Bradford Bastard (Bradford Bastard 1)

I shake my head before slowly turning to take him in. “Careful,” I say, hating how his eyes penetrate deeply into mine, capturing everything that I am. “You wouldn’t want to be caught slumming it with the good for nothing whore from Hope Falls. You know I’m going to be a prostitute one day?”

Hurt flashes in his eyes, but before he can say a damn word, Miss Harper calls out. “Tanner. Get in your seat now or you’ll spend your Friday afternoon in detention with me.”

Knowing damn well Miss Harper will follow through on her threat, Tanner stands, not willing to risk missing Friday night’s game. “This isn’t over,” he tells me.

I scoff. “I told you last night. I’m done.”

He clenches his jaw before taking a step, only to pause again and steal Arizona’s attention. “As soon as class is done, make sure she goes home.” With that, he walks away and drops down into his seat, my heart shattering all over again. I know he was hurting last night, his sister was attacked for a second time and could have lost her life. If I hadn’t stopped him on that track, he could have easily ended up in the ICU right beside her, and if I hadn’t allowed him to use me as his verbal punching bag, he would have hurt his friends and gotten straight back in his Mustang. It was a necessary evil that’s left us both broken.

A heaviness settles into my chest as Arizona reaches across to my desk, taking my hand. “He’s right. You should go home,” she says, a hint of confusion lacing her tone. The last time I saw her, I was held tightly in Tanner’s arms, and now, there’s nothing but disdain between us. “You’ve had your attendance marked off. There’s nothing stopping you from taking off.”

I shake my head, the idea of going home to face my mother only making things worse. “I can’t go home.”

“What do you—”

A knock at the door cuts off Arizona’s question, and we all glance up to find Principal Dormer accompanying two police officers.

My blood instantly turns cold.

They step through the doorway and Miss Harper murmurs to herself. “Great, another hold up,” she says before giving Principal Dormer a welcoming smile. “How can I help you?”

My gaze snaps back to Tanner’s, all the bullshit between us suddenly not so important. He broke into Colby’s home last night, destroyed their property, and scared the shit out of his parents. There’s only one reason why the cops would be here, either that or they have news about his sister, but I doubt it. His mom would have called him first.

Tanner stares back at me, the same fear reflected in his own eyes. “I’ll be fine,” he tells me, his voice so low that I barely hear it, even despite the words we can’t take back, he’s still looking out for me, not wanting me to fear for what he’s about to go through. “Don’t worry about me.”

Don’t worry about him? That’s not possible.

Principal Dormer glances over the class before his heavy gaze lands on me. “Miss Ashford. Please stand.”

“Me?” I question, my brows furrowed.

“Please do not resist,” Dormer says. “These officers would like to have a chat with you.”

I glance back at Tanner to see confusion brimming in his stare as I reluctantly stand, keeping myself half braced behind my desk. “What’s this about?”

“Miss Ashford, please mak—”

The cop closest to the aisle decides he’s had enough of Dormer’s slow and steady approach and storms down the aisle toward me, gripping his cuffs at his hip. “Brielle Ashford,” he states, reaching me in two seconds and gripping me by my wrist. He whips me around and I scream out as he slams my chest down on my desk, tackling my arms behind my back. “You’re under arrest for the brutal attack, rape, and attempted murder of Miss Addison Morgan.”

Unbelievable pain tears through me and I scream as the edge of my desk presses against my ribs, the cop holding me down as shocked gasps fill the room. This is the first the school is hearing about Addison’s attack, and now they’re all going to think it was me.

“I DIDN’T DO IT,” I cry out, grunting against the pain as students whip out their phones to record the show. “You’ve got the wrong person. It was Colby Jacobs. He admitted it. I swear, it has noth—”

“LET HER GO,” Tanner roars and not a second later, the weight of the cop is torn off me. I spin around as the other cop barrels past Dormer and lunges for me, gripping me by the arm and yanking me away. I’m shoved toward Dormer and he holds onto me as I crumble to the ground, the pain too much to handle.

Agony fills my veins as I watch in horror as Tanner evades the first cop and comes for me.