Bradford Bastard (Bradford Bastard 1)

“Let me guess,” Riley says, catching his phone as I throw it back at him. “You don’t want her, but nobody else can have her either?” I glance away and he shakes his head, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. “She’s not going to like that.”

“No,” I agree. “She sure as fuck won’t.”

Riley stands and his stomach growls. “Shit, I’m raiding your fridge,” he says, walking to the door. “You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

We make our way downstairs and Riley doesn’t waste any time heading for the fridge. He pulls the doors open and his brows furrow, scanning over the contents before him. “Fuck, man. Where’s all the good shit?” he groans. “Your mom always has something good in here.”

The fuck?

I move in beside him and glance over the fridge before letting out a sigh, a heaviness sinking into my chest. “She must have been at the hospital all day again,” I murmur. “She hasn’t taken a fucking break in weeks, but she usually heads home during the day to sleep and make sure the house is in order before heading back for the night, but the last few days …”

I don’t need to continue, he knows. He always just knows.

“Why don’t you head over there, spend the night with Addie, and send your mom home. She could probably use her own bed.”

A scoff tears from the back of my throat. “She could, but there’s no way in hell she’ll actually leave. She’s terrified something will happen and she won’t be there to hold her hand. We’ll both end up crashing there and that’s not helping anyone. Besides, every time I suggest staying, she gives me the, you need your rest for football speech.”

“Shit, man,” Riley says, closing the fridge and pulling out his phone to order in. He drops down in front of the breakfast bar and props his elbows on the counter as he scrolls through his options. “You know,” he says. “All you have to do is say the word and you and I will go and deal with Jacobs ourselves. Plus, you know the boys have our backs too.”

I shake my head, desperately wishing we could go right fucking now. “Thanks, man,” I say, giving him a tight smile, “but no. As much as I hate to admit it, Mom’s right. We have to let the law handle this, otherwise all we’re doing is throwing away the futures we worked so hard for. Trust me, if there were a way, we’d already have fucked him up.”

Riley nods in understanding. “You should talk to Bri about it. She—”

“The fuck?” I demand, cutting him off. “Why the hell would I talk to her about it?”

“She went to Hope Falls,” he explains, making something Jules said flash in my head. “She mentioned something today at lunch and it didn’t seem as though she had high opinions of the football team. I don’t know, this is your business to deal with however you’re comfortable. I just think she could probably offer some insight.”

“Right,” I say, shaking my head. “Like she’ll want to sit down and chat with me about the good old days at Hope Falls after what I just did to her.”

Riley shrugs his shoulders. “Worth a shot for Addie’s sake.”

I fucking hate it when he’s right.

Not wanting to discuss it any further, I point toward his eyes. “We good?”

He grins and holds out his fist. “Solid,” he says as I bump his fist with my own. “But for the record, I fucking smashed you. You’re losing your edge.”

“Yeah?” I ask, holding my hands out wide. “I’m ready for round two if you want another black eye to match the first. Call it a two for one deal.”

Riley laughs and glances up at me, his lips pulling into a wide grin. “Speaking of two for one deals,” he says, his brows bouncing, letting me know exactly where this is going. “I swung by Mikenna’s place last night and Shantel was there.”

“Fucking hell, Riley. Tell me you didn’t.”

He laughs, looking at me with pride flashing in his eyes. “What the hell was I supposed to do? Say no? Fuck off,” he laughs. “Just because Bri has you by the balls doesn’t mean I’m not free to swing my cock around, and damn it, bro, I had them on their knees and came on both their faces like a fucking super-soaker 2000.”

A grin cracks across my face but he’s not nearly done. “Now, if you really want to put Bri behind you, I’m down to swing by Mikenna’s again. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind adding you to the mix. Just say the word and I’ll make it happen.” His eyes spring wide with excitement. “Wanna gangbang? I’m sure Jax and Huddy would be down. Trust me, they could handle it, maybe even bring a few of their friends and it can be a party.”