shut up,” she groans, dropping her face into her hands and wallowing in self-pity. She was the star of the night. After Jax threw his bimbo in her face and she had a good cry, she went back to the party to have the best night of her life. She downed every shot she could get her hands on, and then, just to prove some nonexistent point, she found a random guy and gave him Jax’s surprise birthday BJ instead. Nothing was better than watching the jealousy flash in Jax’s eyes as he watched her crawl out from under a table with a round of applause. Though I don’t think he was jealous because she was hooking up with someone else, I think it was more about that random guy getting what should have been his. Jax would screw just about any cute girl on offer, but he does not share well when it comes to his favorite toy.

Ilaria laughs. “Have you spoken to him?”

Arizona shakes her head. “Not really. He texted me yesterday asking if we were cool. He said things felt weird between us by the end of the night, but I shrugged it off and told him he must have been imagining it.”

“So,” I say slowly, my lips twisting with a cringe. “You’ve got a hard-on for Jax Morgan.”

“Stoooop,” she groans. “I already feel stupid enough. I mean, out of all the guys, why does it have to be him? He’s literally the biggest whore I’ve ever met, and that’s saying a lot coming from me. We literally joke about it together and then fuck some more.”

Little Miss Mother Duck, Ilaria, reaches across the table and squeezes Arizona’s hand. “Yeah, but at the same time, he has always treated you differently. You’re the only constant for him when it comes to girls. You practically already have the relationship just without the exclusivity clause.”

“And the rest of it,” Arizona scoffs, clearly not agreeing with her. “When we’re not together, we’re practically strangers. There’s no secret texting unless we want something. There’s no kissing, no hand holding, none of that relationship stuff, but there is a real friendship buried in there somewhere. He cares about me, and I think since hoe-bag one and hoe-bag two have been spending so much time together,” she adds, referring to me and Tanner, “it’s forcing us to spend more time together. I guess I’ve started to feel something.”

“So, what are we going to do about it?” Chanel asks.

“Nothing,” Arizona says. “I don’t want this. I don’t want it to turn into anything. I just want it to all go away and then Jax and I can go back to how things were before. He never has to find out about this. I don’t want to screw up a good thing because I went and caught feelings. That’s not how I roll.”

“I don’t know,” Chanel says. “This is why friends shouldn’t have sex, one of them always starts to develop feelings, and then things are never the same. Look at me and Logan for fuck’s sake. We barely tolerate each other most of the time. I think if you want to move past this, you need to stop falling into his bed for a while. Sex complicates things, and I think it’s clear that Jax isn’t the kind of guy to want a relationship, and honestly, neither are you, but I’m so scared you’re going to get hurt. What happened at the party, that’s only the beginning of it.”