Bradford Bastard (Bradford Bastard 1)

Jax laughs, bumping into me. “Nah, there’s no fucking way. He’s too sober for this shit. He’s going to shit the bed.”

Logan reaches the girls, and just as he goes to reach out to Chanel, he pauses, his whole body stiffening with fear. “Come on, man,” I murmur, wanting this for him despite knowing there’s probably some other girl who’s better suited for him. “Just do it.”

As he glances back at us, his steps falter nervously, and instead of approaching the group of girls, he takes off at high speed into the thick crowd, bitching out like a fucking pussy. We burst into booming laughter as Jax snatches up Logan’s discarded beer. “Called it.”

Our laughter has the girls whipping around, and Brielle’s gaze falls to mine. “What’s so funny?” she asks as Chanel glances around our group, her brows furrowed.

“What happened to Logan? I could have sworn he was just here.”

Jax laughs, lifting his beer to his lips. “Motherfucker shit his pants, that’s what.”

Bri holds my stare and I lift my chin, silently asking her to come to me, and she doesn’t hesitate, the few shots making her brave. She steps into me, her hand resting against my chest, right where it belongs. “What’s up?”

“Come with me,” I tell her, indicating toward my bike. “There’s something I need to do.”

Chapter 27

BRIELLE

The engine of the sleek, black bike roars to life between my legs as my arms fly around Tanner’s waist. “Where are we going?” I ask as he propels us through the crowd, a sharp yelp tearing from my throat.

He doesn’t respond, but I feel the rumble of laughter vibrating through his chest.

“Tanner?” I warn.

Nothing.

“Asshole.”

All I can do is watch as the bike cuts through the crowd along the same path we drove thirty minutes ago. The ground is rocky and uneven, and I’m forced to hold onto him tighter to keep from slipping off the stupid bike, but I’m not going to lie, holding onto him like this … shit. I should have just let Riley have me, then none of this would be happening. Tanner would have backed away after I slept with his friend, and Riley would have been through with me after getting what he wanted, but now … I’m caught up and I don’t know what to do.

Tanner gets to the track, and instead of cutting through it like he had on our way down, he turns the handlebars, putting us directly on the track’s path and my body flinches. “What are you doing?” I call over the loud thumping music and the roar of the engine. “Where are you taking me?”

Silence.

God, he’s infuriating.

He keeps going, creeping through the throng of people who seem to be clearing away from the track, and when the music falls silent and a second engine rumbles near the parking lot, my stomach sinks.

“Tanner,” I say louder as he brings his bike to a stop right at the starting line. The track is completely clear while familiar faces hover around the boundary line, their curious eyes lingering on me as they place bets. This fucker plans on racing with me on the back of his bike.

“Oh, fuck no!”

I start pulling away, but Tanner’s hand comes down over mine to hold me still. “You didn’t think you’d get away with covering my whole fucking room with the word asshole, did you? That shit took me nearly three hours to scrub clean.”

“It was worth it, but this? No, absolutely not.”

Tanner laughs as he eyes the other bike slowly making his way toward the starting line. “You’re not scared, are you?” he questions, a smirk playing on his lips, knowing damn well that he’s throwing down a challenge I won’t be able to resist. “Funny, I didn’t take you as the type to bitch out at the very last moment.”

My fingers bunch into the material of his shirt, nerves pounding through me like hot lava destroying everything in its path. “Fucking fuckity fuck,” I grunt, scooching in as close as physically possible and plastering my chest to his muscled back. “I really hate you right now.”

“Sure you do,” he murmurs, the other rider settling in beside us.

I don’t recognize the guy but honestly, even if I did, I don’t think I’d be able to place him. I’m too nervous and worked up to even think straight. He nods at Tanner before scanning a curious gaze over me and smirking, probably assuming that he’s got this in the bag seeing as though Tanner’s carrying extra luggage.

“Isn’t there some kind of rule about this?”

Tanner scoffs. “You telling me you’ve never broken the rules before, Killjoy?” he questions as the head cheerleader from Bradford struts out onto the track in nothing but a red strappy bikini, hooker heels, and a scrap of material hanging from her taloned fingers.