Bradford Bastard (Bradford Bastard 1)
She’s just the new girl, and sooner or later, Channing will be done with them and send them back to wherever the hell they came from, and I’ll be done. Addie is going to be okay. She’s going to wake up, and she’s going to breathe on her own, and then she’s going to come to me and demand I put Colby Jacobs in the ground, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I have to do to make it happen. I might lose everything, but at least I’ll feel like myself again.
Just when I think I’ve got myself under control, I step out of the shower and I wrap my towel around my waist, catching a glimpse of bright blue eyes staring back at me through the mirror.
The fuck?
Moving to the open doorway, I find Brielle perched on the end of my bed, concern flooding her heated stare, watching me as though she knows I’m straddling the line of insanity. Reaching up, I grip the frame of the bathroom door and stare back at her, letting her see the full rage that’s been plaguing me and hating how she doesn’t back down from it. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”
Brielle stands and moves across my room, getting closer with every step until she’s standing right before me, her eyes scanning over the light bruises decorating my skin. “You look like shit,” she tells me, her fingers flinching at her sides, trying to convince herself not to reach out and touch me.
The need for her to brush her fingers across my skin storms through me, knowing that just one touch from her will send a wave of relief settling through my chest. I crave it like never before, but I won’t dare beg for it. If anything, she needs to fuck off out of here because every moment alone with her only screws with me more.
I need to push her away. I need this girl out of my head. I can’t afford to throw everything I’ve worked for out the window, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen if I allow myself to let her in. I have a team to think about, a championship to win, colleges to impress, and none of that is going to happen if I’m obsessing over some girl, a girl who shouldn’t matter to me.
It’s only been a few days since I first saw her at that party, and already, I’m too fucking deep.
“What are you doing?” I question, my tone filled with venom. “We have one conversation on the roof and you suddenly think we’re friends?”
She flinches at my tone, her stare hardening. “What am I doing? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she throws back at me. “I came to make sure you were alright because you stormed in here like a fucking bull, bleeding and out of control, and you want to give me this bullshit attitude? Absolutely not, Tanner Morgan. You don’t get to be so hot and cold with me, acting like we’re besties one minute then being a complete ass the next.”
My glare hardens and I lean into her, that familiar scent of her perfume or shampoo lingering in the air and making me high. I capture her stare and watch as she shrinks under it. “Get the fuck out.”
She swallows hard, her stare taking on a rage of its own. “Cut the attitude and just put it aside for like, three seconds,” she demands. “You’re acting like a fucking idiot all because … what? Because someone got in your face at training? Maybe said something they shouldn’t have? Who fucking cares? It’s over, and judging by your cracked knuckles, you let them know they were out of place. So, calm down and get over it for just a minute so I can stop the bleeding.”
“What do you think this is?” I question. “I’m not your fucking charity case, Brielle. Get the fuck out and don’t come back here. And while you’re at it, do me a favor and fuck Riley already.”
Brielle scoffs and looks at me as though I’m the most pathetic creature on earth, but the understanding that dawns in her eyes puts me on edge. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” she questions. “Riley has the balls to do something about the way he feels about me and you don’t. Well guess what, asshole?” she murmurs, stepping in even closer, her fingers coming up to brush over my chest as she lowers her voice to a breathy whisper. “I think I might give him exactly what he wants. Let him strip me naked and fuck me until I scream his name. Is that what you want? Is that what you need to finally get me out of your head?”
She’s fucking lying. She wouldn’t spread those pretty thighs for Riley, she wouldn’t dare because despite how much she denies it, she’s already mine. Doesn’t make her words sting any less, and fuck, it only pisses me off all the same.