Page 21 of Saving Brad
He scrubs a hand over his unshaven jaw. “Look, Rachel, I—”
“No.” I raise a palm in front of his face. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m the fucking insane one for even worrying about you in the first place. You can set your grouchy ass on fire the next time, and see if I care.”
I stomp toward the bedrooms, spinning around as I remember the main reason why I came here. “By the way, I overheard some girl outside the smoothie bar telling a couple of her girlfriends how you called her Faye when you were fucking her. It sounded like she was planning on making trouble. I wanted to give you a heads-up, because if you don’t sort that shit out and she does anything to hurt my friend, I am holding you personally responsible.”
He angles his head to the side. “I’ve dealt with that. She won’t cause trouble.”
I snort, shaking my head. “Yeah. That’s reassuring. Not.” I glower at him.
“She won’t be a problem!” he yells. “And it’s none of your business so butt out.”
“Next time I even consider coming here to check on you, I’m going to give myself a lobotomy,” I toss out before flouncing to Kyler’s room to get dressed.
I don’t see Brad again, even though I had half-hoped he would cop the fuck on and apologize for his assholery ways, but it didn’t come to pass. That jerk is the most stubborn man I’ve ever met.
As I pull the door shut on their apartment and start pounding the pavements home, “Dickhead, dickhead, dickhead” is my constant silent mantra. Never again, I promise myself. I am never putting myself out for that dickhead again.
Chapter Seven
Brad
Ky rips me a new one when he returns home late Sunday night, and I let him. There isn’t anything he says that I haven’t already said to myself. Last night was the wake-up call I needed. I need to get my act together before I permanently fuck things up.
The rest of the week passes by quickly and uneventfully. I avoid all parties and social activities and focus on classes, study, and football practice.
It’s Saturday, and we obliterated our opponents in the game earlier, and everyone on the team is buzzing—our season is off to a flying start. I’m crawling the walls and in desperate need of a change of scenery by now, so when Ryan confirms that Noah is hosting a celebratory party for the team at his place, it takes me all of two seconds to agree to attend.
The place is crammed to the rafters when we arrive, and we make a beeline for our crew. As usual, a group of girls are surrounding the football players. Normally, I’d pick a chick early in the night and go back to her place, but I’m not feeling it tonight. I’ve been in a weird funk all week. I’m determined to end the night relatively sober, so I’m sipping my beer instead of chugging it back like usual.
I ignore the busty blonde trying to catch my eye and close ranks around the guys, keeping her out. Ryan chuckles. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing. Just not in the mood tonight.”
He places his hand to my forehead. “You running a fever or something?”
I swat his hand away. “Funny, I could ask you the same thing.”
“Chels and I have agreed to date, and I promised her we’d be exclusive, so I’ve got a reason.”
“No shit?” All Ryan did the last semester of our freshman year was complain about how clingy Chelsea was.
He scratches the side of his head. “You know she lives in the adjacent town to mine, so, we hung out a bit this summer, and I changed my opinion of her. I like her and the idea of sticking with one girl for a while. These groupies are starting to piss me off.”
“Christ. If anyone has a fever, it’s definitely you.”
He laughs, tipping beer into his mouth. “Maybe.” His gaze roams over my head, and a sly smile coasts over his lips. “Hey, isn’t that the girl you were talking to after practice last week?”
I turn around, catching sight of the gorgeous brunette heading my way. “Yeah.”
“You hook up already?”
“Nope.” I take a decent-sized mouthful of my drink. “She’s on the rebound and wanted me to be her fall-back guy. Her assumption that I’d readily agree pissed me off.”
Ryan chuckles. “Dude, what’s crawled up your butt? Last year, you wouldn’t have given two shits about that.”
“Yeah, well, I’m reassessing a few things.”
“Hi, Brad.” The brunette curls her fingers around my biceps, smiling up at me. “Remember me?”
