Bradford Brawler (Bradford Bastard 2)

My back stiffens as my hand pauses over the muffin. “How so?” I ask, terrified she’s about to tell me I can’t see her son anymore.

“Because we are very aware of your connection to Colby Jacobs.” My gaze immediately flashes toward Addison and my chest tightens, realizing exactly what this is now. “Exactly,” Sara continues. “I am sure you can appreciate our hesitation due to our current situation. Right now, Addison’s health and well-being is my top priority—”

“You want me to break up with Tanner,” I breathe, reading the room as my heart starts to crack.

“What?” Addison cuts in with a grunt, forcing my head to whip her way. “Are you insane? We can’t ask that of you without having our asses whooped by my brother. We just want to get to know you so we understand the situation between you and Colby better. I’d never ask you to break up with him for me. I haven’t seen you two together before, but I can see a difference in him already. You make him happy, and I would never take that away from him because of my own issues.”

The relief is like nothing I’ve ever known. There was no way in hell I was prepared to end things with Tanner. I would have gone to ridiculous lengths just to ensure that didn’t happen. “Okay,” I say. “I’m an open book, and I plan on being with Tanner for a very long time. I don’t want there to be any hostility or secrets between us. So have at it, whatever you want to know, I’m willing to share.”

Addison straightens in her chair, quickly glancing toward her mom who nods, giving her an encouraging smile. “Here’s your chance, darling,” she tells her. “She’s a big part of Tanner’s life, and trust me when I say, you don’t want to push him away. He’s your rock, Addie, but you’re his little sister, and it would mean the world to him if you could open yourself up and allow her the chance to explain.”

Addison nods before taking a breath, and I don’t miss the way Sara takes a step back, allowing Addison to take the lead and handle this the way she’s comfortable with. Her hands shake and she blinks back unshed tears. “You … you know what happened, right?” she starts, her fear radiating out of her in waves.

“Yes,” I say, wanting to give as much information as possible to save her from having to physically say it. “I was there that night, at the party in Hope Falls. I’d been dating Colby for six months, and by that stage of our relationship, it wasn’t great. It was near the beginning of summer, and I was already starting to distance myself from him because of his drug use. I’m not into that scene. However, my best friend Erica was, and I didn’t know it at the time, but they had been sneaking around behind my back.”

“Okay, so you were already planning on breaking up with him at the time of the party?”

I nod. “Yeah, it was over weeks before it actually ended. He was starting to get aggressive when he was using, and I’m not down for that shit. I just wanted to enjoy my summer, but break ups are such a downer, and with how aggressive he’d been getting, I was putting it off.”

“So, when did you break up with him?”

A soft smile pulls at my lips. “The same night I met Tanner,” I tell her. “Colby had dragged me to a party here in Bradford because after what happened to you, the cops were shutting down every party in Hope Falls. So, Colby brought me here to have a good time, but it took him less than twenty minutes to take a girl upstairs. I walked in on them and walked straight back out again. That was the end of it. That same night was when my mom told me we were moving in next door and I didn’t see him again … at least, until Erica dragged me back into Hope Falls with the intention of confronting him.”

“You were still friends with her?”

A pang of guilt cuts through my chest and I nod. “At that stage, yes. I didn’t know of her involvement in your attack, and I had no reason to doubt her. We’d been friends for thirteen years, and as far as I was aware, we didn’t have any secrets between us.”

Addison scoffs. “Well, I guess that was a load of shit.”

“Yeah,” I say with a scoff of my own. “The two of them played me, and they nearly got away with it, but I swear to you, if I knew what they were doing that night, there’s no way I would have just stood by and allowed it to happen. I feel sick that I was in the next room, completely oblivious to what was happening to you. If I’d just been more aware, or if I hadn’t drunk so much, I—”