Bradford Brawler (Bradford Bastard 2)

“Fuck you?” Ilaria mutters. “Fuck me! That was so fucking hot I nearly came in the pool.”

“Right?” Arizona scoffs. “You’re an idiot if you don’t hold on to that big bastard with both hands and ride him like a fucking cowgirl until the end of time. If you’re not going to, then move the fuck over, girl. There’s a whole line of desperate seniors waiting to be looked at like that by the famous Tanner Morgan. Hell, if you weren’t so clearly in love with the guy, I’d be the first in line.”

An unladylike grunt tears from the back of my throat. “Please, if I weren’t stealing Tanner’s attention, Jules would be all over him like a rash.”

“So true,” Chanel laughs. “But seriously, what the hell are you waiting for? You can’t still be angry about what happened last week at the track. He apologized for that, and I could be wrong, but I thought you forgave him?”

“I did,” I mutter, biting the inside of my cheek, trying to figure it out. “It’s just a weird time. I’m under investigation for the attack on his sister, and I want to clear my name before I allow myself to give in. When I fall in love with him, I want us both to go into this with a clean slate. I don’t want anything holding us back or getting in the way. Plus, he said some things at the track, and while he apologized for it, it doesn’t make those words hurt any less. He has things he needs to work on and his sister to think about while I have my own shit going on.”

Ilaria shakes her head. “You’re both idiots,” she says. “You’ve both got shit going on, shit that other people our age couldn’t even begin to understand. You should be finding comfort in one another instead of keeping each other at arm’s length.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I mean, I think we sort of do that. We just haven’t given it an official title. He still calls me his, despite how much I argue against it. I think in his mind, we’re already a done deal, but he’s just giving me that time and space I need to come back to him.”

Chanel sulks, her bottom lip pouting out. “Why the hell can’t Logan be like that? He’s such an asshole.”

We all laugh as Arizona and Ilaria get out of the pool and come to join us on the sun loungers. “Speaking of your case,” Arizona says, reaching for the cocktail jug and filling her glass. “What’s going on with that? Have you heard anything?”

I shake my head. “Nada,” I tell her. “Orlando set me up with some big-time lawyer. I have a meeting with him after school on Monday, so I’m hoping I can give him all the original versions of the images Erica photoshopped and then he’ll be able to clear my name. The evidence they had against me was so ridiculous that it shouldn’t be hard, but I don’t know how these things usually work. I don’t know if it’s a quick thing or if it’ll take months.”

“I’m sure it’ll be quick,” Ilaria encourages. “But if you’re nervous, you can get ready at my place for the party tonight. We can brainstorm all the questions you’ll need to ask and make a list so you’re prepared and you’ll come out of your meeting feeling good about it all.”

“No amount of questions will ever make me feel good about this situation.”

Ilaria rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Chanel reaches for the cocktail jug at Arizona’s side. “I just can’t believe they haven’t charged Colby yet. I mean, didn’t they confirm his DNA matched the sample found in the rape kit?”

“Yeah,” I say with a disgusted scoff. “I’m sure if they could actually find the asshole, he’d be in custody. But there’s gotta be more to it than that, right? I feel like it’s such an open and closed case that it shouldn’t be taking this long. From what I can tell, Tanner’s parents are throwing money at every available resource to get this case closed, but it just keeps stalling. There has to be something more, something the cops aren’t sharing.”

“I don’t know,” Ilaria says. “I don’t know shit about the justice system, but my mom used to watch Law & Order all the time and they would always say that they needed every little scrap of evidence to make sure the bad dude was actually convicted and not let off on a technicality.”

A heavy sigh pulls from deep within my chest. “I’m sure getting assholes like Colby off on a technicality is Orlando’s specialty.”

“Exactly,” Ilaria says. “The cops are probably just making sure they have all their i’s dotted and t’s crossed before submitting anything. Besides, I’m sure they’re still investigating Erica’s part in all of this.”